LET’S LEARN MORE

ABOUT MICHELANGELO!
 Michelangelo di
Lodovici Buonarroti
Simoni
• Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in a town near Arezzo, Tuscany,
and had a comfortable childhood.

• Michelangelo was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime, and
ever since then he has been held to be one of the greatest artists of all time.

• He was most famous on the following works, the frescoes on the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel (1508–12) in the Vatican, which include the iconic
depiction of the creation of Adam interpreted from Genesis, are probably
the best known of Michelangelo’s works today, but the artist thought of
himself primarily as a sculptor.
 BACCHUS (1496-1497)

• This statue of Bacchus depicts the Roman god of wine

precariously perched on a rock in a state of
drunkenness.

• Bacchus is depicted as a naked man who appears to be

entranced with his own creation.

• Its style of nudity is a combination of both ancient

proportions and a style which is much more naturalistic.
PIETA (1498-1499) • This was the first of a number of Pietàs Michelangelo worked on during
his lifetime.

• It depicts the body of Jesus in the lap of his mother after the
Crucifixion.

• This is the only sculpture Michelangelo ever signed.

• The Pietà became famous immediately following its completion and

was pivotal in contributing to Michelangelo's fame.
 DAVID (1501-1504)

• This 17-foot-tall statue depicts the prophet David,

majestic and nude, with the slingshot he will use to kill
Goliath, slung over one shoulder.

• The piece was commissioned by the Opera del Duomo

for the Cathedral of Florence

• Considered one of Michelangelo's great masterpieces

 THE CREATION OF ADAM (1508-1512)
• This legendary painting, part of the vast masterpiece that
adorns the Sistine Chapel, shows Adam as a muscular
classical nude, reclining on the left, as he extends his
hand toward God who fills the right half of the painting.

• This was an innovative depiction of the creation of Adam.

• This reflected the humanist ideals of man's essential

place in the world and the connection to the divine.
 MOSES (1513-1515)
• This grand, epic-sized statue depicts Moses seated regally to
guard the tablets written with the Ten Commandments.

• His expression is stern, reflecting his anger at seeing his people

worshipping the golden calf on his return from Mount Sinai.

• This sculpture has been at the center of much analysis, with

Sigmund Freud having purportedly spent three weeks in 1913
observing the emotions expressed by the sculpture, concluding
it was a supreme vision of self-control.
SISTINE CHAPEL CEILING (1508-1512)

• A cornerstone work of High Renaissance art.

• The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the
Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV, for
whom the chapel is named.

• The chapel's decoration illustrates much of the doctrine of

the Catholic Church, serving as the location for papal
conclaves and many other important services.
THE LAST JUDGEMENT (1536-1541)

• This fresco covers the entire altar wall of the Sistine Chapel and is
one of the last pieces in the seminal building that was commissioned
by Pope Clement VII when Michelangelo was 62.

• In it we see the Second Coming of Christ as he delivers the Last

Judgement.

• The monumental work took five years to complete and consists of

over 300 individual figures.
 THE DEPOSITION (1547-1555)

• This piece is not only • The multiple themes

sculpturally complex and
indicative of Michelangelo's
genius, but it carries layers
of meaning and has sparked
multiple interpretations.
alluded to in this one piece:
The Deposition, The Pietà,
and The Entombment are
further emphasized by the
way Michelangelo carved it.
 PIETA RONDANINI (1564)

• Pietà Rondanini is the last sculpture Michelangelo worked on in the

weeks leading up to his death, finalizing a story that weaved through
his many Pietàs and now reflective of the artist's reckoning with his own
mortality.

• It was a departure that so late in his prolific career signified the

enduring genius of an artist whose confidence would allow him to try
new things even when his fame would have allowed him to easily rest
upon his laurels.
 REFERENCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/michelangelo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_(Michelangelo)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling

https://www.michelangelo.org/biography.jsp