Michealangelo (1475-1564) - A Renaissance Sculptor.
Michelangelo was born on 6 March 1475 in Caprese. He was a painter, sculptor,architect and poet.He grew up in Florence where he worked for his patron, Lorenzo de Medici. His mother died when he was six years old and money was very tight. When he told his dad he wanted to be an artist his father was annoyed as it wasn't a high paying job.At thirteen, Michelangelo was apprenticed to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. When Michelangelo was only fourteen, his father persuaded Ghirlandaio to pay his apprentice as an artist, which was highly unusual at the time. When in 1489, Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence, asked Ghirlandaio for his two best pupils, Ghirlandaio sent Michelangelo and Francesco Granacci.He lived in the Medici palace until death of Lorenzo in 1492. Although he was trained as both a painter and sculptor he preferred sculpting. He produced the famous sclpture of 'the Pieta', a statue of the dead christ lying in the lap of the virgin Mary. The statue of 'the Pieta' is carvied out of white marble, it can be seen today in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Michealangelo returned to Florence in 1501 where where he sculpted the giant statue 'David' from a single block of white marble. The detail in the sculpture, which shows the shapes of muscles on the body and looks lifelike. Michealangelo has also studied anatomy. Michealangelo returned to Rome in 1505 at the request of Pope Julis II who commissioned him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. It took him 4 years to do this, and he painted lying on his back on scaffolding. He started in the middle of the celling , where he painted God craeting Adam and he covered the rest of the celling with scenes from the Bible. The Pope could only view his work when he finshed. He also painted a fresco , 'The Last Judgement' on the wall behind the altar in the Sistine Chapel. Michealangelo ranks as one of the greatest artists of all time.
By: Rebecca Brennan & Chloe McEvoy!
By: Rebecca Brennan & Chloe McEvoy!
