Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, commonly known only as Michelangelo, was a sculptor, painter, and architect of the 15th century. He is known to be one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance period, and arguably of all time. He has had an unparalleled level of influence on the development of Western art. It has been reproduced in order to grace cities around the world.
The twisting forms and tensions of the Victory, the Medici Madonna, and the Bruges Madonna make them the pioneers of Mannerist art. Although he was best known for his sculptures, Michelangelo was also a gifted poet. His poetry explored the connection between visual arts and poetry as a form of self-expression.
It also shed light on Michelangelo as a man. The subjects of his poems ranged from love, death, and beauty to evil and good.
Accessed 12 December Madonna of the Stairs — Michelangelo, c, marble. Michelangelo , Bacchus. Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long Neck. On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel he demonstrated his ability to create large, beautiful pieces. Furthermore, he was a devotee of mixing Greek and Roman mythology with traditional Christian scenes.
With his sculptures, such as David, Michelangelo understood how light and shadow worked together to create form, volume and shape. Michelangelo worked primarily with the human form and believed that all beauty could be seen in the human body. Whereas da Vinci believed that human form and nature could synchronize, Michelangelo saw nature as something that man had to overcome. For him the body was the physical embodiment of the soul.
Today there are over sketches by Michelangelo in existence. The artist worked from drawings when creating all of his pieces and they act as a wonderful account of his working method. Michelangelo was influenced by many artists throughout his career. Although he preferred to tell people that he was self-taught there were those along the way who helped to shape his skills. For example, at a young age Michelangelo worked under the great Florentine sculptor Domenico Ghirlandaio, who helped to form Michelangelo's opinions about art, and taught him different drawing methods.
Yet, Michelangelo soon moved on from this early apprenticeship and the influence Ghirlandaio had on the young artist cannot have been great considering the short period of time they spent together. Subsequently Michelangelo's next works were produced at the Florentine court under the ruler Lorenzo the Great. It was during this period that Michelangelo spent time alongside some of the greatest artists in Florence.
Working under the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni he learned a great deal. Giovanni himself had once been an assistant to Donatello and was a highly respected artist in Italy during this period. Other artists who inspired Michelangelo include Lorenzo Ghiberti, a Florentine artist from the early s.
Ghiberti designed the metal doors for the Cathedral in Florence which showed scenes from the Old Testament. Michelangelo was familiar with Ghiberti's work, having been bought up in Florence himself. Although Ghiberti died before Michelangelo was born it is said that the Adam Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was based upon Ghiberti's Adam and Eve.
The Last Judgment. There were many artists that followed Michelangelo and were influenced by his works but he had greatest impact on the Mannerists. During his later years Michelangelo's work began to subtly change. His figures became elongated and he began to move away from the High Renaissance's style of painting. In , Piero Soderini, the lifetime Gonfalonier of Justice senior civil servant akin to a Mayor , commissioned them both to paint two opposing walls of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio.
Both paintings were never finished and are unfortunately lost. Michelangelo was seduced by the flamboyant reputation of the patron Pope who was luring other artist peers such as Donato Bramante and Raphael to create exciting new projects. Never one to be bested by his rivals, he accepted the invitation. In Rome, Michelangelo started work on the Pope's tomb, work that was to be completed within a five-year timeline.
Yet, the artist would abandon the project after being cajoled by the Pope for another commission. The project was the painting of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling and rumor has it that Bramante, the architect in charge of rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica, was the one to convince the Pope that Michelangelo was the man for the job. Bramante was notoriously consumed by envy, and knowing that Michelangelo was better known for his sculptures rather than paintings, was certain that his rival would fail.
He hoped this would cause the artist to fall out of popular favor. Michelangelo reluctantly accepted the commission. Michelangelo would work on the Sistine Chapel for the next four years. It was a difficult job of extraordinary endurance, especially since the tempestuous artist had sacked all of his assistants save one who helped him mix paint.
What resulted was a monumental work of great genius illustrating stories from the Old Testament including the Creation of the World and Noah and the Flood. Contrary to Bramante's hopes, it became and remains one of the greatest masterpieces of Western Art. Another noted rival was the young year-old Raphael who had burst upon the scene and was chosen in to paint a fresco in Pope Julius II's private library, a commission vied for by both Michelangelo and Leonardo.
When Leonardo's health began to fail, Raphael became Michelangelo's greatest artistic adversary. Because of Raphael's acuity with depicting anatomy and his finesse for painting nudes, Michelangelo would often accuse him of copying his own work.
Although influenced by Michelangelo, Raphael resented Michelangelo's animosity toward him. He responded by painting the artist with his traditional sulking face in the guise of Heraclitus in his famous fresco The School of Athens He spent the next three years on it before the project was cancelled due to lack of funds.
In , he received another commission for a Medici chapel in the Basilica of San Lorenzo on which he worked intermittently for the next twenty years.
During those two decades, he would also complete an architectural commission for the Laurentian Library. After the sack of Rome by Charles V in , Florence was declared a republic and stayed under siege until Having worked prior to the siege for the defense of Florence, Michelangelo feared for his life and fled back to Rome.
Despite his support for the republic, he was welcomed by Pope Clement and given a new contract for the tomb of Pope Julius II. It was also during this time he was commissioned to paint the fresco of the Last Judgement on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, a project that would take seven years. Although a late bloomer relationship wise, at age 57, Michelangelo would establish the first of three notable friendships, sparking a prolific poetic output to add to his cadre of artistic talents.
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