Michelangelo

Lore & Background

Michelangelo achieved fame early. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before the age of 30. Although he did not consider himself a painter, Michelangelo created two of the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and The Last Judgment on its altar wall. His design of the Laurentian Library pioneered Mannerist architecture. At the age of 71, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the Western end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification, after his death.

Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive. Three biographies were published during his lifetime. One of them, by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that Michelangelo's work transcended that of any artist living or dead, and was 'supreme in not one art alone but in all three'. In his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called Il Divino ('the divine one'). His contemporaries admired his terribilità—his ability to instill a sense of awe in viewers of his art. Attempts by subsequent artists to imitate the expressive physicality of Michelangelo's style contributed to the rise of Mannerism, a short-lived movement in Western art between the High Renaissance and the Baroque.

Reader's Guide

Michelangelo's significance lies in his transformative impact across multiple arts during the High Renaissance. His sculptures, such as the Pietà and David, set new standards for anatomical realism and emotional expression. His frescoes in the Sistine Chapel—the ceiling's Genesis scenes and the altar wall's The Last Judgment—became defining works of Western art, despite his own reluctance to be called a painter. As an architect, his design for the Laurentian Library pioneered Mannerist architecture, and his work on St. Peter's Basilica, particularly the dome, shaped the skyline of Rome. Michelangelo's legacy also includes his influence on the Mannerist movement, as later artists sought to imitate his expressive physicality. His life and work are exceptionally well-documented through surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, making him one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. Contemporary biographers lauded him as the most accomplished artist of his era, and he was the first Western artist to have a biography published while still alive.

Did You Know?

• Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive.
• He sculpted both the Pietà and David before the age of 30.
• He did not consider himself a painter, yet created two of the most influential frescoes in Western art.
• His contemporaries called him Il Divino ('the divine one') and admired his terribilità.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Letter to Tommaso dei Cavalieri (1 January 1533)." — Michelangelo "Beauty is the purgation of superfluities." — Michelangelo "As quoted in Character Sketches: Or, The Blackboard Mirror (1890) by George Augustus Lofton, p. 432." — Michelangelo "I was never the kind of painter or sculptor who kept a shop." — Michelangelo