One artist in history stands out because of his

unique mastery of the materials and methods

of sculpture. Michelangelo (b. Michelangelo
Buonarroti, 1475–1564) used an unconventional
technique to “release” the figure, as he saw
it, from the stone. Rather than remove stone
progressively from all sides, as most sculptors do,
Michelangelo began on one side of the stone and
sculpted through to the other side. He felt that
he was freeing the figure from the stone in which
it had been trapped. His unfinished sculpture,
Awakening Slave, gives an insight into the artist’s
technique (2.4.6).
Michelangelo excelled in architecture
and painting as well as sculpture. Yet he saw
these arts through the eyes of a sculptor; he
believed sculpture itself was the finest, the most
challenging, and the most beautiful of all the
visual arts. While painting the Sistine Chapel
ceiling (2.4.7), which many see as his grandest
work, Michelangelo dreamed of finishing the
ceiling quickly so that he could get back to work
on several large sculptures intended for the tomb
of Pope Julius II. He made many sketches of the
figures intended for the nude male sculptures
(which he called ignudi, from the Italian word for
nude) that he planned would cover the tomb.
Unfortunately, the tomb was never completed in
the way that Michelangelo intended, but some
sculptures carved for the project survive. Figure
2.4.8—Moses—is one example, and if we compare
this polished statue with the Awakening Slave, we
can see how much refining of his sculptural work
the artist did after the initial carving stage.
The muscular figures painted on the Sistine
Chapel ceiling have led many viewers to believe
they are looking at sculptures. The figures
have the appearance of mass, particularly the
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