Michaelanglo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni He was born March 6, 1475 –February 18, 1564. He was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer and Leonardo da Vinci was his rival. Most of his family was bakers and really poor. He was formally apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio for some amount of years. After the death of his mother when he was seven years old, Michelangelo lived with a stonecutter and his wife. Michelangelo's outlook and his art were subject to the influence of many of the most prominent philosophers and writers of the day including Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola and Angelo Poliziano. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before he turned thirty. He actually could care less for painting but he created two of the most influential works in fresco in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. As an architect, he pioneered the Mannerist style at the Laurentian Library. Even at the old age of 74 he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of Saint Peter's Basilica. He modified the plan, the western end being finished to his design, the dome being completed after his death with some modification. This quote might shine some light on him “The greatest written expression of his love was given to Tommaso dei Cavalieri (c. 1509–1587), who was 23 years old when Michelangelo met him in 1532, at the age of 57. Cavalieri was open to the older man's affection: I swear to return your love. Never have I loved a man more than I love you, never have I wished for a friendship more than I wish for yours. Cavalieri remained devoted to Michelangelo until his death”. The Statue of David, this masterwork was created out of a marble block from the quarries at Carrara; this definitively established his prominence as a sculptor of extraordinary technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination. He was originally told to paint the 12 Apostles against a starry sky, but lobbied for a different and more complex scheme, representing creation, the Downfall of Man and the Promise of Salvation through the prophets and Genealogy of Christ and ended up painting 300 people. The fresco of The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Clement VII, died shortly after assigning the commission. Paul III was instrumental in seeing that Michelangelo began and completed the project. Michelangelo labored on the project from 1534 to Oct 1541. The work is massive and spans the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. The Last Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse; where the souls of humanity rise and are assigned to their various fates, as judged by Christ, surrounded by the Saints