Searching for Michelangelo

Italy is famous for many things, but for the world's supreme Renaissance artist, Italy was just home. It was the magic within his home country, however, that inspired some of the world's most famous works, from the David to the Last Judgment. The suggestion of a visit to some of the greater Michelangelo sites throughout Italy will entice any art lover or historian to make the journey. If nothing else, the trip will provide an opportunity to delight in the complex, dazzling essence of this world-famous, multitalented artist.

The Biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti

A member of an old and heavily distinguished Florentine family, Michelangelo was born Michelangelo was born in Caprese, Italy on March 6, 1475. By 1488, at the tender age of 13, he was apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, who was then completed a series of painting within the chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. It was here that Michelangelo learned the "fresco technique," that of applying paint to fresh plaster, allowing the paint to sink into the plaster and harden as it dries. (He would later use Ghirlandaio's technique in the Sistine Chapel.) At fifteen, Michelangelo began to spend time in the home of Lorenzo de' Medici. It was here that he studied sculpture -- under famed artist and sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni.

Michelangelo completed his works, the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs, while studying under Giovanni. It is believed that Michelangelo's hasty exit from the city following the completion of the works from the city may have been due to the turbulent political climate in Florence following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici. He traveled first to Bologna and after a brief visit back in Florence, headed to Rome. In was in Rome that Michelangelo carved the Bacchus and the Piet[dbl dagger], which remain intact within St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Italian legend holds that Michelangelo created the Pieta to adorn his own tomb upon his death. (Another interesting note: It is a rare Italian that has not made the journey to this Basilica; the reverence surrounding the memory of Michelangelo is so great that some Italians consider the trip a cultural pilgrimage.)

Michelangelo returned again to Florence after completing his work in the Basilica. It was then he began his work on the sculpture known as the "David," although Florentines called it The Giant. The statue was complete in 1504. Later that year, Michelangelo was asked to create a fresco of the Battle of the Cascina. Although cited as possibly one of his greatest works, this piece did not survive the next 500 years. It was also during the early 1500s that Michelangelo created several of the now-famous Madonnas, including the Doni Madonna (the Holy Family), a statue of Bruges Madonna (Madonna and Child) and two marble reliefs: the Pitti and Taddei tondos.

Michelangelo was called to Rome by Pope Julius II in 1507 to create a tomb for him, which he requested contain forty life-size figures and elaborate sculptural and intricate paint work. Although originally excited about the undertaking, Michelangelo never completed this project, for in 1508, he began his infinitely spectacular work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes. This job took nearly six years to complete. (He did, however, complete the figure of Moses on Julius' tomb.)

After the death of Julius in 1513, Michelangelo continued his work for the religious monarchy; In 1514, he crawled under the wing of Pope Leo X, Lorenzo de' Medici's son. At the Medici family's parish church in Florence (San Lorenzo) Michelangelo designed and constructed tombs for both Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici II. During this period, he also designed the Laurentian Library (which stands today as an annex to San Lorenzo.)

In was in 1534 that Michelangelo left Florence for good. He journeyed back to Rome, where he vowed to spend what he considered to be the "last few years of his life." Quickly bored, he returned to the Sistine Chapel and created The Last Judgment, a large fresco across an end wall that still exists today. Before his death on February 18, 1564, he completed the design for the dome for St. Peter's and also completed the plans and design for the Capitoline Square as well as the Palazzo Farnese.

His last paintings (Michelangelo's most revered art form) were two frescoes created in the Vatican: the Conversion of St. Paul and the Crucifixion of St. Peter. These remain today within the Pauline Chapel in Vatican City.

List of Michelangelo's Works Still Contained Within Italy

FLORENCE

Bargello (National Museum)

Bacchus (sculpture)
Madonna and Child (marble relief)

Casa Buonarroti

Battle of the Centaurs (marble relief)
Crucifixion (wooden cross)
Madonna of the Stairs (marble relief)

Galleria dell'Accademia

Captives (sculpture)
David (sculpture)

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Piet[dbl dagger] (sculpture)
Palazzo Vecchio
Victory (sculpture)

San Lorenzo

Laurentian Library (architecture)
Medici Chapel (architecture)
Medici Tombs (sculpture)
Medici Madonna (sculpture)

Uffizi Gallery

Holy Family (painting)

MILAN

Castello Sforzesco

Rondanini Piet (sculpture)

ROME

Capitoline Hill

Palazzo Farnese (facade)
Pauline Chapel
Conversion of St. Paul (fresco)
Crucifixion of St. Peter (fresco)

St. Peter's

Dome (architecture)
San Pietro in Vincoli
Moses (sculpture)
Sistine Chapel
Ceiling (frescoes)
Last Judgment (fresco)

For more Michelangelo sites on the Web, check the following sites:

Ashmolean Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Michelangelo COM, Inc.
WebMuseum

Biographical information courtesy of various Web-based encyclopedias and biographies.