Michelangelo Buonarroti
One of the greatest artists of all time
Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) was a sculptor, painter, architect and poet. He is arguably one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo was considered to be one of the greatest artists of all time. His most famous works include his statue of David, the Pieta, and painting frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, including The Creation of Adam.
Whole fortune in one hand
In the middle of his long life, Michelangelo wrote that he could carry his whole fortune in one hand. He was referring, obviously enough, to the masterpieces he had created. As an artist and sculptor, Michelangelo was a giant; as a man, he was just over five feet tall. By the time of his death at eighty-nine, he had left behind more than four hundred works – some of which have been described as being among the most moving and magnificent creations in Western art.
The Italian origin of an artist
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy, a village where his father, Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarotto Simoni, was briefly serving as a Florentine government agent. A few weeks later, the family returned to its native Florence, where Michelangelo was raised. His mother died when he was six, and it is thought that his father placed him and his younger brother in the care of a stonecutter and his wife to be raised as members of their family. His father hoped that Michelangelo would eventually follow him into banking, but Michelangelo was drawn to art from a young age.
What type of person was Michelangelo?
Michelangelo was a very complex person. He was known to have been an extremely hard worker who demanded the same from those around him. He was described by his contemporaries as being a man of great humility and yet he was also notorious for being vain and self-absorbed.
