Michelangelo :: Art, Paintings

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Tuscany. His dad was Lodovico di Buonarrotto and his mother was Fracessca Neri. Michelangelo was also the second of five brothers. His mother was not capable of raising Michelangelo so his dad let a stonecutter’s wife raise him. Sadly, Michelangelo’s mom died when he was six (Bonner Par. 1-13). Michelangelo’s family moved to Florence, Italy a month after his birth. Although his family was not wealthy, Michelangelo went to school in 1482. When Michelangelo started to excel in the arts his dad was not happy. He wanted Michelangelo to become a government or military figure. He beat Michelangelo to steer him away from the arts. Finally, at age 13 Michelangelo’s dad gave up and let Michelangelo start an apprenticeship under Domenico Ghirlando to learn (McNeese 11-21). Michelangelo’s first sculptures were made when he was around age 16. These sculptures were the Battle of the Centaurs and Madonna of the Stairs. The Battle of the Centaurs consisted of nude Greek men fighting centaurs. Centaurs are creatures that have the top half of a man and a bottom half of horse. These sculptures are what told Giovanni de Bertoldo, Michelagelo’s second teacher, that he had a unique calling for sculpting (Bonner Par. 1). Shortly after arriving in Rome, Michelangelo was hired to make a Roman god sculpture. Michelangelo chose to sculpt the Roman god of wine, Bacchus. Michelangelo spent a year on the project. The original customer was not happy with but Jacopo Galli, a Roman banker, purchased the piece. This sculpture is what lead Michelangelo to become more famous (McNeese 34). The next sculpture that Michelangelo made was for a French cardinal, Jean Villiers de Fezencac. The cardinal wanted a sculpture of Virgin Mary and Jesus. Michelangelo signed a contract to be paid 450 ducats if he completed the sculpture in one year. Gladly, he finished the sculpture successfully. The sculpture was called the Pieta and consisted of the siting Virgin Mary with the dead body of her son Jesus across her lap (McNeese 35). In April 1508 Pope Julius II hired Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (McNeese 87). The Sistine Chapel was where major papal ceremonies took place (Summers 11). Although Julius II just wanted Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the chapel Michelangelo had bigger ideas. By 1513, Michelangelo had around 340 figures on the ceiling of the chapel.