Michelangelo Buonarroti

• In the face of Nicodemus, it is

said that Michelangelo

carved his own likeness.

Pieta del Duomo• This Pieta was

left unfinished by Michelangelo, as there was some problems with the stone.

1. Michelangelo, the second of five brothers, was born in Florence in 1475.

1. Michelangelo, the second of five brothers, was born in Florence in 1475.

When I told my father that I wished to be an artist, he flew

into a rage, 'artists are laborers, no better than shoemakers."

2. He created his first sculpture at age 5.

3. Became a painter’s apprentice at age 13.

When Michelangelo was 18, Lorenzo de Medici became his patron.

2. He created his first sculpture at age 5.

3. Became a painter’s apprentice at age 13.

When Michelangelo was 18, Lorenzo de Medici became his patron.

When Michelangelo turned 13-years old he shocked and enraged his father when told that he had agreed to apprentice in the workshop of the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. After about one year of learning the art of fresco, Michelangelo went on to study at the sculpture school in the Medici gardens and shortly thereafter was invited into the household of Lorenzo de Medici, the Magnificent.

“Old man and young boy”

by Ghirlandaio

“Old man and young boy”

by Ghirlandaio

Fresco, in Italian, literally means "fresh," but in the world of art it specifically

refers to "fresh or wet plaster.

In fresco, the binding material is lime which is quarried in the form

of limestone, burned, and then mixed with water to turn the lime

into plaster. This lime-water mixture becomes calcium

hydroxide plaster which during its drying process has color-binding

properties.

4. Michelangelo thought of

himself as a sculptor more than anything

else.

“the David”• 1. Statue is over 16 feet tall.• 2. Carved from an oddly

shaped block of marble, called “the Giant”.

• 3. Statue was a gift from the Medici to the city of Florence.

Michelangelo wrote in his diaries: "When I returned to Florence, I found myself famous. The City Council asked me to carve a colossal David from a nineteen-foot block of marble -- and damaged to boot! I locked myself away in a workshop behind the cathedral, hammered and chiseled at the towering block for three long years. In spite of the opposition, I insisted that the figure should stand before the Palazzo Vecchio, as a symbol of our Republic. I had my way. Archways were torn down, narrow streets widened...it took forty men five days to move it. Once in place, all Florence was astounded. A civic hero, he was a warning...whoever governed Florence should govern justly and defend it bravely. Eyes watchful...the neck of a bull...hands of a killer...the body, a reservoir of energy. He stands poised to strike."

• 1. “The Pieta” - a statue of Mary and the body of Christ.

• 2. Located in Rome at St. Peter’s.

• 3. Carved at age 25.

Just days after it was placed in Saint Peter's,

Michelangelo overheard someone remark that the

work was done by Christoforo Solari, an artist from

Lombard. That night, in a fit of rage, Michelangelo took

hammer and chisel and placed the following

inscription on the sash running across Mary's

breast: MICHEL ANGELUS BONAROTUS FLORENT FACIBAT (Michelangelo

Buonarroti, Florentine, made this). This is the only work

that Michelangelo ever signed. Michelangelo later regretted his passionate

outburst of pride and determined to never again sign a work of his hands.

• “the Pieta” is the only statue that

Michelangelo ever signed.

• “the Pieta” is the only statue that

Michelangelo ever signed.

Moses

1. Made in Rome for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

Q: Why does Moses have horns on his head?

A: Michelangelo's "Moses" has horns

because one of the biblical translations of "rays of

light" became "horns" in Italian. Because of this

mistranslation, depictions of Moses with horns became somewhat

commonplace.

2. “Horns” represent the rays of light from God.

Sistine Chapel

• 1. It took 4 years to paint the frescoes on the ceiling. A fresco is a painting done on plaster on a wall or ceiling.

• 2. There are 343 figures painted from the Bible.

• 3. 125 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 65 feet in the air!!

"as a result of having painted for so long a time, keeping his eyes fixed on

the ceiling, he saw little when he looked down; if he had to read a letter

or some other small thing, he was obliged to hold it above his head."

"After four tortured years, more than 400 over life-sized figures, I

felt as old and as weary as Jeremiah. I was only 37, yet

friends did not recognize the old man I had become."

“The Last Judgement”

• 1. Back wall of Sistine Chapel, took 6 years to

paint.• 2. 48 feet high, 48

feet wide, with 200 figures.

• 1. Back wall of Sistine Chapel, took 6 years to

paint.• 2. 48 feet high, 48

feet wide, with 200 figures.

• 3. Shows a powerful, beardless Christ.The Last Judgment, was the largest fresco of the Renaissance. Christ, with a clap of thunder, puts into motion the inevitable separation, with the saved ascending on the left side of the painting and the damned descending on the right into hell. As was his custom, Michelangelo portrayed all the figures nude, but prudish draperies were added by another artist (who was dubbed the "breeches-maker") a decade later, as the cultural climate became more conservative. Michelangelo painted his own image in the flayed skin of St. Bartholomew.

He is one of the greatest artists of all time, a man whose name has become

synonymous with the word "masterpiece": Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Unlike many artists of his time, his genius was recognized, but at what cost

to his personal life?

He is one of the greatest artists of all time, a man whose name has become

synonymous with the word "masterpiece": Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Unlike many artists of his time, his genius was recognized, but at what cost

to his personal life?