David (1501–1504)
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence
Over 5 m of marble; originally stood in the Piazza della Signoria, where a replica now stands
Image: Jörg Bittner Unna · CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Art
Michelangelo
1475–1564 · Italian (Florentine)
High Renaissance
Michelangelo Buonarroti was a sculptor, painter, architect and poet who dominated the High Renaissance. He carved the Pietà and David, painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment, and designed the dome of St Peter's; his contemporaries called him "Il Divino".
How to spot them
- ▸Heroic, muscular, sculptural nudes in twisting poses — even his painted figures look carved
- ▸Sistine Chapel imagery: God's finger almost touching Adam's, ignudi, sibyls and prophets
- ▸Quiz clue: 'Il Divino', 'Pope Julius II', 'Carrara marble', 'Buonarroti', 'broken nose' or 'horned Moses'
Key works
Pietà (1498–1499)
St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
The only work he ever signed, on the sash across the Virgin's chest
Image: original file by Stanislav Traykov · CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508–1512)
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
Commissioned by Pope Julius II; nine scenes from Genesis
Image: Antoine Taveneaux · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Creation of Adam (c. 1508–1512)
Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican City
The near-touching fingers of God and Adam
Image: Michelangelo · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
The Last Judgment (1536–1541)
Sistine Chapel (altar wall), Vatican City
Includes his self-portrait on the flayed skin held by St Bartholomew
Image: Michelangelo · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Moses (c. 1513–1515)
San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
Centrepiece of the tomb of Julius II; shown with horns from a Vulgate reading of Exodus
Image: Livioandronico2013 · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Quick-fire facts
- •He was born in Caprese, Tuscany, and apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio
- •His nose was broken in a fight by fellow sculptor Pietro Torrigiano
- •The Doni Tondo (Uffizi) is his only surviving finished panel painting
- •In The Last Judgment he gave Minos the face of Biagio da Cesena, the papal master of ceremonies who had criticised the nudity
- •Daniele da Volterra later painted draperies over the nudes, earning the nickname 'Il Braghettone' (the breeches-maker)
- •He was chief architect of St Peter's Basilica from 1546 and designed its dome
- •He wrote hundreds of sonnets and madrigals, several addressed to Vittoria Colonna and Tommaso dei Cavalieri
- •He died in Rome in 1564 at the age of 88; his body was taken to Santa Croce, Florence
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Michelangelo
- E. H. Gombrich — The Story of Art