Biography of Michelangelo

Who do you think is the most famous artist? Most people think it is Leonardo da
Vinci or someone close to him. But, have you heard of the artist Michelangelo, during
the Renaissance time? He was known as the most famous artist. You might even
recognize his famous sculpture of David and Pieta and his paintings for the Sirintine
Church.

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy. His father, Ludovico
Buonarroti, served as a Magistrate. Later, he and his wife moved to Florence when
Michelangelo was barely a month old. When he was six, his mother past away. His
father encouraged him to study more education, but Michelangelo found more interest
in art. During age 13, Michelangelo started to do art and be an apprentice to
Renaissance artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio. After a year Michelangelo's apprenticeship
was broken off. The boy was given access to the collection of ancient Roman sculpture
of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici (14491492). He dined with the family and
was looked after by the retired sculptor who was in charge of the collection. This
arrangement was quite unusual at the time (Encyclopedia of World Biography).
 Michelangelo carved his first sculpture: The Battle of the Centaurs, which used
simple shapes. When Lorenzo de Medici died in 1492, Michelangelo moved back to
Florence. Over there, he carved a sculpture of a Bacchus for a banker. In 1498,
Michelangelo was hired by the same baker to carve a sculpture of Pieta. The Piet
made his name and he returned to Florence in 1501 as a famous sculptor, remaining
there until 1505. [...] At about this time he painted the Doni Tondo of the Holy Family
with St John the Baptist (Florence, Uffizi) and made the two marble tondi of the
Madonna and Child (Web Gallery of Art). Pope Julius II gave Michelangelo the task to
paint the insides of the Sistine Chapel. His most famous painting was the Creation of
Adam. Michelangelo also painted the columns of the library, Biblioteca Laurenziana.
Michelangelo wrote many poems in the 1530s and 1540s. Approximately three hundred
survive. The earlier poems are on the theme of Neoplatonic love (belief that the soul
comes from a single undivided source to which it can unite again) and are full of logical
contradictions and intricate images. The later poems are Christian. Their mood is
penitent (being sorrow and regretful); and they are written in a simple, direct style
(Encyclopedia of World Biography). Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564, in Rome,
Italy; he was honored for his famous artworks such as the Pieta and David sculpture
and the Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel.