Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni arrived in the world on the 6th of March 1475 within the small town of Caprese. This settlement sat near Arezzo in Tuscany and is now known as Caprese Michelangelo. His father Ludovico served as the local judicial administrator at that time. The family had been bankers in Florence for generations before their bank failed. After his birth, they returned to Florence where he spent most of his childhood. A stonecutter named Simone taught him about marble while his mother Francesca fell ill. She died in 1481 when he was only six years old. He lived with a nanny and her husband who owned a quarry nearby. That environment sparked a lifelong love for stone carving.
At age thirteen in 1488 Michelangelo entered the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio. This master held the largest painting studio in all of Florence. He specialized in fresco techniques and figure drawing. The young artist showed no interest in grammar school lessons from Francesco da Urbino. Instead he copied paintings found inside churches throughout the city. By 1490 Lorenzo de Medici invited him to attend the Platonic Academy. There philosophers like Marsilio Ficino influenced his outlook. He sculpted two early reliefs including Madonna of the Stairs during this period. Another pupil named Pietro Torrigiano struck his nose causing permanent disfigurement. This injury remains visible in many portraits of the artist today.
Michelangelo arrived in Rome on the 25th of June 1496 at just twenty-one years old. Cardinal Raffaele Riario commissioned an over-life-size statue of Bacchus that year. The wine god appeared with bleary eyes and a swollen bladder suggesting intoxication. The cardinal rejected the work which then entered Jacopo Galli's garden collection. In November 1497 another commission began for a Pietà sculpture showing Mary grieving Jesus. He completed it by age twenty-four making it one of his first signed works. The sculpture now resides within St Peter's Basilica. A team of consultants later debated where to place his David statue. They chose Piazza della Signoria before Florence Cathedral. He finished David in 1504 establishing his fame as a sculptor of extraordinary skill.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling required approximately four years to complete from 1508 until 1512. Michelangelo originally planned to paint only twelve apostles on triangular pendentives supporting the vault. Pope Julius II granted him freedom to design a much more complex scheme instead. The final composition stretched across five hundred square metres containing over three hundred figures. Nine central panels illustrated episodes from Genesis including Creation of Adam and Deluge. Prophets and Sibyls surrounded these scenes on the supporting structures. One panel called Separation of Light from Darkness took just a single day to finish. Michelangelo depicted himself as the Creator reaching out toward Adam during that process.
In 1546 Michelangelo accepted the role of architect for St Peter's Basilica at age seventy-one. Previous architects had worked on the project for fifty years with little progress made. He returned to Bramante's original concepts while strengthening both structure and visual unity. The dome remained unfinished when he died but its completion became inevitable once construction began. Later modifications by Giacomo della Porta kept his ovoid profile intact. He also designed the Laurentian Library vestibule in Florence using dynamic architectural forms. That space featured columns recessed into niches creating what some call Mannerist architecture. The library itself did not open until 1571 long after his death.
Michelangelo wrote more than three hundred sonnets throughout his lifetime. About sixty addressed men specifically marking the first significant modern love poetry between males. Tommaso dei Cavalieri received many poems after meeting him in 1532 at age twenty-three. Cavalieri replied swearing to return that love and remain devoted until Michelangelo's death. His faith deepened significantly near life's end becoming a devout Catholic enrolled in the Secular Franciscan Order. Poem 285 written in 1554 stated painting could no longer calm his soul. He lived modestly despite owning net worths exceeding fifty thousand gold ducats. His biographer Paolo Giovio described domestic habits as incredibly squalid due to his solitary nature.
Michelangelo created several Pietà sculptures reflecting on mortality during his final years. The Florentine Pietà showed himself as Nicodemus lowering Jesus from the cross. He smashed the left arm of Christ before Tiberio Calcagni repaired it with a replacement leg. Six days before dying he worked on Rondanini Pietà which remained unfinished forever. The legs and detached arm stayed from earlier stages leaving an abstract quality behind. He died in Rome on the 18th of February 1564 at eighty-eight years old. His body traveled to Florence for interment at Santa Croce Basilica fulfilling his last wish. A monumental tomb designed by Giorgio Vasari cost seventy-seven hundred scudi over fourteen years.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When and where was Michelangelo born?
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni arrived in the world on the 6th of March 1475 within the small town of Caprese. This settlement sat near Arezzo in Tuscany and is now known as Caprese Michelangelo.
Who taught Michelangelo about marble during his childhood?
A stonecutter named Simone taught him about marble while his mother Francesca fell ill. He lived with a nanny and her husband who owned a quarry nearby which sparked a lifelong love for stone carving.
What happened to Michelangelo's nose when he was young?
Another pupil named Pietro Torrigiano struck his nose causing permanent disfigurement. This injury remains visible in many portraits of the artist today.
How long did it take Michelangelo to complete the Sistine Chapel ceiling?
The Sistine Chapel ceiling required approximately four years to complete from 1508 until 1512. The final composition stretched across five hundred square metres containing over three hundred figures.
Where is Michelangelo buried after his death?
He died in Rome on the 18th of February 1564 at eighty-eight years old. His body traveled to Florence for interment at Santa Croce Basilica fulfilling his last wish.