What makes michelangelo a great artist

Carved from a single block of marble, each figure came alive with physical and psychological power, making him the most famous sculptor of all time. This statue of Bacchus depicts the Roman god of wine precariously perched on a rock in a state of drunkenness. He wears a wreath of ivy and holds a goblet in one hand, brought up toward his lips for a drink. In the other hand, he holds a lion skin, which is a symbol for death derived from the myth of Hercules.

From behind his left leg peeks a satyr, significant to the cult of Bacchus often representing a drunken, lusty, woodland deity. The work, one of Michelangelo's earliest, caused much controversy. It was originally commissioned by Cardinal Riario and was inspired by a description of a lost bronze sculpture by the ancient sculptor Praxiteles.

But when Riario saw the finished piece he found it inappropriate and rejected it. Michelangelo sold it to his banker Jacopo Galli instead. Despite its colored past though, the piece is evidence of Michelangelo's early genius.

His excellent knowledge of anatomy is seen in the androgynous figure's body which Vasari described as having the "the slenderness of a young man and the fleshy roundness of a woman. Although intended to mimic classical Greek sculpture and distressed toward an antique appearance, Michelangelo remained true to what in visual human terms it means to be drunk; the unseemly swaying body was unlike any depiction of a god in classical Greek and Roman sculpture. Art historian Claire McCoy said of the sculpture, "Bacchus marked a moment when originality and imitation of the antique came together.

It depicts the body of Jesus in the lap of his mother after the Crucifixion. This particular scene is one of the seven sorrows of Mary used in Catholic devotional prayers and depicts a key moment in her life foretold by the prophet, Simeon. The year-old Michelangelo answered this call, carving the work in two years out of a single block of marble. Although the work continued a long tradition of devotional images used as aids for prayer, which was developed in Germany in the s, the depiction was uniquely connotative of Italian Renaissance art of the time.

Many artists were translating traditional religious narratives in a highly humanist vein blurring the boundaries between the divine and man by humanizing noted biblical figures and taking liberties with expression. Mary was a common subject, portrayed in myriad ways, and in this piece Michelangelo presented her not as a woman in her fifties, but as an unusually youthful beauty. As Michelangelo related to his biographer Ascanio Condivi, "Do you not know that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste?

Christ too, shows little sign of his recent crucifixion with only slightly discernible small nail marks in his hands and the wound in his side. Rather than a dead Christ, he looks as if he is asleep in the arms of his mother as she waits for him to awake, symbolic of the resurrection.

A pyramidal structure signature to the time was also used: Mary's head at the top and then the gradual widening through her layered garments to the base.

The draped clothing gives credence to Michelangelo's mastery of marble, as they retain a sense of flowing movement, far removed from the typical characteristic of stone. This is the only sculpture Michelangelo ever signed. In a fiery fit of reaction to rumors circulating that the piece was made by one of his competitors, Cristoforo Solari, he carved his name across Mary's sash right between her breasts.

He also split his name in two as Michael Angelus, which can be seen as a reference to the Archangel Michael - an egotistical move and one he would later regret. He swore to never again sign another piece and stayed true to his word. Despite an attack in , which damaged Mary's arm and face, it was restored and continues to inspire awe in visitors to this day.

This 17 foot tall statue depicts the prophet David, majestic and nude, with the slingshot he used to kill Goliath, slung victoriously over one shoulder. The piece was commissioned by the Opera del Duomo for the Cathedral of Florence, a project that was originally meant to be a series of sculptures of prophets for the rooftop.

Although David's familiarity stems from the classic religious tale, the statue became not only a rendition of the tale, but a symbol for the new Florentine Republic of its defiant independence from Medici rule. Considered one of Michelangelo's great masterpieces. An exquisite example of his knowledge of anatomy can be seen in David's musculature, his strength emphasized through the classical contrapposto stance, with weight shifting onto his right leg.

A sense of naturalism is conveyed in the way the body stands determined, a confident glare on the young man's face. The top half of the body was made slightly larger than the legs so that viewers glancing up at it or from afar would experience a more authentic perspective.

The realism was seen as so powerful that Vasari praised it as Michelangelo's "miracle But Michelangelo's version, with its towering height, is unmistakably the most iconic version. As was customary to Michelangelo and his work, this statue was simultaneously revered and controversial. The plaster cast of David now resides at the Victoria and Albert Museum. During visits by notable women such as Queen Victoria, a detachable plaster fig leaf was added, strategically placed atop the private parts.

On another occasion, a replica of David was offered to the municipality of Jerusalem to mark the 3,th anniversary of King David's conquest of the city. Religious factions in Jerusalem urged that the gift be declined because the naked figure was considered pornographic. A fully clad replica of David by Andrea del Verrocchio, a Florentine contemporary of Michelangelo, was donated instead.

Before his birth, his family were small bankers in Florence for generations. But the bank failed, forcing his parents to head to Caprese for more work. The family moved back to Florence when Michelangelo was only one month old, a place he would always consider his home. His mother passed away when he was only six, leading him to be placed under the care of a family of stonecutters. Despite this, his father set Michelangelo up for an apprenticeship with the most successful painter in Florence, Domenico Ghirlandaio, at age thirteen.

After a year working with him, Domenico recommended him to Lorenzo de. Medici, the Florentine ruler, leading Michelangelo to study classical sculpture in the Medici gardens. He was much influenced by his time in the Medici residence, surrounded by other great artists, poets and philosophers, subjects which would appear again and again in his work. Although Michelangelo expressed his genius in many forms, he would always consider himself a sculptor first.

Strangely, in the end, Riario was so impressed with Michelangelo's work that he let the artist keep the money. The cardinal even invited the artist to Rome, where Michelangelo would live and work for the rest of his life. Though Michelangelo's brilliant mind and copious talents earned him the regard and patronage of the wealthy and powerful men of Italy, he had his share of detractors.

He had a contentious personality and quick temper, which led to fractious relationships, often with his superiors. This not only got Michelangelo into trouble, it created a pervasive dissatisfaction for the painter, who constantly strived for perfection but was unable to compromise.

In his youth, Michelangelo had taunted a fellow student, and received a blow on the nose that disfigured him for life.

Over the years, he suffered increasing infirmities from the rigors of his work; in one of his poems, he documented the tremendous physical strain that he endured by painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Political strife in his beloved Florence also gnawed at him, but his most notable enmity was with fellow Florentine artist Leonardo da Vinci , who was more than 20 years his senior. Michelangelo's poetic impulse, which had been expressed in his sculptures, paintings and architecture, began taking literary form in his later years.

Although he never married, Michelangelo was devoted to a pious and noble widow named Vittoria Colonna, the subject and recipient of many of his more than poems and sonnets.

Their friendship remained a great solace to Michelangelo until Colonna's death in Michelangelo, who was just 25 years old at the time, finished his work in less than one year, and the statue was erected in the church of the cardinal's tomb. At 6 feet wide and nearly as tall, the statue has been moved five times since, to its present place of prominence at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Carved from a single piece of Carrara marble, the fluidity of the fabric, positions of the subjects, and "movement" of the skin of the Piet — meaning "pity" or "compassion" — created awe for its early viewers, as it does even today.

Today, the "Pieta" remains a universally revered work. Between and , Michelangelo took over a commission for a statue of "David," which two prior sculptors had previously attempted and abandoned, and turned the foot piece of marble into a dominating figure. The strength of the statue's sinews, vulnerability of its nakedness, humanity of expression and overall courage made the "David" a highly prized representative of the city of Florence. The cardinal wanted to create a substantial statue depicting a draped Virgin Mary with her dead son resting in her arms — a Pieta — to grace his own future tomb.

He chose to depict the young David from the Old Testament of the Bible as heroic, energetic, powerful and spiritual, and literally larger than life at 17 feet tall. In , Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt him a grand tomb with 40 life-size statues, and the artist began work. However, in , Julius called Michelangelo back to Rome for a less expensive, but still ambitious painting project: to depict the 12 apostles on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel , a most sacred part of the Vatican where new popes are elected and inaugurated.

Instead, over the course of the four-year project, Michelangelo painted 12 figures — seven prophets and five sibyls female prophets of myth — around the border of the ceiling, and filled the central space with scenes from Genesis. The most famous Sistine Chapel ceiling painting is the emotion-infused The Creation of Adam, in which God and Adam outstretch their hands to one another.

The quintessential Renaissance man, Michelangelo continued to sculpt and paint until his death, although he increasingly worked on architectural projects as he aged: His work from to on the interior of the Medici Chapel in Florence included wall designs, windows and cornices that were unusual in their design and introduced startling variations on classical forms.

Michelangelo also designed the iconic dome of St. Among his other masterpieces are Moses sculpture, completed ; The Last Judgment painting, completed ; and Day, Night, Dawn and Dusk sculptures, all completed by From the s on, Michelangelo wrote poems; about survive. After he left Florence permanently in for Rome, Michelangelo also wrote many lyrical letters to his family members who remained there.

The theme of many was his strong attachment to various young men, especially aristocrat Tommaso Cavalieri.