Buonarroti, Michelangelo

Essay by mooney179High School, 10th gradeA+, March 2005

download word file, 1 pages 3.0

Downloaded 25 times

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in 1475. He was born into a poor family. Michelangelo didn't really discover his talents for art until he was age 13. When he was 13, he helped an older artist (Domenico Ghirlandaio) paint a chapel. He was so compelled by art that he decided to study at Lorenzo de' Medici's house, which he remained at for three years. From 1488 until 1501 Michelangelo completed at least six works of art; some being secular, others being non secular.

In 1504, Michelangelo started work on his most famous piece of art. The statue of David was said to resemble the man in the biblical story "David and Goliath". Although others have argued otherwise, this is most likely the case. After completing David, he began the four year long task of painting the Sistine Chapel in 1508. The paintings in the chapel consisted of various scenes from the bible.

He continued his artworks by painting another chapel, and by designing a library. His work at the Sistine Chapel contained several nude figures, which were though to be the unacceptable by the church. Because of this, Michelangelo was forced to leave art and focus on architecture.

In 1547 Michelangelo started on various architect projects, which led to him being appointed as the head architect for the redesigning of St. Peter's cathedral. However, he died thirty years before its completion in 1564.

I believe that Michelangelo was a great artist and architect. I hope to someday see the statue of David, if I get a chance to. The Sistine Chapel would also be something cool to see. One of the things I am wondering though, is...Does the Sistine Chapel painting still have the nude people, because the church disapproved, or is it still the same way?