Michelangelo Research Paper

Michelangelo spent most of his life traveling between Florence and Rome. He has many famous works including David and the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. He was a poet, sculptor, and painter. He studied under well respected artists and soon rose to fame. The life of Michelangelo was a very interesting one, full of important figures and many works of art.

When Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni was serving as a magistrate in Caprese, a small village near Florence, Italy, he and Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena recorded the birth of their second of five sons, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, on March 16, 1475 (Editors, Biography.com). They were a family of moderate wealth and returned to Florence when Michelangelo was still an infant.

It is the second only to the Mona Lisa in terms of popularity and is the most replicated religious painting. The near touching hands of Adam and God are considered iconic and has been imitated and parodied many times (Anirudh). In 1626 St. Peter’s Basilica was completed. It is located in Vatican City and is the most renowned work of work of renaissance architecture. Considered one of the greatest buildings of its age, the St. Peter’s Basilica is the second largest church in the world. Antonia da Sangallo the younger was chief architect before Michelangelo took over at seventy-four. Antonia was the principal designer of a large part of the church but died before the completion. Michelangelo was responsible for bringing the design to a point the church could be finished

The Last Judgement was done on the alter wall of the Sistine Chapel. With Jesus in the middle surrounded by prominent saints, it show the second coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgement of all humanity by God. The bottom of the painting shows the descent of the damned into hell (Anirudh).

When Michelangelo was twenty-four when he completed the Pieta, which is regarded as one of the world’s greatest masterpieces of sculpture (Anirudh). Pieta refers to the image of Mary supporting a dead Christ across her knees ("Michelangelo Biography") after the crucifixion. It is not a part of the Biblical narrative but was a common religious sculpture in Northern Medieval Europe (Anirudh).

In 1515 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt Moses for his tomb at the church of S. Piero in Vincoli, Rome. The marble statue depicts Moses with horns on his head. Michelangelo felt it was his most lifelike creation and legend says that when finished, he struck the statues knee and commanded it to speak (Anirudh). In 1559 the Laurentian Library was completed. Commissioned by the Medici pope, Michelangelo designed the interior and vestibule. It is considered one of his most important achievements and his innovations and use of space are revolutionary. He pioneered the Mannerist style in architecture