Michelangelo – Renaissance Man

Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect,and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art.

Michelangelo’s creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci.

Michelangelo is one of the best-documented and most accomplished artists of the 16th century. He  achieved fame early; two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before the age of thirty. 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( link Italy DG ) , and The Last Judgment on its altar wall. 

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. In his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called Il Divino (“the divine one”). His contemporaries often admired his ability to instill a sense of awe in viewers of his art- given the expressive physicality of his style.

Michaelangelo lived until he was 88 and his tomb now lies in Sante Croce Basilica in Florence , the burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians, including Galileo, and Machiavelli,. It is a fitting final resting place in the Renaissance City that helped define his life and work.