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1475-1564
A small baby boy by the name of Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 5, 1475 in Caprese, Italy at about 5 in the morning. This boy's father Ludovico Buonarroti, was a resident magistrate and his term was going to expire soon. Once Michelangelo's father, Ludovico resident magistrate had expired, he had to find a permanent guardian for the young boy. Ludovico chose a marble-worker's wife in Settignano. Michelangelo soon became an apprentice for a unique painter Domenico Ghirlandaoi. Michelangelo would rarely visit his father while he was living with Ghirlandaoi. Michelangelo's father was a member of the minor-nobility of Florence. He was a mean person who loved to live off the remains of the family fortune. When Michelangelo was only six years of age, his dear mother, Francesca Neri, passed away. She was no longer there to help support her baby, Michel. In 1485, when Michelangelo was 10 years old, his father was remarried to another woman. During the time of the marriage, at the age of only fifteen, Michelangelo went to go stay with Lorenzo de' Medici. Michelangelo enjoyed staying with the Medici's because Lorenzo, the father of two sons, encouraged the arts and poetry, and that was exactly what Michelangelo was interested in. It was said that these were the best two years of his life.
Michelangelo was the second boy of five brothers into the Buonarroti family. Michelangelo's family showed him very little affection and he always felt the urge to speak his mind. When Michel started to live with Lorenzo de' Medici, he was able to start conversing with the two Medici boys named Leo X and Clement VII. These two boys both became popes when they were older. When Michelangelo attended school, he met many new friends. One in particular was his friend Francesco Granacci, who studied Latin with Michelangelo. Michelangelo's household was a rough environment. With his mother dead, and his father hardily ever seeing him, Michel started to grow hurt inside him. The only way to express his feelings was through his paintings and sculptures. He never had many friends, and was never the type of person to try and accomplish the dilemma. Many people accepted his work as beauty and peace. While Michelangelo was still young, he was introduced to many humanists and sculptors.
Michelangelo started to attend school for the first time when he was around 10 years of age. This was an exciting date in his life because he never had gone to school before. At this school, Michelangelo was learning how to read and write in Italian. Sooner or later, Michelangelo would choose arts over studies. Instead of focusing on his studies, he would usually get out a pen, paper and start to draw. Michelangelo's father and uncle did not like the fact that an artist was living in the house. Even with Michelangelo's fame and fortune, his father still did not recognize the importance of the arts. He was never supportive of Michelangelo. A couple years later, Michelangelo attended another school in the Medici gardens. While studying Roman, ancient Greek and contemporary art, Michelangelo started on some of his famous sculptures of his life. At the age of fifteen, Michelangelo created the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs. These were famous marble sculptures that Michel had created. While he was in his young age, about 24, Michelangelo created the Pieta. He started it in the year 1498 and finished it in 1500. The Pieta was a marble sculpture of Mary, Jesus' loving mother, and Jesus, the Redeemer. The sculpture had Mary, cradling her son, Jesus, who was just crucified. Many people today try to mimic the sculptures of Michelangelo but cannot. A quote from Michelangelo tells how he was able to complete a magnificent work of art, an angel, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." In 1505, Michelangelo was summoned by the pope, Julius Caesar II to paint the inside wall of the Sistine Chapel. He was finished with the chapel in 1512 On the painted ceiling was supposed to be the 12 apostles. Instead, Michelangelo had a more realistic idea, and that was the Old testament. The Sistine Chapel ceiling wall is known for the famous painting, The Last Judgment. Michelangelo had also been commissioned to build Julius II a tomb. It would be located in Saint Peter's Basilica. The most famous sculptures of all the sculptures Michelangelo has produced is David. He stands over fourteen feet tall. He produced this marble sculpture from 1501 to 1504 after returning to Florence. David, Michelangelo's most cherished sculpture today, was placed in the Piazza de Signoria.
By the time Michelangelo was in his seventies, he decided to devote the rest of his life to God. In a journal entry from Michel to his nephew Leonardo he wrote, "Many believe, -- and I believe -- that I have been deesignated for this work by God. In spite of my old age, I do not want to give it up; I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him." Michelangelo, at the old age of 89 years old, died in February 18, 1564.Just two days before he had passed away, Michelangelo was working all day on the Pieta when suddenly he told one of his students that he was feeling ill. Two days later he died. Doctors say he died of a fever that slowly killed him. His last words were "I regret that I have not done enough for the salvation of my soul and that I am dying just as I am beginning to learn the alphabet of my profession." Michelangelo's doctor wrote: "This afternoon that most excellent and true miracle of nature, Messer Michelangelo Buonarroti passed from this to a better life." Later that day, Michelangelo's body was put into a sarcophagus and buried in a peaceful place. But just soon after the burial of Michelangelo, his nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti, took position of his works and corpse and had him properly buried in Santa Croce where Michelangelo originally wanted to be buried. Michelangelo gave so much to the world today such as art, and literature. Michelangelo is man of dreams and fantasies that lived to present them. He was capable of such extreme beauty in a battered piece of marble or an old ceiling wall of a church. The year Michelangelo passed away, William Shakespeare and Galileo was born.
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