Michelangelo
(Italian, 1475–1564)
Biography
Michelangelo was an eminent figure of the Italian Renaissance. From his monumental sculpture David (1501–1504), to the frescoes of Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the artist’s expertise in several mediums was comparable only to that of his countryman Leonardo da Vinci. “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action,” he once reflected. Born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy, he moved to Florence at the age of 13. In Florence, he apprenticed with the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, but left his apprenticeship after only a year. The artist’s surviving works from this period are primarily studies made after the paintings of Giotto and Masaccio. An early patron of Michelangelo’s work, the statesman Lorenzo de’ Medici brought the young artist into his court. Living amidst Medici’s villa, Michelangelo became enamored of the numerous ancient Roman statues and frescoes in the statesman's collection. Over the next several decades, Michelangelo split his time between Rome and Florence, fleeing one warring state for another as politic turmoil warranted. During his own lifetime Michelangelo was lauded as the greatest artist of his time, this was largely in part to the glowing biography published by his friend and admirer Giorgio Vasari. The artist died at the age of 88, on February 18, 1564 in Rome, Italy. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, among others.
Michelangelo Artworks
After Michelangelo
SOLDIERS SEEN FROM BEHIND, AFTER THE CONVERSION...
Sale Date: January 11, 1994
Auction Closed
Michelangelo
THE MEETING OF THE INFANT SAINT JOHN..., 1530–1535
Sale Date: July 6, 1993
Auction Closed
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