Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, one of the most ambitious and influential artists of the Renaissance. Together with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, he dominated the High Renaissance of the early 16th century, and his later work played a vital role in the development of Mannerism. 

His work exerted tremendous influence on his contemporaries and on subsequent Western art in general.  He was also one of the greatest Italian poets of his time. Although he was accomplished in a number of different art forms, he regarded himself as primarily a sculptor in marble.  Above:  The Vatican 1970.  Fragments of the frescoe "The Creation" from the ceiling of The Sistine Chapel. Left:  Nicaragua 1974.  The full frescoe (shown largely ovesized)

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in the small village of Caprese, near Sansepolcro, but was essentially a Florentine, maintaining a deep attachment to Florence, its art, and its culture throughout his long life. He spent the greater part of his adulthood in Rome, in the employment of the popes.  However, he left instructions that he be buried in Florence, and his body was placed there in the church of Santa Croce. The tomb erected there was designed by his biographer Giorgio Vasari; it features allegories of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture mourning Michelangelo’s death. 

In 1496, after spending a few months in Florence, Michelangelo went to Rome, where he was able to examine many newly unearthed Classical statues and ruins. He soon produced his first surviving large-scale sculpture, the over-life-size marble Bacchus (1496-1497, Bargello, Florence), bought by the banker Jacopo Galli. One of the few works of pagan rather than Christian subject matter that he executed, it was considered to rival ancient statuary, the highest mark of admiration in Renaissance Rome. 

Michelangelo consolidated his career with the Pietà (1498-1499, St Peter’s, Rome), commissioned by the French cardinal Jean Bilhières de Lagraulas. He summarized the sculptural innovations of his 15th-century predecessors while ushering in the new monumentality of the High Renaissance style of the 16th century. At the age of 25, he had already surpassed all other sculptors of the day. 

The youthful Mary is shown seated majestically, holding the dead Christ across her lap, a theme borrowed from northern European art.  Instead of revealing extreme grief, Mary is restrained, and her expression is one of resignation. In this work, one of the most highly finished of all his sculptures,

• Grenada 1975.  Head of Pietà-statue (sculpted 1498-1499).  Fragment of souvenir sheet issued  in celebration of Michelangelo's 500th birth anniversary.

• Monaco 2001.  Michelangelo's first draft-sketch of Pietà.  (Scan from Dallay Catalogue 2003-2004). 

In 1501, Michelangelo returned to Florence, where he was based until 1505. There he produced two free-standing sculptures, the Madonna and Child (1501-1505, Notre Dame, Bruges).  The major work of this period is the colossal (4.34 m/143 ft) marble David (1501-1504, Accademia, Florence). T he Old Testament hero is depicted as a lithe, naked youth, muscular and alert, looking into the distance as if sizing up the enemy Goliath, whom he has not yet encountered.  When sculpting this statue Michelangelo is quoted to have expressed that "When I saw this piece of marble, I knew immediately that David was inside.  My job would be to cut the excess marble away to reveal him".  

• Monaco 2001.  Michelangelo:  David. The stamp is engraved by the French engraver Pierre Albuisson, and is equally shown on the web site dedicated to him. 
• Grenada 1975.  Michelangelo:  David 

• USSR 1975.  Michelangelo:  David (sculpted 1504 -- belonging to Florence Academy. 

• USSR 1975.  Michelangelo:  Sitting Boy (sculpted c. 1524 -- belongs to the Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

• USSR 1975.  Michelangelo:  Rebellious Slave (sculpted 1513 -- belongs to Louvre, Paris. 

• France 2003. Michelangelo Idem. 

In 1505, Michelangelo was recalled to Rome by Pope Julius II to fulfill a commission to make a tomb for the pope. Having started on the project, Michelangelo left Rome for Florence and Bologna. 

On his return to Rome in 1508, the pope’s interest had turned to the new basilica of St Peter’s, and he ordered Michelangelo to abandon the tomb and start work on what was to be his most magnificent achievement, the frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in St Peter’s, which he completed in 1512.   The Vatican 1994. Souvenir sheet commemorating the completion of the restoration of the Sistine Chapel. "The Last Judgment".  The Sistine Chapel owes its name to Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484 and Pope since 1475).  The Vatican 1998. Pope Sixtus IV. Scott # 1070).

• The Vatican 1976. Air Post Stamps. Three details from "The Last Judgement". 

The vault of the papal chapel was decorated with an intricate scheme of five large and four small scenes from the Book of Genesis, beginning with God Separating Light from Darkness and including the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, the Temptation and Fall of Adam and Eve, and the Flood.  The simulated architecture painted around the smaller narratives is adorned by naked youths, who appear to represent a Neoplatonic ideal of human beings, while the sides of the vault contain the immense forms of prophets and sibyls, who were regarded as having foretold the coming of Christ. Together with further biblical scenes and figures on the edge of the ceiling, these frescos constitute one of the grandest and most harmonious creations of the High Renaissance. 

Fall and Expulsion	Head of Adam	Libyca	Head of the Delphica
Christ and the Virgin	Head of Jeremiah	Isaiah	Head of God the Father

• Ajman 1972.  Frescoes from the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican.  

During his long lifetime, Michelangelo was an intimate of princes and popes, from Lorenzo de’ Medici to Leo X, Clement VII, and Pius III, as well as cardinals, painters, and poets. Neither easy to get along with nor easy to understand, he expressed his view of himself and the world even more directly in his poetry than in the other arts. Much of his verse deals with art and the hardships he underwent, or with Neoplatonic philosophy and personal relationships. 

• Italy 1975. Commemorative set issued at the occasion of Michelangelo's 500th birth anniversary. 

Michelangelo’s prestige has always been immense, and he exerted an enormous influence both on his contemporaries and on later generations of artists. The great Renaissance poet Ludovico Ariosto wrote of him: "Michael more than immortal, divine angel." During the 16th century in particular his muscular, twisted figure-types were constantly reused by Mannerist painters and sculptors. However, none of his followers matched the emotional intensity, or terribilità, that was a recurrent feature of his own work, giving him within his own lifetime the status of "il divino Michelangelo" ("the divine Michelangelo"). 

Sources and links:

• Microsoft Encarta 2002.

• E.H. Gombrich: "Story of the Art" (Danish Edition, ISBN 87-01-79921-5). 

• Online gallery of Michelangelo-paintings. 

Other Renaissance Artists on this site: 

Giuseppe Arcimboldi  Botticelli Leonardo Raphael  Titian  El Greco

Tintoretto  Bruegel (The Elder)  Durer  Tapestry Lady with Unicorn

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