What is Michelangelo Buonarroti famous for? Italian artist, sculptor, poet, architect and thinker, you will learn from this article.
What is Michelangelo Buonarroti famous for?
He is the most well-known representative Italian Renaissance and the greatest artist and architect of all time.
The most famous works of Michelangelo
The most famous sculptures Michelangelo- “David”, “Bacchus”, “Pieta”, statues of “Moses”, “Leah” and “Rachel” for the tomb of Pope Julius II century. Giorgio Vasari
The most famous paintings Michelangelo:“Madonna Doni”, “Entombment”, “Torment of St. Anthony”, “Conversion of Paul”, “Crucifixion of St. Peter”, etc.
The most famous works Michelangelo: frescoes of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, fresco “The Last Judgment”, design of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, stairs of the Laurentian Library, Campidoglio Square, “Battle of Cascina”, "Battle of the Centaurs", "Crouching Boy", frescoes for the Paolina Chapel and others.
Buonarotti is considered an example of a universal genius, the main creator High Renaissance, as well as a representative of the school of Florentine painting. Michelangelo's talents were not limited to art: he created beautiful reliefs and marble sculptures. At the age of 21, he achieved real fame as a great artist after creating the sculpture “Peta”.
In the period 1508 - 1512, Buonarotti created grandiose frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, which still delight the eye today. He drew 7 prophets and 5 soothsayers. In their ring I created 9 panels of biblical stories.
The pinnacle of his sculptural works is the sculpture of Moses, created between 1513 and 1515. He was the first artist to carve a statue from a single piece of marble. No one had done this before, because it was considered impossible. The sculpture radiated passion, determination and courage.
In 1514, Michelangelo was commissioned to complete St. Peter's Basilica in the center of the Vatican, construction of which began in 1506. Despite the fact that he did not have time to finish it, his contribution to its construction was enormous compared to other architects. The dome for the basilica was already completed after Buonarotti's death and according to his design.
After 1519, the genius of art devoted almost all his time to architecture. In 1520 he created a chapel for the two dukes Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici. This was the most ambitious project of his life. The sculptures he created for the chapel are today included in the ranking of the most perfect creations.
In Florence he designed the Laurentian Library, annexed to the Church of San Lorenzo. The books of Pope Leo X were kept in it. While building it, the artist used for the first time in history new style called mannerism. And Michelangelo’s achievements do not end there.
In 1534, while in Rome, the artist began work on his best creation - the Last Judgment fresco. It depicted the Apocalypse. In total, the fresco consists of 300 figures and shows 9 biblical episodes from the book of Genesis.
What did Michelangelo do in the field of literature?
Michelangelo devoted the last years of his life to writing poetry. To date, about 300 of his poems, 75 sonnets, 95 madrigals have been preserved. His first poems are quite complex and contradictory, often glorifying neoplatonic love. But the poetry of a later period is distinguished by Christian themes and a clear and simple style.
In addition to his poems, Buonarotti left behind creative heritage and in the form of letters (1400 in number), sketches (about 500 drawings) and memoirs.
He was the first artist in the world who was recognized by his contemporaries as a genius and during his lifetime was called “Divine”
Creativity and ideas Michelangelo inspire and fascinate many people.
Michelangelo's creativity briefly
Michelangelo in his art he reflected all the ideals of the era: from heroic pathos to the crisis state of the humanistic worldview. Back in early works The main features and ideas of his work were determined - plastic power, dramatic images, internal tension, monumentality and admiration for human beauty.
The work of Michelangelo Buonarroti can be divided into 2 periods - Roman and Florentine:
- Roman period
In Rome, Michelangelo created the statue of Bacchus, paying tribute to antiquity. At that time, the Gothic scheme dominated the sculptural field. But the artist managed to introduce new ideas into it - convincing and bright life images, humanistic deep content. Pope Julius II entrusted him with the design of his own tomb in 1505. He created many sketches, and it was completed already in 1545. Buonarotti created especially for her large number sculptures
The statue “Moses” deserves special attention, expressing titanic strength, powerful will and temperament. In the cycle of painting of the Roman period, the painting of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512 deserves special attention. This grandiose creation includes scenes from the biblical book of Genesis, compositions of the figures of sibyls and prophets, images of Christ and his ancestors. His frescoes are full of clear and plastic lines, intense expressiveness, colorful range, and exquisite colors. He spent the last 30 years of his life in Rome.
In 1536 - 1541 Buonarotti was engaged in the creation of the fresco "The Last Judgment", depicting tragic force images The ideas of the futility of human efforts, painful hopelessness in the search for truth are reflected in the frescoes of the Paolina Chapel. The artist's latest creations are full of plasticity, internal dynamism, and tension of the masses. Until the end of his life he was engaged in designing the ensemble of the Capitol.
- Florentine period
In Florence, Buonarotti completed a grandiose work - the statue of “David” (1501-1504). It embodied the ideas of heroic impulse and civic valor. He also painted the Palazzo Vecchio (1504 - 1506), in which he expressed the desire and readiness of the citizens of Florence to defend the republic. In the period 1516 - 1534, the artist worked on the design of the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo, the architectural and sculptural ensemble of the Medici tomb. All the works of Michelangelo Buonarroti of the Florentine period are full of deep pessimism, heavy thinking, and aimless movement. His statues are devoid of portrait features and depict the fluidity of time.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet.
Born on March 6, 1475 in the Tuscan village of Caprese, where Michelangelo's father was the headman. Despite his father's strong protests, he became an apprentice to the fresco painter Ghirlandaio and soon began studying at the Florentine art school of Lorenzo Medici.
Michelangelo's work belongs to the High Renaissance. Already in his youthful works, such as the reliefs “Madonna of the Stairs”, “Battle of the Centaurs” (both around 1490-1492), the main features of Michelangelo’s art emerge: monumentality, plastic power and dramatic images, reverence for the beauty of man. Fleeing the civil unrest resulting from Savonarola's reign, Michelangelo moved from Florence to Venice, then to Rome.
During his five years in Rome, he created the first of his famous works, including the sculptures Bacchus (1496-1497) and Pietà (1498-1501) in St. Peter's Basilica. In 1500, at the invitation of the citizens of Florence, Michelangelo returned to this city in triumph.
Soon he had at his disposal a four-meter-high marble block, which two sculptors had already rejected. For the next three years, he worked selflessly, almost without leaving his workshop. In 1504, a monumental statue of a naked David was presented to the public.
In 1505, the power-hungry Pope Julius II ordered Michelangelo to return to Rome, ordering a tomb for himself. The sculptor worked for a whole year on the giant bronze statue that was to crown the monument, so that almost immediately after finishing the work he could witness how his creation was melted down into cannons.
After the death of Julius II in 1513, his heirs insisted on completing another project for a tomb sculpture. This, including numerous alterations caused by the whims of customers, took 40 years of Michelangelo’s life. As a result, he was forced to abandon the implementation of his plan, which included the erection of a tomb as part of the internal architecture of St. Peter's Cathedral.
The colossal marble Moses and the statues known as "Slaves" remained forever impressive parts of an unfinished whole.
According to contemporaries, Michelangelo was a closed and self-absorbed person, subject to sudden outbursts of violence. IN privacy he was almost an ascetic, went to bed late and got up early. They said that he often slept without even taking off his shoes. When he was almost sixty, Pope Paul III commissioned Michelangelo to create wall frescoes in the Sistine Chapel depicting scenes of the Last Judgment (1536-1541).
In 1547 he received the post of chief architect for the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica and designed the huge dome, which remains one of the greatest masterpieces architecture.
In 1475, a boy was born into the family of a poor but noble Florentine nobleman, Lodovico Buonarroti, who was to become the greatest sculptor in the history of mankind. The father, “at the behest of higher powers,” named his son Michelangelo. The paintings and sculptures created by his hand are truly divine, just like his name.
The beginning of creativity
The boy spent most of his childhood in the village with a nurse, where he learned to work with clay and a chisel, which helped identify him. Seeing this, Lodovico Buonarotti sent his son to the studio of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio for training, and a year later - to the famous sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni . It is here that the work of the young talent is noticed and appreciated by Lorenzo de' Medici. He invites him to his palace. For three years, Michelangelo lived and created for Lorenzo the Magnificent, where he met many painters and sculptors, as well as art connoisseurs.
In Rome
Soon his works began to interest the highest clergy, and he was invited to Rome, where he carried out orders from Cardinal Rafael Riario, and then from Pope Julius II, on whose behalf Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for four years. According to the plan, it was supposed to be more than 300 works on biblical themes, and Michelangelo did an excellent job with them. These paintings became the most accurate reproductions of biblical stories: “The Creation of Heaven and Earth”, “The Separation of Light from Darkness”, “The Creation of Adam”, “The Creation of Eve”, “The Fall”, “The Flood”, etc. Despite the fact that by the nature of his talent Michelangelo Buonarroti was primarily a sculptor, nevertheless his most grandiose plans were realized precisely in painting. This is evidenced by the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Some paintings by Michelangelo with titles
“The Last Judgment”
This painting was commissioned by Pope Paul III over a period of seven years (1534-1541). It became the most powerful fresco in the history of world painting. Michelangelo painted it on a huge white altar wall. He was 60 years old, he was sick, infirm, and it was very difficult for him to write it. Nevertheless, this was exactly what later glorified the name of Michelangelo for centuries. Paintings of this scale were usually painted by several masters at once, but the elderly artist completed this work alone. Those who saw her once will never forget.
“The Torment of Saint Anthony”
Until 2008, this painting was considered an unknown work and only this year it was recognized as the work of Michelangelo Buonarroti. By the way, this is the earliest of his surviving creations.
Michelangelo's painting “The Creation of Adam”
The great painter painted this fresco in 1511. It is one of the nine central compositions depicted on the vault and is considered one of best work Michelangelo. The paintings adorning the ceiling, every single one, are simply magnificent. However, they are at a sufficient height, and in order to study them carefully, you need to tilt your head back, which is not very comfortable. Therefore, at the entrance to the chapel, and in many bookstores in Italy, you can purchase an album of Michelangelo’s works, including reproductions of the great artist’s creations.
Portrait of Michelangelo painted by Daniele da Volterra
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni(6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet and engineer of the High Renaissance who had an unprecedented influence on the development of Western art. Despite his attempts to transcend the boundaries of art, his versatility in the disciplines in which he practiced was of such a high degree that he is often considered a contender for the title of the prototype of the Renaissance man, along with his Italian colleague Leonardo da Vinci.
Michelangelo was considered the best modern artist of his time, and since then one of greatest artists of all times. Many of his works in painting, sculpture and architecture are among the most famous in existence. The result of his work in every field over a long life is incredible. Based on the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches and notes that survive, Michelangelo is the best-documented artist of the 16th century.
Michelangelo created two of his most famous creations, Pietà and David, before he turned thirty. Despite his low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also painted two of the most influential fresco works in the history of Western art: the Genesis scene on the ceiling and the Last Judgment on the altar wall in Sistine Chapel in Rome. As an architect, he pioneered Mannerism in the Laurentian Library. At the age of 74, Michelangelo became the successor of Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, one of the creators of St. Peter's Basilica. He changed the plan, the western part was completed according to Michelangelo's design, and the dome was completed after his death with some changes.
Pieta by Michelangelo in St. Peter's Basilica (1498–1499)
In demonstrating Michelangelo's unique position, it is worth emphasizing that he was the first Western artist to have a biography published during his lifetime. Two biographies were published during his life. In one of them, Giorgio Vasari noted that Michelangelo was the pinnacle of all artistic achievements since the beginning of the Renaissance. This point of view has remained relevant in the history of art for centuries.
During his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called Il Divino ("The Divine"). One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his "terribilità", an awe-inspiring sense of grandeur.
Subsequent artists emulated the master's passionate and highly individual style, which led to the formation of Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance.
Life path
Early life (1475–1488)
Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese near the province of Arezzo, in the Tuscany region. (Today, Caprese is known as Caprese Michelangelo) For several generations his family were small bankers. The bank failed and his father, Lodovico di Leonardo Buanarroti Simoni, accepted a government position in Caprese. At the time of Michelangelo's birth, his father was a magistrate in Caprese and a local official in Chiusi. Michelangelo's mother is Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena. The Buanarroti family claimed descent from Countess Matilda di Canossa. This statement remains unproven, however, Michelangelo himself believed in it. A few months after Michelangelo's birth, the family returned to Florence, where he grew up.
Later, during his mother's illness and after her death in 1481, when he was only six years old, Michelangelo lived with a stonemason and his wife and family in Settignano, where his father owned a marble quarry and a small farm. Giorgio Vasari quotes Michelangelo: “If there is anything good in me, it is only because I was born in the refined atmosphere of Arezzo. Along with my mother’s milk, I received the ability to handle a chisel and a hammer, with which I carve statues.”
Study period (1488–1492)
As a boy, Michelangelo was sent to Florence to study grammar under the tutelage of the humanist Francesco da Urbino. Young artist, however, showed no interest in learning, preferring to copy paintings from churches and seek the company of artists.
Madonna of the Steps is the most early work Michelangelo
At that time, Florence was the largest center of art and learning in Italy. The Signoria (city council), trade guilds, wealthy patrons such as the Medici and their banking partners provided support for the arts. The Renaissance, the renewal of classical science and art, had its first flowering in Florence. In early 1400, the architect Brunelleschi studied the ruins of classical buildings in Rome and created two churches, San Lorenzo and Santo Spirito, in which he embodied classical principles. The sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti labored for fifty years to create the bronze doors of the Baptistery, which Michelangelo described as the "Gates of Heaven." The outer niches of the Church of Orsanmichele contain a gallery of works greatest sculptors Florence: Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio and Nanni di Banco. Mostly the interiors of old churches are covered with frescoes in the style of the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, starting from Giotto to Masaccio in the Brancacci Chapel, both of these works were studied and copied by Michelangelo in drawings. During Michelangelo's childhood, a team of artists was called from Florence to the Vatican to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio, a master of fresco painting techniques, perspective, drawing and portrait painting. At that time, he had the largest workshop in Florence.
In 1488, at the age of thirteen, Michelangelo was sent to be trained by Ghirlandaio. When he was only fourteen, his father persuaded Ghirlandaio to pay for his studies with Michelangelo as an artist, which was very unusual for that time. When in 1489, Lorenzo de' Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, asked Ghirlandaio about his two best students, Ghirlandaio sent Michelangelo and Francesco Granacci. From 1490 to 1492, Michelangelo entered the Academy of Humanism, which was founded by the Medici together with the Neoplatonists. In the academy, both Michelangelo's worldview and his art were influenced by many of the most famous philosophers and writers of the time, including Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola and Poliziano. At this time, Michelangelo carved the reliefs of the Madonna of the Stairs (1490-1492) and the Battle of the Centaurs (1491-1492). The latter is based on a theme proposed by Polizian and commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici. Michelangelo worked for some time on the sculpture of Bertoldo di Giovanni. When he was seventeen years old, another student, Pietro Torrigiano, hit him on the nose, causing the deformity that appears in all Michelangelo's portraits.
Bologna, Florence and Rome (149 - 1499)
The death of Lorenzo de' Medici on April 8, 1492 brought about a change in Michelangelo's circumstances. He left the safety of the Medici court and returned to his father's house. In the following months he carved a polychrome wooden Crucifixion (1493), as a gift to the rector of the Florentine church of Santo Spirito, which allowed him to spend some time studying anatomy on cadavers in the church's hospital. Between 1493 and 1494, Michelangelo bought a piece of marble and carved a larger than life-size statue of Hercules, which was sent to France before it disappeared around the 18th century. On January 20, 1494, after heavy snowfalls, Lorenzo's heir, Piero de' Medici, commissioned a snow statue, and Michelangelo re-entered the Medici court.
That same year, the Medici were expelled from Florence as a result of Savonarola's revolt. Michelangelo left the city before the end of the political revolution, moving to Venice and then to Bologna. In Bologna he was commissioned to carve the last few small figures to complete the tomb of St. Dominic in the church in honor of that saint. During this time, Michelangelo studied the difficult reliefs carved by Jacopo della Quercia around the main entrance of the Basilica of San Petronio, including the fresco of the Creation of Eve, a composition revived on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. At the end of 1494, the political situation in Florence became calmer. The city, previously under threat from the French, was already safe since Charles VIII suffered defeats. Michelangelo returned to Florence, but without receiving an order from the new city government under Savonarola. He returned to work for the Medici. For six months in Florence, Michelangelo worked on two statues, “Young John the Baptist” and “Sleeping Cupid”. According to Condivi, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, for whom Michelangelo was working on the sculpture of St. John the Baptist, asked Michelangelo to "correct it so that it would appear as if it had been buried" so that he could "send it to Rome... give [her away] ] as an antique work and... sell for much more.” Both Lorenzo and Michelangelo were defrauded by an intermediary of the actual cost of the work. Cardinal Rafael Riario, the one to whom the statue was sold, discovered the deception, but was so impressed by the quality of the sculpture that he invited the artist to Rome. This apparent success in selling his sculpture abroad, as well as the conservatism of the Florentine situation, encouraged Michelangelo to accept the prelate's invitation.
Michelangelo arrived in Rome on June 25, 1496 at the age of 21. On July 4th of the same year, he began work on a commission for Cardinal Rafael Riario, a super-life-size statue of the Roman god of wine Bacchus. Upon completion, the cardinal rejected the work, and it subsequently entered the collection of the banker Jacopo Galli, for his garden.
In November 1497 French ambassador He was commissioned by Cardinal Jean Billaire de Lagrola of the Holy See to carve the Pietà, a sculpture showing the Virgin Mary mourning the body of Jesus. The theme, which is not part of the biblical narrative of the Crucifixion of Christ, was widely used in medieval religious sculpture Northern Europe and is well known to the cardinal. The agreement was agreed upon in August next year. By the time the sculpture was completed, Michelangelo was 24 years old. It soon came to be regarded as one of the world's great masterpieces of sculpture, "a revelation of all the possibilities and powers of the art of sculpture." Vasari summed up modern opinion succinctly: “It is an absolute miracle that a formless piece of stone should be transformed into a perfection which nature is hardly capable of reproducing in the flesh.” Now it is located in St. Peter's Basilica.
Florence (1499–1505)
Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1499. The Republic changed after the fall of the anti-Renaissance priest and ruler of Florence Girolamo Savonarola (executed in 1498) and the rise of the Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini. The consuls of the woolen guild asked him to complete an unfinished project begun 40 years earlier by Agostino di Duccio, a colossal statue in Carrara marble that depicted David, the symbol of Florentine freedom. It should have been placed outside Cathedral Florence. Michelangelo responded to the proposal by completing his most famous work, the statue of David, in 1504. The masterpiece finally cemented his reputation as a sculptor of outstanding skill and power of symbolic imagination. A team of consultants, including Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, were called in to decide where to place it, which ended up being the Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Today the statue is in the Academy, while it exact copy takes its place in the square.
The statue of David was completed by Michelangelo in 1504. One of the most famous works of the Renaissance
With David's completion came another order. In early 1504, Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to depict the "Battle of Anghiari" between the forces of Florence and Milan in 1434 in the council chamber of the Palazzo Vecchio. Later, Michelangelo was entrusted with writing “The Battle of Cascina”. The two paintings are very different, Leonardo depicted soldiers fighting on horseback, and Michelangelo showed them being ambushed while swimming in a river. Neither work was completed and both were lost when the meeting room was restored. Both frescoes are admired and copies are preserved. Rubens painted a copy of Leonardo's work, and Bastiano da Sangallo painted a copy of Michelangelo's work.
Also during this period, Michelangelo was commissioned by Angelo Doni to paint the Doni Madonna (Holy Family) as a gift for his wife, Maddalena Strozzi. The work is also known as Doni Tondo and hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in its original magnificent frame, which may have been designed by Michelangelo. He also may have painted the "Madonna and Child with John the Baptist", known as the "Manchester Madonna", which is currently in the National Gallery in London, UK.
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1505–1512)
In 1505, Michelangelo was again invited to Rome by the newly elected Pope Julius II. He was commissioned to build the pope's tomb, which was to include forty statues, and was completed within five years.
Under the patronage of the Pope, Michelangelo faced constant interruptions in his work on the tomb in order to complete other numerous tasks. Although Michelangelol worked on the tomb for 40 years, it was never completed to his satisfaction. The tomb is located in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome and is best known for central figure Moses, completed in 1516. Of the other statues destined for the tomb, two are known as the Dying Slave and the Bound Slave, now in the Louvre.
During the same period, Michelangelo painted the ceiling Sistine Chapel, which took approximately 4 years to complete (1508-1512). According to Condivi's description, Donato Bramante, who was working on the building of St. Peter's Basilica, resented Michelangelo's commission and convinced the pope to commission him with material with which he was unfamiliar, so he would fail.
Initially, Michelangelo was commissioned to depict the Twelve Apostles on triangular sails that support the ceiling, and cover the central part of the ceiling with ornamentation. Michelangelo convinced Pope Julius to give him free reign, and proposed another, more complex plan, representing the Creation of the World, the Fall, the Hope of Salvation through the Prophets, and the Genealogy of Jesus. This work is part of a larger plan of decoration within the chapel that represents much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The work extends over an area of more than 500 square meters of ceiling, and contains over 300 figures. At its center are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, divided into three groups: God's creation of the Earth; God's creation of the human race and its fall, turning away from God's grace; and finally, the Essence of humanity in the person of Noah and his family. The sails supporting the ceiling depict the twelve men and women who predicted the coming of Jesus. They were the seven prophets of Israel and the five Sibyls, prophetesses ancient world. Among the most famous frescoes on the ceiling - “The Creation of Adam”, “The Fall and Expulsion of Adam and Eve”, “The Flood”, “The Prophet Jeremiah” and “The Kuma Sibyl”.
Florence under the Medici popes (1513 - early 1534)
In 1513, Pope Julius II died and was succeeded by Pope Leo X, the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici. Pope Leo commissioned Michelangelo to reconstruct the facade of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence and decorate it with sculptures. He reluctantly agreed, and spent three years creating drawings and models for the façade, as well as attempting to open a new marble quarry in Pietrasanta specifically for the project. In 1520 the work was suddenly interrupted, before any real progress had been made, due to a lack of financial resources from his patron. To this day, the basilica lacks a façade.
Statue of Moses for the tomb of Pope Julius II
In 1520, the Medici again approached Michelangelo with another major proposal, this time for a family funerary chapel in Basilica of San Lorenzo. Fortunately for future generations, this project was more fully realized, and the artist pursued it throughout most of the 1520s and into the 1530s. Michelangelo created the design of the Medici chapel at his own discretion. It housed the large tombs of two younger members of the Medici family, Giuliano, Duke of Nemours and Lorenzo, his nephew, but it also memorialized more illustrious predecessors. Lorenzo "The Magnificent" and his brother Giuliano were buried nearby. The tombs display statues of two representatives of the Medici, and allegorical figures personify day and night, dusk and dawn. The chapel also houses the Medici Madonna created by Michelangelo. In 1976, they discovered a hidden corridor with drawings on the walls, which are connected with the chapel itself.
Pope Leo X died in 1521, and was briefly succeeded by the ascetic Adrian VI, and then by his cousin Giulio de' Medici as Pope Clement VII. In 1524, Michelangelo received an architectural commission from the Medici Pope for the Laurentian Library in the Church of San Lorenzo. He designed both the interior of the library itself and its lobby. This building uses architectural forms with such a dynamic effect that it is seen as a harbinger of the Baroque. He was left to other architects to interpret Michelangelo's plans and carry out his instructions. The library opened in 1571, but the vestibule remained incomplete until 1904.
In 1527, Florentine citizens, inspired by the sack of Rome, drove out the Medici and restored the republic. A siege of the city followed, and Michelangelo went to the aid of his beloved Florence, working on the city's fortifications from 1528 to 1529. The city fell in 1530 and the Medici regained power.
Michelangelo fell out of favor with the young Alessandro de' Medici, who was installed as the first Duke of Florence. Fearing for his life, he fled to Rome, leaving behind assistants to complete the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library. Despite Michelangelo's support for the Republic and resistance to Medici rule, Pope Clement welcomed him, paying him a reward for the work the artist had previously done, and awarded him a new contract to work on the tomb of Pope Julius.
Rome (1534–1546)
In Rome, Michelangelo lived next to the Church of Santa Maria di Loreto. It was during this time that he met the poetess, Vittoria Colonna, Marquis of Pescara, who became one of his closest friends until her death in 1547.
Shortly before his death in 1534, Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgment fresco on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. His successor, Paul III, played an important role in the beginning and completion of the project by the artist. Michelangelo worked on the fresco from 1534 until October 1541. The fresco depicts the Second Coming of Christ and his judgment of souls. Michelangelo ignored the ordinary artistic traditions in the image of Jesus, and showed him young, beardless and naked, with a massive, muscular body. He is surrounded by saints, among whom St. Bartholomew holds a dangling flayed skin, taking the likeness of Michelangelo. The dead who rise from their graves will be sent to either Heaven or Hell.
Once completed, the nude depiction of Christ and the Virgin Mary was considered sacrilege, and Cardinal Caraffa and Monsignor Sernini (the Ambassador of Mantua) advocated for the fresco to be removed or censored, but the Pope opposed it. At a meeting of the Council of Trent, shortly before Michelangelo's death in 1564, it was decided to hide the genitals, and Michelangelo's student, Daniele da Volterra, was entrusted with making the changes. An uncensored copy of the original by Marcello Venusti is in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples.
During this time, Michelangelo worked on a number of architectural projects. These included the design of the Capitoline Hill with its trapezoidal plaza that would display the antique bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius. He designed the top floor of the Palazzo Farnese and the interior of the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, in which he modified the arched interior of the ancient Roman bath. Other architectural works included: the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, the Sforza Chapel (Sforza Chapel) in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore and Porta Pia.
St. Peter's Basilica (1546–1564)
Dome of St. Peter's Basilica,photo Myrabella, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
In 1546, Michelangelo was appointed architect of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. The process of restoring the 4th-century Basilica of Constantine has been going on for 50 years, since the foundations of Bramante's plan were laid in 1506. Various architects worked on it successively, but made little progress. Michelangelo was convinced to take on the project. He returned to Bramante's original ideas and developed them into a centric plan for the church, strengthening the structure both physically and visually. The dome, completed only after his death, was called "the greatest creation of the Renaissance" by Banister Fletcher.
As construction progressed on St. Peter's Basilica, there was concern that Michelangelo would die before completing the dome. However, once construction began on the lower part of the dome, the support ring, completion of the project became inevitable. Michelangelo died in Rome in 1564, at the age of 88 (three weeks before his 89th birthday). His body was taken from Rome for burial in the Basilica of Santa Croce, performing last will master to be buried in his beloved Florence.
On December 7, 2007, the Vatican archives discovered esse-red chalk on the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, possibly the last one Michelangelo made before his death. This is extremely rare, as he destroyed his designs later in life. The sketch is a partial plan for one of the radial columns of the drum of St. Peter's dome.
Personal life
In his personal life, Michelangelo was abstinent. He once told his student, Ascaño Condivi: “However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.” Condivi described that he was indifferent to food and drink, eating "more out of necessity than pleasure" and that he "often slept in his clothes... boots." His biographer Paolo Giovio says: “He was so rude and uncouth by nature, and his internal habits incredibly wretched, that he deprived the next generation of students who might have followed him.” Michelangelo could not have like-minded people, since by nature he was a hermit and a melancholy person, “bizzarro e fantastico”, a man who “withdrew from the company of men.”
It is impossible to know for certain whether Michelangelo had a physical relationship (Condivi described him as "as chaste as a monk"), but the nature of his sexuality is evidenced by his poetry. He wrote more than three hundred sonnets and madrigals. The longest sequence was painted by Tommaso de' Cavalieri (c. 1509–1587), who was 23 years old when Michelangelo met him in 1532, aged 57. They wrote the first great sequence of poems in any modern language, in which one person addresses another, preceding Shakespeare's sonnets about bright youth by fifty years:
A cold face burns me from afar,
But glaciation grows within it;
In two slender hands - strength without movement,
At least each load would be small for them.
(translation by A.M. Efros)
Cavalieri replied: “I vow to return your love. I have never loved a person more than I love you, I have never desired friendship more than I desire yours.” Cavalieri remained devoted to Michelangelo until his death.
In 1542, Michelangelo met Cecchino de' Bracci, who, however, died a year later, inspired Michelangelo to write forty-eight mournful epigrams. Some of Michelangelo's objects of affection, and the subjects of his poetry, deceived him to further their interests: the model Febo di Poggio asked for money in return for a love poem, and the second model, Gerardo Perini, shamelessly stole it from him.
Figure of Ignudo from the fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The overtly homoerotic nature of poetry became a source of discomfort for subsequent generations. Michelangelo's great-nephew, Michelangelo the Younger, published the poems in 1623 with gender changes until John Addington Symonds translated them into English language in 1893 and restored their original flooring. Even today, some scholars continue to insist that, despite the restoration of pronouns, the poems represent "a dispassionate and elegant reinterpretation of the Platonic dialogue, resulting in erotic poetry appearing to be the expression of refined feelings."
At the end of his life, Michelangelo had a great love for the poetess and noble widow Vittoria Colonna, whom he met in Rome in 1536 or 1538 and with whom he was with for the last 40 years of her life. They wrote sonnets for each other and maintained an ongoing relationship until she died. Condivi recalls Michelangelo saying that his only regret in life was that he did not kiss the widow's face in the same manner as her hand.
Works
Madonna and Child
Madonna of the Stairs is known as Michelangelo's earliest work. It is carved in small relief, a technique often used by master sculptors of the early 15th century, Donatello and others such as Desiderio da Settignano.
Madonna of the Steps (1490–1492)
While the Madonna is in profile, the simplest aspect of the shallow relief, the child displays the rotational movements that have become characteristic feature works by Michelangelo.
Marble bas-relief of Taddei Tondo (1502)
The Tondo Taddei from 1502 shows the infant Christ being frightened by a bullfinch, a symbol of the crucifixion. The living form of the child was later adapted by Raphael in the painting Madonna of Bridgewater. The "Madonna of Bruges", at the time of its creation, unlike other such statues that show the Virgin Mary, proudly represents her son. The Christ Child, held by his mother's hand, is ready to go out into the world. The Madonna of Doni, depicting the Holy Family, has elements of all three previous works: the frieze with the figures in the background has the appearance of a bas-relief, while the round shape and dynamism of the figures are reminiscent of the Taddei Tondo. The painting emphasizes the twisting movements present in the Madonna of Bruges. The painting commemorated the shapes, direction and color that Michelangelo used on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Marble statue of Madonna and Child in Bruges, Belgium (1504)
Madonna Doni Tondo (1504–1506)
Male figure
The Kneeling Angel is an early work, one of several that Michelangelo created as part of a large decorative project for the Ark of St. Dominic in the church dedicated to that saint in Bologna. Several other artists worked on the project, starting with Niccolò Pisano in the 13th century. At the end of the 15th century, this project was managed by Niccolo del Arca. The angel holding the candlestick, created by Niccolo, has already been put in place.
Statue of an Angel, early work of Michelangelo (1494–1495)
The two angels forming a pair are very different from each other, one is depicted as a weak child with flowing hair, dressed in a Gothic robe with deep folds. The young man Michelangelo is depicted as strong and strong with eagle wings, wearing antique style clothing. Everything about Michelangelo's angel is dynamic. Michelangelo's sculpture of Bacchus was commissioned with a specific theme, the young god of wine. The sculpture has all the traditional trappings: a vine wreath, a cup of wine and a satyr, but Michelangelo brought a spirit of reality to the theme, depicting him with sleepy eyes, a distended bladder and in a pose that suggests he is unsteady on his feet. While the work is clearly inspired by classical sculpture, it is unconventional due to its twist and strong three-dimensionality, which invites the viewer to look at it from all angles. In the so-called “Dying Slave,” Michelangelo again used a figure with a pronounced contrapposto, suggesting a specific pose of a person, in this case waking up from sleep. "The Rebel Slave" is one of two earlier statues of this kind for the tomb of Pope Julius, which the sculptor brought to an almost finished state. Today it is in the Louvre. These two works deeply influenced later sculpture through Rodin, who studied it at the Louvre. "The Bound Slave" is one of the later statues for the tomb of Pope Julius. Known collectively as Slaves, the works each show a figure desperately trying to free himself from the bonds of a rock in which he is stuck. The works provide a unique insight into the sculpting techniques used by Michelangelo and his way of illuminating what he saw in stone.
Statue of the god of wine Bacchus, early work of Michelangelo (1496–1497)
Statue of the Dying slave, Louvre (1513)
Statue of a slave holding a vault (Bound slave) known as Atlas (1530–1534)
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Completion of this work took about four years (1508–1512). The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling has a flattened barrel vault, which is supported by twelve triangular sails rising between the windows of the chapel. The order, as Pope Julius II imagined it, was to decorate the sails with the figures of the twelve apostles. Michelangelo, who reluctantly took on the job, convinced the Pope to give him free reign. The resulting artwork project awed his contemporaries and has inspired other artists ever since. The plan has nine panels illustrating scenes from the Book of Genesis and is arranged in an architectural frame. On the sails, Michelangelo replaced the proposed apostles with prophets and sibyls who predicted the coming of the Messiah. Michelangelo began painting from the later scenes of the story. The paintings included details of terrain and groups of figures, Noah's Drunkenness being the first in this group. In later compositions, painted after the original scaffolding had been removed, Michelangelo made the figures larger. One of the central images, "The Creation of Adam"- one of the most famous and most reproduced works in the history of art. The last panel shows "The Separation of Light from Darkness." This fresco is the most extensive in its depiction and was painted in one day. As a model for The Creation, Michelangelo depicted himself in the process of painting a ceiling. As assistants for small scenes, the artist painted twenty young men. They have been interpreted in various ways, as angels, muses, or simply decoration. Michelangelo referred to them as "ignudi". The figure is conveyed in context with what is seen on the fresco "Separation of Light from Darkness". In the process of painting the ceiling, Michelangelo explored different bodies. Some of the murals, such as the survivor "Libyan Sibyl", demonstrate the artist's attention to detail, such as the arms and legs. The prophet Jeremiah, who foresaw the fall of Jerusalem, is an image of the artist himself.
Multi-figure compositions
Michelangelo's relief "Battle of the Centaurs" was created at a time when he was still a young man associated with the Medici Academy. The image has an unusually complex relief which shows a large number of figures participating in a vigorous struggle. Such a complex of disordered figures is rare in Florentine art, where it is typically found only in images showing either the Massacre of the Innocents or the Torments of Hell. Some figures are depicted in relief quite boldly. Its execution may indicate Michelangelo's familiarity with the Roman reliefs of sarcophagi from the collection of Lorenzo de' Medici. Similar marble panels were created by Niccolò and Giovanni Pisano, and figurative compositions by Ghiberti on the bronze doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni.
The composition “Battle of Kashin” is known in its entirety only from its copies. According to Vasari, it was so admired that it deteriorated and was eventually torn to pieces. It reflects the earlier reliefs with its energy and variety of figures in various poses, many looking from behind as they face the approaching enemy and prepare for battle.
Bas-relief The Battle of the Centaurs (1492)
A copy of the lost cardboard Battle of Cascina drawn by Bastiano da Sangallo
Fresco Crucifixion of St. Peter
For The Last Judgment, Michelangelo took inspiration from Melozzo da Forli's fresco in the Church of Santi Apostoli in Rome. At the same time, the work is very different from Michelangelo's in character. Melozzo depicted the figures from different sides, as if they were floating in Heaven and were seen from below. The majestic figure of Christ, with his cape billowing in the wind, demonstrates a degree of perspective on the figure, which was also used by Andrea Mantegna, but this was not common in the frescoes of Florentine painters. IN " Last Judgment“Michelangelo had the opportunity, on an unprecedented scale, to depict figures that in action also strive upward or fall and are pulled down.
In the two frescoes of the Paolina Chapel, The Crucifixion of Peter and the Crucifixion of Paul, Michelangelo used different groups of figures to convey a complex narrative. In The Crucifixion of Peter, the soldiers are busy with their duty of digging a hole and raising the cross, while people look on and discuss what is happening. A group of frightened women crowds in the foreground, while another group of Christians, led by a tall man, act as witnesses to the event. In the right foreground, Michelangelo entered the painting with a look of disappointment on his face.
Architecture
Michelangelo's architectural commissions included a number of those that were not realized, most notably the façade for Brunelleschi's Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. Michelangelo created a wooden model for it, however, to this day it remains an unfinished rough block. In the same church, Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII) commissioned him to design the Medici Chapel and the tomb of Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici.
Pope Clement also commissioned the Laurentian Library, for which Michelangelo designed an unusual vestibule with columns set into niches and a staircase that appears to pour out of the library like a stream of lava. According to Pevzner: “...the revelation of mannerism in its most sublime architectural form.”
In 1546, Michelangelo created a very elaborate oval design for the pavement of the Capitol and began planning the top floor of the Palazzo Farnese. In 1547 he took on the task of completing St. Peter's Basilica, begun according to a design by Bramante, with a number of intermediate sketches by several architects. Michelangelo returned to Bramante's plan, maintaining the basic form and concepts while simplifying and strengthening the design to create a more dynamic and unified whole. Although in late XVI century, the engraving depicts the dome in section as hemispherical, Michelangelo's model of the dome is partly oval in shape and is final version, since it was completed by Giacomo della Porta, making it better.
The lobby of the Laurentian Library had mannerist features that challenged the classical order of the neighboring Brunelleschi church
Michelangelo, redesigned the ancient Capitol (Capitoline Hill), which included complex spiral sidewalks with a star in the center
Michelangelo's plan for St. Peter's was both massive and restrained, with the angles between the apsidal arcs of a Greek cross, in a square projection
The exterior is surrounded by a giant order of pilasters that support a continuous cornice. Four small domes are united around a large one
Death
In his old age, Michelangelo created several Pietas in which he apparently reflected on death. They were commemorated by a statue of the "Spirit of Victory", which may have been created for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but remained unfinished. In this work, the young winner overcomes an older hidden figure with Michelangelo-like features.
Vittoria Colonna's Pieta is a pencil drawing that has been described as "gift drawings" because it may have been received as a gift from the artist and it was not necessary to study the work. In this image, Mary's raised hands indicate her prophetic role. The frontal direction is reminiscent of Masaccio's fresco of the Holy Trinity in Santa Maria Novella in Florence.
In the Florentine Pieta, Michelangelo again depicts himself, this time the aged Nicodemus lowering the body of Jesus from the cross into the arms of his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. Michelangelo broke the left arm and leg of the Jesus statue. His student Tiberio Calcagni reconstructed the arm and drilled a hole to install the leg. He also worked on a statue of Mary Magdalene.
Probably the Pieta Rondanini, Michelangelo's last sculpture, will never be finished because Michelangelo carved it before there was enough stone. The legs and separated arm remained from the previous stage of work. As the statue survives, it has an abstract character, in keeping with the 20th century idea of sculpture.
Michelangelo's legacy
Michelangelo, with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, one of the three giants of the Florentine High Renaissance. Although their names are often mentioned together, Michelangelo was 23 years younger than Leonardo and eight older than Raphael. Due to his recluse nature, he has nothing in common with either artist and outlived them both by more than forty years.
Michelangelo took on several sculptor apprentices. He provided work to Francesco Granacci, who was his friend and student of the Medici Academy. Granacci became one of several assistants to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo seems to have used assistants mainly for more self made preparing surfaces and rubbing paints. Despite this, his works had a great influence on artists, sculptors and architects for many generations.
"David" is the most famous male nude statue of all time. She was destined to be propagated to decorate cities around the world. However, some of Michelangelo's other works may have had a greater influence on the flow of art. The twisted figures and contradictions of the Spirit of Victory, the Madonna of Bruges and the Medici Madonna made them harbingers of mannerism. The unfinished giants for the tomb of Pope Julius II deeply influenced late 19th and 20th century sculptors such as Rodin and Henry Moore.
