Biography of Michelangelo, the great artist of the Renaissance

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Michelangelo is the great master of the Renaissance, whose name is remembered along with Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and other Renaissance artists. Known primarily as an unsurpassed sculptor (the statue of David in Florence, etc.) and the author of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. He worked in the field of architecture, was an excellent poet.

The start of the journey

The biography of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni begins March 6, 1457 in Caprese (now Caprese Michelangelo). His first teachers were masters Bertoldo di Giovanni and Ghirlandaio from the art school of Lorenzo Medici. The aesthetic attitude of the future artist was formed under the influence of Donatello, Giotto, Jacopo della Quercia, whose creations he copied during his studies. The first independent sculptural works - "Madonna at the Stairs" and "Battle of the Centaurs" - are currently presented in the Casa Buonarroti Museum in Florence. In 1496, the young artist moved to Rome.

Recognition

Biography of Michelangelodoes not differ in a difficult struggle with circumstances: his unconditional talent was immediately recognized by both fellow workers and those in power. By 1500, the artist completes work on the sculptural composition "Pieta" ("Madonna Weeping for Christ"), commissioned for the Cathedral of St. Peter, and almost immediately received an order from the Florentine government: a statue of David five and a half meters high, designed to be placed in the central square of the city. The work lasted five years. Thanks to this statue, Michelangelo gained worldwide fame. The original is currently in the Florence Academy of Fine Arts.

The master receives another order from Julius II: a tombstone for the future papal tomb. The composition was begun in 1505, but continued only in 1513 (Julius II had already died). The terms of the contract were revised many times, the work moved slowly. Only thirty years later the tombstone was installed. Of the first works, only the statue of Moses was included in the composition. Originally intended for the same purpose, the sculptures of slaves ("Dying" and "Rising") are now in the Louvre.

Creative maturity

1508 year. The biography of Michelangelo was replenished with the following important episode: he was entrusted with painting the vaults of the Sistine Chapel. On its walls and vaults there are scenes from Genesis and other books of the Old Testament, images of the prophets.

For twenty years the master worked on the creation of the architectural and sculptural ensemble of the Medici Chapel. Work was repeatedly stopped both due to lack of funds and due to force majeure: from 1527 to 1530the Florentine uprising against the Medici continued, and Michelangelo led the defense of the besieged city. The completion of the chapel was carried out only in 1546, it was then that the sculptural group was installed.

The biography of Michelangelo is closely intertwined with the dramatic events of both secular and religious life in Italy. In 1534 the artist returns to Rome. This time is a difficult period for the Renaissance: church moods are activated. The Last Judgment fresco (the altar of the Sistine Chapel), completed by 1541, reflects the artist’s confusion, changes in his worldview. From now until the death of the master, his paintings and sculptures are filled with tragic pathos.

Last project

Partly the authorship of Michelangelo belongs to the Cathedral of St. Petra is a grandiose building that was built by several generations of architects. In 1546, Michelangelo was appointed leader. A brief biography of the artist mentions that originally in 326 a basilica was built here. In the 15th century, they began to modernize it, but in the end, Julius II ordered the construction of a new cathedral on this site. The construction was supervised in turn by Bramante, Rafael, Sangallo, Peruzzi, Michelangelo, Porta, Vignola, Maderno, Bernini. Completion dates back to 1667.

Michelangelo died as a result of a short illness on February 18, 1564 in Rome. His body was secretly taken to Florence and buried in the tomb of the church of Santa Croce. There, to this day, guests of the city can see the tomb. Michelangelo Buonarroti, whose biography inspired the creation of books by such masters of the pen as Romain Rolland, Irving Stone, as well as many connoisseurs of Renaissance art.