From his contemporaries, the great Italian artist, sculptor, architect and poet Michelangelo Buonarotti, who lived and worked in the Renaissance, got the nickname Divino ("divine"). He painted the Sistine Chapel and is the author of the famous "Creation of Adam". The great artist decorated the Basilica of St. St. Peter's, located on the territory of the Vatican. His David is considered the most famous sculpture in the world.
The main stages of life and creativity
The minor homeland of the genius is Tuscany, where he was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, in the family of Mayor Lodovico Buonarroti and his wife Francesca di Neri. When Michelangelo's mother was pregnant, she fell off her horse. After the birth of her son, her milk disappeared. The child was fed by the wife of the stonecutter Topolino. The grown-up boy was able to hold a chisel and a hammer in his hands.
6-year-old Michelangelo survived the death of his mother. His father wanted him to become a loan shark or a banker. Only after the boy began to bring him money received from the leadership of the school of painting, where Michelangelo was considered the most talented student, the father allowed his son to do what he loved.
At the end of the 1480s, the influential Florentine Lorenzo de' Medici became the patron of the talented young man. In the first half of the 90s Michelangelo worked on the creation of the "Battle of the Centaurs" and "Madonna at the Stairs". In 1492, his patron died and the young man had to return to his father.
In the mid-1490s, Michelangelo went to Bologna, where he decorated the Arch of St. Dominic with his sculptures. Then he arrived in Florence, where he created statues of "Sleeping Cupid" and "St. Johannes." In the second half of the 1490s, Michelangelo came to Rome, where he worked on "Drunken Bacchus". 75 years later, this statue was already in Florence.
In 1503, the artist worked on the "Twelve Apostles", and a marble St. Matthew appeared in the Florence Cathedral. After the refusal of Pope Julius II to pay Michelangelo for the creation of the tomb, the master left Rome. In 1514, the sculptor worked on the facade of the Florentine Basilica of San Lorenzo.
In 1546 Michelangelo returned to Rome to finish the decoration of the Palazzo Farnese. Thanks to his efforts, the Capitol was replenished with an architectural ensemble, and Buonarotti received the position of chief architect of the Cathedral of St. Peter.
Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564. His remains left Rome and arrived in Florence. Their resting place was the Church of Santa Croce. On the eve of his death, the great sculptor said that he would not go to heaven because he had no children, and his offspring were represented only by stone sculptures.
Unrequited love
Young Michelangelo fell in love with the Medici's daughter Contessina, but did not achieve reciprocity from the girl. In 1536, he began to correspond with the widow Vittoria Colonna, who was 14 years younger than him. For a whole decade, she received letters from the sculptor and even met with him. Michelangelo repeatedly asked her to marry, but she refused all the time.
The artist was at the deathbed of a 57-year-old woman, and then expressed his love for her in his last sonnet. Michelangelo abandoned painting and sculpting sculptures, doing only small architectural projects.
Interesting facts
"Poisons" of the Sistine Chapel The artist often got rid of his creations, because he believed that he had not achieved perfection in them. From 1508 to 1512, the master worked in the Vatican on the painting of the Sistine Chapel, covering the images on the ceiling with hanging scaffolding invented by him so that no one would see the unfinished sketches. He practically did not leave the premises for four years. Here he developed diseases such as scoliosis, osteoarthritis and asthma due to the fact that the artist constantly inhaled poisonous paints.
"The Last Judgment" painted over by a "Typist" In 1537, the master began work on the "Last Judgment" commissioned by the Pope. The naked bodies on the mural caused outrage among the clergy. They entrusted the smearing of shameful places to a student of the great artist – Daniele da Volterra, who was nicknamed "The Shtanopist" for this.
A rich man with the habits of a beggar Michelangelo had a lot of money, but outwardly he resembled a beggar tramp. Buonarotti practically did not drink wine. The artist slept in clothes and shoes, rarely washed, so the genius's body exuded extremely unpleasant odors. He was a workaholic loner, ate little and slept only when he was completely exhausted. His legacy for the world of art is priceless.
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