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Michelangelo Buonarotti
detail from the “David”
1475-1564
The second of five brothers, Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, at Caprese, in Tuscany, to Ludovico di Leonardo di Buonarotto Simoni and Francesca Neri. The same day, his father noted down: "Today March 6, 1475, a male child has been born to me and I have named him Michelangelo. He was born on Monday between 4 and 5 in the morning, at Caprese, where I am the Podestà." Although born in the small village of Caprese, Michelangelo always considered himself a "son of Florence," as did his father, "a Citizen of Florence."
The Mid- Years
In April of 1508, Pope Julius II called him back to Rome.
He had a new job for Michelangelo, to paint the 12 Apostles along with some decorations on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel…
It is in this church, Santa Maria della Pace, in Rome Italy, where the famous Sistine Chapel is housed.
Donato Bramante (1444 - March 11, 1514), Italian architect, who introduced the Early Renaissance style to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome, where his most famous design was St. Peter's Basilica.
At first, Buonarroti tried to turn down the commission, but in vain. And then, during the realization of the work, that mysterious liking that the artist and the pope had, at bottom, for one another yielded its fruit. Julius II let himself be swayed by Michelangelo's creative frenzy, and both were carried away by their enthusiasm over more and more ambitious plans. So, Michelangelo was given carte blanche: by October 31st, 1512, he had painted over 300 figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
The vault of the papal chapel
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This is a detail of part of the ceiling called “The Creation of Adam.”
Remember, Michelangelo painted this ceiling when he was at least 50 feet off the ground and while lying on his back.
Above the entrance door to the chapel is the figure of the prophet Zechariah. In the two corner pendentives, the story of Judith and Holofernes and that of David and Goliath are represented.
N.B. This images are representations of characters from the Christian Bible.
As we look at the collected works from the Sistine Chapel, one must remember that most art work in this age known as “Renaissance”, was commissioned, that is paid for by the Catholic Church, and
therefore has certain religious significance.
The Sistine Chapel, after all, is the Chapel of the Pope.
Between the triangular spandrels with the families of the ancestors of Christ, the Omnipotent is depicted twice in the central panel, creating the sun and moon and plants of the Earth. This is known as Michelangelo depiction of the Creation of the Sun & the Moon
This probably the best known image of Michelangelo, although he did not consider
himself a painter; rather, he considered himself a sculptor.
Moses1515Marble, height 235 cmS. Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
The statue of Moses was planned but never fully realized as the tomb of Julius II. It was intended for one of the six colossal figures that crowned the tomb. Elder brother to the Sistine Prophets, the Moses is also an image of Michelangelo's own aspirations, a figure "trembling with indignation, having mastered the explosion of his wrath".
What becomes most significant about Michelangelo’s work is that it is very dramatic, and looks as if it breathes- almost a life of its own.
Although the people look very realistic, remember that much if the sculpture is exaggerated or made larger than life so we often do look twice and the beauty of his artistic ability.
