Michelangelo was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, poet, and architect whose artwork greatly influenced Western Art. Despite being known for a fickle temper and a complex personality, many of Michelangelo’s works have gained immense popularity.
He played a significant role in reviving Roman and classical Greek art and concentrated on antiquity and beyond. He added psychological realism and emotional intensity to his works and created some of the most renowned masterpieces of art history.
Michelangelo was famous for his anatomy excellence; for this reason, his sculptures are said to breathe life. In addition, he was also known to bring life to a stone merely because of his ability to create a sculpture simply from a marble block.
Michelangelo’s Personality
He was bold and stormy. The artist would leave a project midway in the name of ego, defiance, and standing up to controversies. This contentious personality resulted in occasional disagreements, especially with those above him. This created more problems for the artist. As a result, he was always seen struggling to achieve perfection where he wouldn’t compromise. This often left him in a state of distress that he was seen to display through his works. However, despite his personality characteristics, Michelangelo’s works are widely remembered.
Early Life
The story of Michelangelo artwork evolves from a very early age. Instead of receiving a formal education, Michelangelo was more interested in watching the nearby church painters and their drawings. However, his early school friend, Granacci, introduced him to Domenico Ghirlandaio, a famous painter back then. Since the artist’s father realized that Michelangelo was least interested in looking over the family’s business, he was inclined to apprentice him to the workshop of a Florentine painter. Gradually, Michelangelo was introduced to the style of fresco.
After spending some time at Ghirlandaio’s workshop, Michelangelo got an opportunity to study classical sculpture in the gardens of the ruler of Florentine. This opened his doors to more opportunities. He was exposed to famous humanists and scholars. Thenceforward, he got lucky to receive permission to study insights about anatomy from the Catholic Church. All this let him create his unique style influenced by muscular precision influenced by realism, and beauty. For this reason, several works by Michelangelo showcase detail and accuracy based on anatomy.
To learn about Michelangelo artist, take a look at the list of Michelangelo’s works briefly described below:
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling
When we talk about Michelangelo, we immediately remember his most famous work encompassing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. This painting was created in the early 1500s and was created in fresco. However, even before Michelangelo started working on the ceiling, the Chapel’s walls were intricately well decorated.
Known as the most famous work of the Great Renaissance, the painting was commissioned by Pope Julius II and incorporated nine incidents taken from the Book of Genesis. Since the artist considered himself a sculptor over a painter, he was hesitant to paint the Chapel. Later, he agreed to create the painting, and no doubt created a masterpiece for which millions of people flock together to see the outstanding piece of artwork.
Sistine Chapel Ceiling: The Delphic Sibyl – Michelangelo
David
The artist’s work David was one of the most famous sculptures in the world. Michelangelo started to work on it when he was 26 years old. Before his famous battle, David was shown tense and alert, as portrayed by Michelangelo, unlike other artists who had always depicted the victorious biblical hero.
At the same time, one can assess the eye of anatomy here. The artist portrays a masculine god emphasizing his strength where much of his weight is directed towards his right leg. One could easily see the confidence in the sculpture, with the upper body being more significant than the lower part. From a distance, the viewer would understand the naturalism and realism found in Michelangelo’s artwork. Verily, for this reason, he got famous for bringing life to the dead.
Bacchus
Along with Pieta, Bacchus was one of the first sculptors created by Michelangelo on a large-scale setup. Instead of focusing on the pagans, the artist concentrated on Christian subjects. The statue represents the Roman god of wine and is seen in a drunken state. You can find the marble sculpture at Museo Nazionale del Bargello.
Pietà
You can learn about Michelangelo’s artists through his best-known works, David and Pieta. It was made for the tomb of Jean de Bilhères. The sculpture showcases Virgin Mary with Christ after his crucifixion. It is also said that this is amongst one of the seven hardships that the Virgin Mary has faced that is a part of the Catholic devotional prayers.
The Renaissance era in Italy has been a theme typical for funerals. However, what makes Pieta stand out is that it was the only artwork that Michelangelo signed. Also, Pieta suffered damage when Lazlo Toth raised his hammer at the sculpture.
Interestingly, instead of portraying Mary as an old woman, Michelangelo showcased a young beauty. An important thing to note here is instead of merely focusing on the sufferings of the Virgin Mary, Michelangelo showcases maternal love and motherhood in his artwork. Instead of seeing Christ’s crucifixion, the artwork showcases Christ peacefully sleeping in his mother’s lap, waiting to be woken up. This rather signifies resurrection.
Conclusion
A few weeks after his 89th birthday, Michelangelo passed away in Rome because he was ill. His body was taken to Florence, where he was publicly remembered as the father of all arts. The artist was, however, lucky to have achieved wealth and fame during his lifetime and had the pleasure of seeing two of his biographies published during his life. He was an outstanding artist famous for producing many artworks that enjoy a special place in the world.
