Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti was a man full of passions, arrogant and lonely. He was well known in all areas of art, sculpture, painting, poetry and architecture. He achieved great triumphs in all areas in which he worked, but sculpture was his favorite type of work and he devoted most of his life to it. He was known as the most important figure of Italian Renaissance, completely dominating the artistic panorama of 16th century. He had great contact with recognized Renaissance men who were in charge of inculcating him habits that influenced and shaped his ideas. In his beginnings, he leaned towards the fifteenth century, and in his works it is possible to observe with ease a great and powerful manifestation of feelings that derived in majestic figures. He was considered by many as one of the main geniuses of the Italian Renaissance.

Personal information

• When was he born: 03/06/1475
• When he died: 2/18/1564
• Nationality: Italian

Who was Michelangelo Buonarroti?

Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of the main exhibitors of Italian Renaissance, considered a genius in sculpture, he also devoted himself to painting, writing poetry and architecture. His sentimental works managed to reflect majestic figures that are acclaimed until today.

Michelangelo Buonarroti biography

Michelangelo was born in Caprese, an Italian village located in Arezzo province in 1475. He was the son of a noble family known as the Buonarroti, a family recognized for having occupied different public positions. He began his life as a painter only at the age of 12 and a year later, began with the sculpture helped by Bertoldo di Giovanni, who would be responsible for introducing him into the circle of the Médci. He had great difficulties at the beginning of his career because his father opposed his wishes, because for him, painting did not have any recognition, however, being this what he wanted, he managed to convince him and follow his desire for art. The first artistic works he made aroused the curiosity and admiration of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who welcomed him into his palace. Thanks to these relationships, Michelangelo Buonarroti was able to come into direct contact with the different idealistic theories of Plato, and he ended up being one of the main pillars of his life.

Artistic style by Michelangelo Buonarroti

His artistic style was renowned mainly for his sculptures. As an architect, Michelangelo Buonarroti was strongly linked to classicist norm, he was based on Mannerist alternatives, anti-classical and baroque. Its Florentine art was based on the 14th and 15th centuries. It was also based on classical art, focused mainly on human body. Shaping marble and filling it with spirituality was its strong point, showing at all times the anatomy, movement and dimensions.

Michelangelo Buonarroti’s works

• Sistine Chapel Vault: One of its most important and famous achievements, widely recognized worldwide. Its beauty and complexity stand out from the rest. All the Genesis narrative is embodied in it and for this reason, he made different sections in his work adorning each of the scenes that are represented in it. Of all these works, the main one is Adam’s creation. It lasted many years in being able to finish it because he wanted to do it completely alone and did not require anyone’s help.
• The David: Beautiful sculpture sculpted in white marble with a measure of meters high. In this sculpture, the artist seeks to represent King David, when he was about to face Goliath. It is one of the main works made during the Renaissance and another of his works recognized worldwide.
• The Christ of the Minerva: Another of its structures carved in marble representing the Redeemer Christ, embracing the cross and covered with a canvas that covered its intimate parts, at the same time holding in the left hand objects that represented martyrdom.

Clement VII, Goliath, Narcissus, Squatting Youth, The Dying Slave, The Rebel Slave, The Madonna of Witches and Tondo Taddei are some of his most important works.

Michelangelo Buonarroti’s paintings

Although Michelangelo Buonarroti was considered a better sculptor than a painter, everything he did was remarkable. He had a clear concept of monumental painting and painted great heroes. Some of his paintings are God and Adam, which described the creation of man; The Sibyl of Delphi, The Last Judgment, painting commissioned by Pope Clement VII; The Head, the Holy Family, among others.

Sculptures by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Some of his main sculptures were:

• The head of the faun
• The Virgin of the staircase
• Crucifix of Santo Spirito
• Hercules
• The Battle of the Centaurs
• Ark of Santo Domingo

Phrases

• Some of his most important phrases are mentioned here.
• The true work of art is but a shadow of divine perfection.
• It is painted with the brain, not with the hands.
• The greatest danger for most of us is not that our goal is too high, and we don’t reach it, but that it is too low and we get it.
• How can I make a sculpture? Simply removing from the block of marble everything that is not necessary.
• There is no idea that cannot be expressed in marble.
• No matter how rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.
• I was never a painter or a sculptor like those who opened businesses for that purpose. I always refrained from doing so out of respect for my father and my brothers; although I have served three fathers, I did so under duress. I think that’s it.