Michelangelo lived his life following his dream and his influence is still being felt. He is THE Renaissance man. He was so popular when he was living that he had two biographies written about him before he was dead! That was unheard at that time, unlike today when celebrities are writing their autobiographies in their twenties. But he had to work hard to gain that influence. And he wasn’t looking for influence when he did it. He was just trying to do what he loved.
Born March 6, 1475, to a family who had through the generations fallen from nobility, Michelangelo had a rough start. His mother was ill and died when he was young so his early upbringing took place in a servant’s home. It was here that he was first introduced to stone cutting. The servant’s husband worked at the marble quarry that Michelangelo’s father owned. At six he was sent to school but he spent his time copying paintings at the local church. His father figured out that he wasn’t cut out for the family business so allowed him at thirteen to apprentice with a local painter. And his career started to take off.
He only stayed with this painter for one year and then the Medici family, asking his master painter for his two best students, took over Michelangelo’s education. The Medici’s exposed him to great teachers and ideas. And he started learning how to sculpt.
Most people have heard how Michelangelo studied cadavers to learn about human anatomy in order to better portray the human body in his work. Just being around dead people and cutting them open sounds really gross but when you add to that the risk that he took, it starts to sink in how strongly he felt about his work. Michelangelo was a devout Catholic and it was against the rules to defile the dead. He was putting his future at risk by taking on this research but what would our lives be like if he didn’t?
By the age of 21, he had finished the Pieta, a sculpture of Mary with the body of her son Jesus after he was crucified. The sculpture looks lifelike. The cold of the stone just helps put the viewer into the scene where a mother is holding the cold dead body of her son. The research was well used. This piece of work appropriately made him famous and he was a sought after artist.
During his life, he was constantly being pulled from one job to another. He worked for several different popes, painting, and sculpting and even doing architecture. He was also being pushed by rival artists – Da Vinci, Raphael, and others. They were are competing for the same jobs and being evaluated and compared by the public and their patrons. His works include his sculpture David, the Sistine Chapel (both the ceiling and the Last Judgement), and the architecture for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Michelangelo was always learning. At 72 he took on St. Peter’s Basilica! He was not known as an architect. He was an artist! He was completely self-taught and yet he took on the building of this giant church that would one day house the bones of St. Peter. So he wasn’t just pushed by patrons and competitors. He pushed himself too.
Through all that Michelangelo accomplished and endured in his life, he was able to leave a lasting mark on civilization. His style changed the way artists portrayed the world and therefore how people saw it. His work influenced other artists who came after him (mannerism artistic style). He truly lived his life expressing and developing his genius.
Note: Some sites make reference to his sexuality. Also, his art includes a lot of nudes. Even the kid sites may allude to these. If this is something you are concerned about, please preview them before sharing them with your young children.
Resources to learn more:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelangelo
https://www.michelangelo.org/
https://www.michelangelo-gallery.org/biography.html
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/a-closer-look-michelangelos-painting-of-the-sistine-chapel-ceiling/
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/renaissance-art-europe-ap/a/michelangelo-ceiling-of-the-sistine-chapel
For Kids:
https://www.ducksters.com/biography/artists/michelangelo.php
https://www.coolkidfacts.com/michelangelo/
https://artsycraftsymom.com/michelangelo-art-projects-for-kids/