The Pieta, The Statue of David and The Sistine Chapel Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)

Michelangelo was an artist famous in his own lifetime and often revered as one of the great masters of the Renaissance period. He was born on March 6, 1475 in Florence , Italy .  He was recognized at age 13 to have a talent for drawing and sculpting and was sent to train with master artists.  By the age of 16, he was being commissioned (hired) to create works.  He had created numerous works of art by the age of 21, but most of them are lost or unidentified.  The works he left behind are impressive not only in the finished product, but also in the sketches he drew to create his masterpieces.  They are just as revered.  Michelangelo primarily considered himself to be a sculptor and not a painter. Michelangelo was silent, private, touchy and irritable.  He lived frugally, and even when he became a rich man he continued to live like a poor one.  All of his money went either to his family or to charity.

The Statue of David

Another masterpiece of Michelangelo is the Statue of David. The gigantic 14 foot tall marble statue is one of the most famous statues in the world.

Show picture of statue.

It took four years to complete.  Michelangelo carved the statue to reflect the power and determination of the Republican Florence. "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

1. At what point in David's life is this depicting? (he's a young man) 

2. Is this a portrayal of David before or after he slew Goliath? (Before, he's holding a sling with a stone in it and looking into the distance for Goliath.)

3. What character traits are shown?  (David is projecting heroic courage.  He's manly and athletic looking.)  

The Sistine Chapel

Built in 1475, 100 years before Michelangelo was born, the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel were already decorated with scenes from the lives of Moses and Jesus.  At the age of 33 Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the chapel.

1. Where is the Sistine Chapel? (Vatican City, Rome) 

2. Who owns it? (the Roman Catholic Church)  

Show pictures of the Sistine Chapel. These were painted with frescoes.

3. What are frescoes? (paintings on fresh, wet plaster on a wall or ceiling where the plaster of the wall absorbs the moist paint and it becomes a permanent part of the wall.)  

4. How long do you think it took to paint this? (He completed the ceiling in four short years, without any help. He painted lying on his back on scaffolding 60 feet above the floor.)  

5. Do you think it was difficult? (He wrote of all the discomforts involved in painting a ceiling and despaired of being a painter.  He considered himself a sculptor, not a painter. "If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.")