MICHELANGELO (1475-1564)

Italian Artist and Architect

Although well-known as a painter and an architect, Michelangelo was first and foremost a sculptor. A child prodigy, he was apprenticed to a stone mason at the young age of 13. At the age of 23, he had created The Pieta, which first gained him public acclaim. In the following verse, Michelangelo expresses his unique ability to capture the natural world through sculpture :

"so that, apart from my being old,

there with my face as foil I make hers lovelier,

and I am mocked even harder

for my ugliness, and yet great is my luck

if by making her lovelier I conquer Nature."

In his early years, he trained under Donatello and was soon under the patronage of Lorenzo de Medici. He lived and worked in de Medici's household for three years. Typically, Michelangelo's work held immense power and energy, demanding an emotional response from the spectator. He explored his fascination with the human body through his work. His David is often considered to be the masterpiece in human proportion, made more astounding given its immense size. As well, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, probably the painting that is most immediately associated with Michelangelo, shows human figures at a scale that had not been seen before the Italian Renaissance.

Near the end of his career, Michelangelo successfully pursued architecture. He created such spaces as the Laurentian Library at San Lorenzo, Capitoline Hill in Rome, and St. Peter's in Rome (this done in conjunction with a number of other architects).

Michelangelo is credited with elevating the importance of the artist during the 16th century.