How a simple stonemason became a Renaissance genius: Michelangelo's thorny path

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Michelangelo's masterpieces provide a unique insight into how the artist worked and thought, and also allow you to trace the path of the genius of the Renaissance. Michelangelo has an incredible biography. He went a thorny path from a mason artisan to a great painter and sculptor. Michelangelo was extraordinarily famous during his lifetime, and today he is considered one of the three geniuses of the Renaissance.

Biography

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 near Arezzo in Italy and was the second of five sons. His family belonged to the middle class, his father was a Florentine civil servant. A serious and prolonged illness of the mother forced the father to place his son in the care of a nanny. By the way, the nanny's husband was a stonecutter and worked in his father's marble quarry. When Michelangelo was six years old, his mother died, but he continued to live in this family. It is likely that his childhood in the family of a stonecutter laid the foundation for Michelangelo's love of marble. The family did not approve of the boy's choice (since the artist's status was not entirely respected at that time). But this did not stop Michelangelo from starting his artistic career at the age of 12 and getting a job as an apprentice in the studio of the successful Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio, whose influence is very noticeable in Michelangelo's works.

Working with mentor Ghirlandaio

Ghirlandaio's influence on Michelangelo can also be seen by comparing their work. While Michelangelo worked in the workshop, Ghirlandaio worked on the frescoes for the Tornabuoni chapel in the Florentine church of Santa Maria Novella. "Standing Woman" is a study of one of the female figures in this cycle of frescoes. Ghirlandaio accurately displays dress folds and decorative details. This drawing conveys Ghirlandaio's practical approach to creating a large-scale order. In the workshop of his mentor, Michelangelo saw hundreds of drawings similar to the "Standing Woman". And now, comparing the early works of Michelangelo with the drawings of his master, you can see the similarities in posture, drapery processing and shading. It is noticeable that although Michelangelo is still inexperienced, his drawing is superior to that of Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo's figure has a more convincing rendering of volume, achieved through denser cross-hatching, a laborious modeling technique that Ghirlandaio rarely used.

Interestingly, in the official biography written by Condivi in 1553, Michelangelo denies that he was ever a student of Ghirlandaio. After a long and successful career, Michelangelo seems to have sought to establish himself as a self-taught genius.

Service in the Medici family

After leaving the studio of Ghirlandaio, Michelangelo went to work for the court of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence and head of the powerful Medici family. Lorenzo noticed the talent of a sculptor, and soon Michelangelo was invited to the court. There he met two of his most important future patrons: Giovanni Medici (future Pope Leo X) and his cousin Giulio, who became Pope Clement VII. During this time, Michelangelo received permission from the Catholic Church of Santo Spirito to study corpses in their hospital in order to have understanding of anatomy. In return, he presented them with a painted wooden cross. Early experience with body anatomy influenced Michelangelo's ability to realistically convey muscles, as evidenced by two sculptures from that time. These are "Madonna at the Stairs" and "Battle of the Centaurs".

"Pieta" 1499

In Rome (Michelangelo went there at the end of the 15th century), the sculptor managed to make a name for himself thanks to the famous marble sculpture "Pieta", which is now located in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Michelangelo's undisputed masterpiece! In 1497, the French bishop Jean Billière de Lagroulas commissioned "Pieta" for the chapel of the King of France in St. Peter's Basilica. The Pieta as a result became one of the most famous sculptures of the Renaissance genius, which the 16th century biographer Giorgio Vasari described as something "that nature could hardly create in the flesh." His acuteness of emotions and realism in his work aroused great awe and attention from the biographer.

"David" (1501-1504)

In 1501, Michelangelo accomplished his second great achievement on behalf of the Guild of Wool Merchants. The organization assigned the master a project to complete the 40-year-old sculpture, which was started by the architect and sculptor Agostino di Duccio. The result is a majestic 17-foot nude statue of the biblical hero David. The work was a testament to the artist's unparalleled skill in creating a stunningly accurate marble figure.

Michelangelo and Raphael

With such success and popularity, it is no surprise that Michelangelo has amassed envious people and competitors. One of Michelangelo's rivals was the young 26-year-old Raphael, who was made responsible in 1508 for painting a fresco in the private library of Pope Julius II. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo fought for this project. As Leonardo's health began to deteriorate, Raphael became Michelangelo's greatest artistic rival. Due to Raphael's insight in depicting anatomy and realism in drawing nude, Michelangelo often accused the young master of copying his work. Although Raphael was influenced by Michelangelo, he resented the genius's hostility to himself. Raphael's response to Michelangelo's indignation was peculiar. The young master depicted the artist with a sullen face in the image of Heraclitus in his famous fresco "The School of Athens".

After the death of his main rival Raphael in 1520, Michelangelo dominated the art world for more than four decades. Michelangelo's main artistic object was, of course, the body. His drawings reflect the relentless search for a pose that would most reliably express the emotional and spiritual state of the hero himself. Most of Michelangelo's drawings were never intended for public display. He destroyed a large number of covered notebooks before his death. Perhaps in order to prevent them from falling into other hands, or maybe he wanted to hide the amount of preparatory work.

Sistine Chapel (1508-1512)

“David” is majestic, “Pieta” is grand! But nothing beats the main work of the Renaissance genius - the painting of the Sistine Chapel. The history of the creation of the masterpiece is very curious. The Pope appointed Michelangelo a project to create his tomb (it was to be completed within 5 years). However, the artist abandoned the project after the Pope offered him a new order. The project consisted of painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. According to rumors, the architect Bramante, responsible for the restoration of St. Peter's Basilica, was the one who convinced the customer - Michelangelo was the perfect executor of this commission.

Bramante was an ardent rival of Michelangelo and, knowing that Michelangelo was primarily a sculptor and not an artist, he was sure that his rival would be defeated. He hoped that because of this, the artist would lose his laurels of fame. And Michelangelo himself was reluctant to accept the order. It was undeniably difficult and extraordinarily enduring work, especially since the frantic artist fired all his assistants except one who helped him mix colors. The result was the greatest monumental work of a talented genius, illustrating stories from the Old Testament. Contrary to Bramante's hopes, the painting of the Sistine Chapel has become (and remains) one of the majestic masterpieces of Western art.

Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo are the three giants of the Renaissance and the main participants in the humanist movement. Michelangelo was a master at conveying the shape of the body with such technical precision that the marble seemed to be transformed into flesh and bone. Psychological insight and physical realism in his work have never been displayed with such intensity before. His "Pieta", "David" and the painting of the Sistine Chapel continue to draw crowds of tourists from all over the world. His creative achievements are confirmed by the title that he was called during his lifetime - Il Divino (Divine).