Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, a small town 40 miles southeast of Florence. Now this town is called Caprese Michelangelo in honor of the artist. His father, Lodovico, was acting as mayor of Caprese at the time of his son's birth, but soon his term of office came to an end and he returned to his homeland, Florence. The ancient Buonarroti family had by this time become greatly impoverished, which did not stop Lodovico from being proud of his aristocracy and considering himself above earning his own living. The family had to live on the money that the farm brought in in the village of Settignano, located three miles from Florence.
Here, in Settignano, infant Michelangelo was given to the wife of a local stonecutter to be fed. Stone in the vicinity of Florence has been mined for a long time, and Michelangelo liked to say later that he “absorbed the chisel and hammer of the sculptor with the milk of his nurse.” The boy's artistic inclinations manifested themselves in early age, however, the father, in accordance with his concepts of aristocracy, for a long time resisted his son’s desire to become an artist. Michelangelo showed character and, in the end, obtained permission to become an apprentice to the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. This happened in April 1488.
The very next year he moved to the school of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, which existed under the patronage of the actual owner of the city, Lorenzo de' Medici (nicknamed the Magnificent). Lorenzo the Magnificent was a very educated man, well versed in art, he wrote poetry himself and was immediately able to recognize the talent of young Michelangelo. For some time Michelangelo lived in the Medici Palace. Lorenzo treated him like a favorite son.
In 1492, Michelangelo's patron died, and the artist returned to his home. Political unrest began in Florence at this time, and at the end of 1494 Michelangelo left the city. Having visited Venice and Bologna, at the end of 1495 he returned. But not for long. The new republican rule did not contribute to the pacification of city life; on top of everything else, a plague epidemic broke out. Michelangelo continued his wanderings. On June 25, 1496, he appeared in Rome.
He spent the next five years in the "Eternal City". Here his first great success awaited him. Soon after his arrival, Michelangelo received an order for marble statue Bacchus for Cardinal Raphael Riario, and in 1498-99 another one - for the marble composition “Pieta” (in fine arts This is how the scene of the Mother of God mourning Christ was traditionally called). Michelangelo's composition was recognized as a masterpiece, which further strengthened its position in the artistic hierarchy. The next order was the painting “Burial”, but the artist did not finish it, returning to Florence in 1501.
Life in his hometown had stabilized by that time. Michelangelo received an order for a huge statue of David.
Completed in 1504, David, like the Lamentation of Christ in Rome, cemented Michelangelo's reputation in Florence. The statue, instead of the previously planned location (at the city cathedral), was installed in the very heart of the city, opposite the Palazzo Vecchio, where the city government was located. She became a symbol of the new republic, which, like the biblical David, fought for the freedom of its citizens.
The story of another order received from the city is interesting - for the painting “The Battle of Cascina” for the Palazzo Vecchio. Its plot was supposed to be the victory of the Florentines over the Pisans at the Battle of Cascina, which took place in 1364. The drama of the situation was aggravated by the fact that Leonardo da Vinci undertook to paint the second picture for the Palazzo Vecchio (“Battle of Anghiari”). Leonardo was 20 years older than Michelangelo, but the young man accepted this challenge with an open visor. Leonardo and Michelangelo did not like each other, and many waited with interest to see how their rivalry would end. Unfortunately, both paintings were not completed. Leonardo abandoned his work after the crushing failure he suffered while experimenting with a new technique of wall painting, and Michelangelo, having created magnificent studies for the Battle of Cascina, left for Rome in March 1505 at the call of Pope Julius II.
However, he reached his destination only in January 1506, having spent several months in the quarries of Carrara, where he selected marble for the tomb of Pope Julius II, which was ordered for him. Initially, it was planned to decorate it with forty sculptures, but soon the pope lost interest in this project, and in 1513 he died. A long-term lawsuit began between the artist and the relatives of the deceased. In 1545, Michelangelo finally finished work on the tomb, which turned out to be only a pale shadow of the original plan. The artist himself called this story “the tragedy of the tomb.”
But another order from Pope Julius II was crowned with complete triumph for Michelangelo. It was the painting of the vault of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The artist completed it between 1508 and 1512. When the fresco was presented to the audience, it was recognized as a work of superhuman power.
Leo X (Medici), who replaced Julius II on the papal throne in 1516, commissioned Michelangelo to design the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. His version was rejected in 1520, but this did not prevent the artist from receiving further orders for the same church. He began to carry out the first of them in 1519, it was the Medici tomb. The second project is the famous Laurentian Library to store a unique collection of books and manuscripts that belonged to the Medici family.
Busy with these projects, Michelangelo remained in Florence most of the time.
In 1529-30 he was responsible for the city's defenses against the Medici troops (they were expelled from Florence in 1527). In 1530, the Medici regained power, and Michelangelo fled the city to save his life. However, Pope Clement VII (also from the Medici family) guaranteed Michelangelo's safety, and the artist returned to the interrupted work.
In 1534, Michelangelo returned to Rome again, and forever. Pope Clement VII, who was going to commission him to paint the “Resurrection” for the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, died on the second day after the artist’s arrival. The new pope, Paul III, instead of the “Resurrection”, ordered a painting for the same wall “ Last Judgment" This huge fresco, completed in 1541, once again confirmed the genius of Michelangelo.
The last twenty years of his life he devoted almost entirely to architecture.
At the same time, he still managed to create two wonderful frescoes for the Paolina Chapel in the Vatican (“Conversion of Saul” and “Crucifixion of St. Peter”, 1542-50). Beginning in 1546, Michelangelo was involved in the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Rejecting a number of ideas from his predecessors, he proposed his own vision of this building. The final appearance of the cathedral, consecrated only in 1626, is still, first of all, the fruit of his genius.
Michelangelo was always a deeply religious man; towards the end of his life his religious feeling became more acute, as evidenced by his last works. This is a series of drawings depicting the Crucifixion and two sculptural groups of the Pietà. In the first, the artist depicted himself in the image of Joseph of Arimathea. The second sculpture was prevented from being completed by death, which overtook Michelangelo at the age of 89, on February 18, 1564.
MICHELANGELO Buonarroti
(Michelangelo Buonarroti)
(1475-1564), Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. Even during Michelangelo's lifetime, his works were considered the highest achievements of Renaissance art.
Youth. Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475 into a Florentine family in Caprese. His father was a high-ranking member of the city administration. The family soon moved to Florence; her financial situation was modest. Having learned to read, write and count, Michelangelo in 1488 became a student of the artists Ghirlandaio brothers. Here he became acquainted with basic materials and techniques and created pencil copies of works by the great Florentine artists Giotto and Masaccio; already in these copies the sculptural interpretation of forms characteristic of Michelangelo appeared. Michelangelo soon began working on sculptures for the Medici collection and attracted the attention of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In 1490 he settled in the Palazzo Medici and remained there until Lorenzo's death in 1492. Lorenzo Medici surrounded himself with the most prominent people of his time. There were poets, philologists, philosophers, commentators such as Marsilio Ficino, Angelo Poliziano, Pico della Mirandola; Lorenzo himself was a wonderful poet. Michelangelo's perception of reality as spirit embodied in matter undoubtedly goes back to the Neoplatonists. For him, sculpture was the art of "isolating" or freeing the figure enclosed in a stone block. It is possible that some of his most striking works, which appear "unfinished", may have been deliberately left that way, because it was at this stage of "liberation" that the form most adequately embodied the artist's intention. Some of the main ideas of Lorenzo de' Medici's circle served as a source of inspiration and torment for Michelangelo in his later life, in particular the contradiction between Christian piety and pagan sensuality. It was believed that pagan philosophy and Christian dogmas could be reconciled (this is reflected in the title of one of Ficino’s books - “Plato’s Theology of the Immortality of the Soul”); that all knowledge, if rightly understood, is the key to divine truth. Physical beauty, embodied in the human body, is an earthly manifestation of spiritual beauty. Bodily beauty may be glorified, but this is not enough, for the body is the prison of the soul, which strives to return to its Creator, but can only achieve this in death. According to Pico della Mirandola, during life a person has free will: he can ascend to the angels or plunge into an unconscious animal state. The young Michelangelo was influenced by the optimistic philosophy of humanism and believed in the limitless possibilities of man. The marble relief Battle of the Centaurs (Florence, Casa Buonarroti) has the appearance of a Roman sarcophagus and depicts a scene from Greek myth about the battle of the Lapith people with half-animal centaurs who attacked them during a wedding feast. The plot was suggested by Angelo Poliziano; its meaning is the victory of civilization over barbarism. According to the myth, the Lapiths were victorious, but in Michelangelo's interpretation the outcome of the battle is unclear. The sculptor created compact and tense masses of naked bodies, demonstrating virtuoso skill in conveying movement through the play of light and shadow. The chisel marks and jagged edges remind us of the stone from which the figures are made. The second work is a wooden Crucifix (Florence, Casa Buonarroti). The head of Christ with his eyes closed is lowered to his chest, the rhythm of his body is determined by his crossed legs. The subtlety of this work distinguishes it from the power of the figures in the marble relief. Due to the danger of a French invasion in the fall of 1494, Michelangelo left Florence and on his way to Venice stopped for a while in Bologna, where he created three small statues for the tomb of St. Dominica, work on which was interrupted due to the death of the sculptor who began it. The following year he returned briefly to Florence and then went to Rome, where he spent five years and produced two major works in the late 1490s. The first of them is a human-sized statue of Bacchus, designed for all-round viewing. The drunken god of wine is accompanied by a small satyr who feasts on a bunch of grapes. Bacchus seems ready to fall forward, but maintains his balance by leaning back; his gaze is turned to the cup of wine. The muscles of the back look elastic, but relaxed muscles of the abdomen and thighs demonstrate physical, and therefore spiritual, weakness. The sculptor achieved a difficult task: to create the impression of instability without compositional imbalance, which could disrupt the aesthetic effect. A more monumental work is the marble Pieta (Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica). This theme was popular during the Renaissance, but here it is treated rather restrainedly. Death and the sorrow that accompanies it seem to be contained in the marble from which the sculpture is made. The relationship of the figures is such that they form a low triangle, or more precisely, a conical structure. The naked body of Christ contrasts with the lush, rich in chiaroscuro robes of the Mother of God. Michelangelo depicted the Virgin Mary as young, as if she were not Mother and Son, but a sister mourning the untimely death of her brother. Idealization of this kind was used by Leonardo da Vinci and other artists. In addition, Michelangelo was an ardent admirer of Dante. At the beginning of the prayer of St. Bernard in the last canzone of the Divine Comedy says: “Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo figlio” - “Our Lady, daughter of her Son.” The sculptor found perfect way to express this deep theological thought in stone. On the vestments of Our Lady Michelangelo in the first and last time carved out the signature: "Michelangelo, Florentine." By the age of 25, the period of formation of his personality had ended, and he returned to Florence in the prime of all the possibilities that a sculptor can have.
Florence during the Republic.
As a result of the French invasion in 1494, the Medici were expelled, and for four years a de facto theocracy of the preacher Savonarola was established in Florence. In 1498, as a result of the intrigues of Florentine leaders and the papal throne, Savonarola and two of his followers were sentenced to be burned at the stake. These events in Florence did not directly affect Michelangelo, but they are unlikely to have left him indifferent. Savonarola's returning Middle Ages were replaced by a secular republic, for which Michelangelo created his first major work in Florence, the marble statue of David (1501-1504, Florence, Accademia). The colossal figure, 4.9 m high, together with its base, was supposed to stand near the cathedral. The image of David was traditional in Florence. Donatello and Verrocchio created bronze sculptures of a young man miraculously slaying a giant whose head lies at his feet. In contrast, Michelangelo depicted the moment preceding the fight. David stands with a sling thrown over his shoulder, clutching a stone in his left hand. The right side of the figure is tense, while the left is slightly relaxed, like an athlete ready for action. The image of David had a special meaning for the Florentines, and Michelangelo's sculpture attracted everyone's attention. David became the symbol of a free and vigilant republic, ready to defeat any enemy. The site near the cathedral proved unsuitable, and a committee of citizens decided that the sculpture should guard the main entrance to the government building, the Palazzo Vecchio, in front of which a copy of it now stands. Perhaps, with the participation of Machiavelli, another major state project : Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were commissioned to create two huge frescoes for the Great Council Hall in the Palazzo Vecchio on the theme of the historical victories of the Florentines at Anghiari and Cascina. Only copies of Michelangelo's cardboard of the Battle of Cascina have survived. It depicted a group of soldiers rushing to arms when suddenly attacked by their enemies while swimming in a river. The scene is reminiscent of the Battle of the Centaurs; it depicts naked figures in all sorts of poses, which were of greater interest to the master than the plot itself. Michelangelo's cardboard probably disappeared ca. 1516; according to the autobiography of the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, he was a source of inspiration for many artists. The only painting undoubtedly belonging to Michelangelo, the tondo Madonna Doni (Florence, Uffizi), dates back to the same time (c. 1504-1506), which reflected the desire to convey complex poses and to plastically interpret the forms of the human body. The Madonna leaned to the right to take the Child sitting on Joseph's knee. The unity of the figures is emphasized by the rigid modeling of the draperies with smooth surfaces. The landscape with naked figures of pagans behind the wall is poor in detail. In 1506 Michelangelo began work on the statue of Matthew the Evangelist (Florence, Accademia), which was to be the first of a series of 12 apostles for the Cathedral of Florence. This statue remained unfinished, since two years later Michelangelo went to Rome. The figure was carved from a marble block, maintaining its rectangular shape. It is performed in a strong contrapposto (tense dynamic imbalance of the pose): the left leg is raised and rests on the stone, which causes a shift in the axis between the pelvis and shoulders. Physical energy transforms into spiritual energy, the strength of which is transmitted by the extreme tension of the body. The Florentine period of Michelangelo's work was marked by an almost feverish activity of the master: in addition to the works listed above, he created two relief tondos with images of the Madonna (London and Florence), in which varying degrees of completeness are used to create expressiveness of the image; a marble statue of the Madonna and Child (Notre Dame Cathedral in Bruges) and an unpreserved bronze statue of David. In Rome during the times of Pope Julius II and Leo X. In 1503, Julius II took the papal throne. No patron used art for propaganda purposes as extensively as Julius II. He began the construction of a new cathedral of St. Peter's, repairing and enlarging the papal residence on the model of Roman palaces and villas, painting the papal chapel and preparing a magnificent tomb for himself. The details of this project are unclear, but apparently Julius II envisioned a new temple with its own tomb, similar to the tomb of the French kings at Saint-Denis. Project for the new Cathedral of St. Petra was entrusted to Bramante, and in 1505 Michelangelo received an order to design the tomb. It should have stood freely and had a size of 6 by 9 m. There should have been an oval room inside, and about 40 statues outside. Its creation was impossible even at that time, but both dad and the artist were unstoppable dreamers. The tomb was never built in the form Michelangelo intended, and this “tragedy” haunted him for almost 40 years. The plan of the tomb and its semantic content can be reconstructed from preliminary drawings and descriptions. Most likely, the tomb was supposed to symbolize a three-stage ascent from earthly life to eternal life. At the base there should have been statues of the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, symbols of the two ways to achieve salvation. At the top there should have been two angels carrying Julius II to heaven. As a result, only three statues were completed; The contract for the tomb was negotiated six times over a period of 37 years, and the monument was eventually installed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. During 1505-1506, Michelangelo constantly visited the marble quarries, choosing material for the tomb, while Julius II increasingly insistently drew his attention to the construction of the Cathedral of St. Petra. The tomb remained unfinished. In extreme irritation, Michelangelo fled Rome on April 17, 1506, the day before the foundation of the cathedral was laid. However, dad remained adamant. Michelangelo was forgiven and received an order to make a statue of the pontiff, which was later destroyed by the rebellious Bolognese. In 1506, another project arose - frescoes of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It was built in the 1470s by Julius's uncle, Pope Sixtus IV. In the early 1480s, the altar and side walls were decorated with frescoes with gospel scenes and scenes from the life of Moses, in the creation of which Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli participated. Above them were portraits of popes, and the vault remained empty. In 1508, Michelangelo reluctantly began painting the vault. The work lasted just over two years between 1508 and 1512, with minimal assistance from assistants. Initially it was intended to depict the figures of the apostles on thrones. Later, in a letter of 1523, Michelangelo proudly wrote that he had convinced the pope of the failure of this plan and received complete freedom. Instead of the original project, the painting we see now was created. If the side walls of the chapel represent the Age of Law (Moses) and the Age of Grace (Christ), then the ceiling painting represents the very beginning of human history, the Book of Genesis. The ceiling painting of the Sistine Chapel is a complex structure consisting of painted elements of architectural decoration, individual figures and scenes. On the sides of the central part of the ceiling under the painted cornice there are giant figures Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls seated on thrones. Between the two cornices there are transverse stripes imitating a vault; they demarcate alternating major and minor narrative scenes from the Book of Genesis. The lunettes and spherical triangles at the base of the painting also contain scenes. Numerous figures, including the famous ignudi (nude), frame scenes from the Book of Genesis. It is unclear whether they have any special meaning or are purely decorative. Existing interpretations The meaning of this painting could form a small library. Since it is located in the papal chapel, its meaning must have been orthodox, but there is no doubt that Renaissance thought was also embodied in this complex. This article can only present a generally accepted interpretation of the main Christian ideas embedded in this painting. The images fall into three main groups: scenes from the Book of Genesis, prophets and sibyls, and scenes in the vaults. Scenes from the Book of Genesis, as well as compositions on the side walls, are located in chronological order, from the altar to the entrance. They fall into three triads. The first is related to the creation of the world. The second - the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, Temptation and Expulsion from Paradise - is dedicated to the creation of humanity and its fall. The latter tells the story of Noah, ending with his drunkenness. It is no coincidence that Adam in the Creation of Adam and Noah in the Intoxication of Noah are in the same position: in the first case, a person does not yet possess a soul, in the second he refuses it. Thus, these scenes show that humanity was deprived of divine favor not once, but twice. The four sails of the vault contain scenes of Judith and Holofernes, David and Goliath, the Brazen Serpent and the Death of Haman. Each of them is an example of God's mysterious participation in the salvation of his chosen people. The prophets who predicted the coming of the Messiah spoke about this divine help. The climax of the painting is the ecstatic figure of Jonah, located above the altar and below the scene of the first day of creation, towards which his gaze is directed. Jonah is the herald of the Resurrection and eternal life, for he, like Christ, who spent three days in the tomb before ascending to heaven, spent three days in the belly of the whale, and was then restored to life. Through participation in the Mass at the altar below, the faithful partook of the mystery of the salvation promised by Christ. The narrative is constructed in the spirit of heroic and sublime humanism; both female and male figures are full of masculine strength. The nude figures that frame the scenes indicate Michelangelo's taste and response to classical art: taken together, they constitute an encyclopedia of the positions of the naked human body, as was the case in both the Battle of the Centaurs and the Battle of Cascina. Michelangelo was not inclined towards the quiet idealism of the Parthenon sculpture, but preferred the powerful heroism of Hellenistic and Roman art, expressed in the large, pathos-filled sculptural group Laocoon, found in Rome in 1506. When discussing Michelangelo's frescoes in Sistine Chapel their safety should be taken into account. Cleaning and restoration of the mural began in 1980. As a result, soot deposits were removed and the dull colors gave way to bright pink, lemon yellow and green; the contours and relationship of figures and architecture became clearer. Michelangelo appeared subtle colorist: he managed to enhance the sculptural perception of nature with the help of color and took into account the high ceiling height (18 m), which in the 16th century. could not be illuminated as brightly as is possible now. (Reproductions of the restored frescoes were published in Alfred A. Knopf's monumental two-volume The Sistine Chapel, 1992. Among the 600 photographs are two panoramic views of the frescoes before and after restoration.) Pope Julius II died in 1513; He was replaced by Leo X from the Medici family. From 1513 to 1516, Michelangelo worked on statues intended for the tomb of Julius II: figures of two slaves (Louvre) and a statue of Moses (San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome). The slave breaking his bonds is depicted in a sharp turn, like the Evangelist Matthew. The dying slave is weak, as if he is trying to rise, but he freezes in powerlessness, bowing his head under his arm twisted back. Moses looks to the left, like David; Indignation seems to boil within him at the sight of the worship of the golden calf. The right side of his body is tense, the tablets are pressed to his side, and the sharp movement of his right leg is emphasized by the drapery thrown over it. This giant, one of the prophets embodied in marble, personifies terribilita, "terrifying power."
Return to Florence. The years between 1515 and 1520 were the time of collapse of Michelangelo's plans. He was under pressure from the heirs of Julius, and at the same time he served the new pope from the Medici family. In 1516 he received a commission to decorate the façade of the Medici family church in Florence, San Lorenzo. Michelangelo spent a lot of time in the marble quarries, but after a few years the contract was terminated. Perhaps at the same time the sculptor began work on the statues of four slaves (Florence, Accademia), which remained unfinished. In the early 1500s, Michelangelo traveled constantly back and forth between Florence and Rome, but in the 1520s, commissions for the New Sacristy (Medici Chapel) of San Lorenzo and the Laurentian Library kept him in Florence until he left for Rome in 1534. Library Reading Room Laurentian represents long room made of gray stone with light walls. Lobby, high room with numerous double columns recessed into the wall, as if with difficulty holding back the staircase pouring onto the floor. The staircase was completed only towards the end of Michelangelo's life, and the vestibule was completed only in the 20th century.
The new sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo (Medici Chapel) was a pair of the Old one, built by Brunelleschi a century earlier; it was left unfinished due to Michelangelo's departure to Rome in 1534. The new sacristy was conceived as a funeral chapel for Giuliano de' Medici, brother of Pope Leo, and Lorenzo, his nephew, who died young. Leo X himself died in 1521, and soon another member of the Medici family, Pope Clement VII, who actively supported this project, took the papal throne. In a free cubic space topped by a vault, Michelangelo placed wall tombs with the figures of Giuliano and Lorenzo. On one side there is an altar, on the contrary - a statue of the Madonna and Child sitting on a rectangular sarcophagus with the remains of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano. On the sides are the wall tombs of the younger Lorenzo and Giuliano. Their idealized statues are placed in niches; glances are turned to the Mother of God and the Child. On the sarcophagi there are reclining figures symbolizing Day, Night, Morning and Evening. When Michelangelo left for Rome in 1534, the sculptures had not yet been installed and were in various stages of completion. The surviving sketches testify to the hard work that preceded their creation: there were designs for a single tomb, a double and even a free-standing tomb. The effect of these sculptures is based on contrasts. Lorenzo is thoughtful and contemplative. The figures of the personifications of Evening and Morning located underneath are so relaxed that they seem to be able to slide off the sarcophagi on which they lie. Giuliano's figure, on the contrary, is tense; he holds the commander's staff in his hand. Below him, Night and Day are powerful muscular figures, huddled in painful tension. It is plausible to assume that Lorenzo embodies the contemplative principle, and Giuliano the active one. Around 1530, Michelangelo created a small marble statue of Apollo (Florence, Bargello) and a sculptural group of Victory (Florence, Palazzo Vecchio); the latter was perhaps intended for the tombstone of Pope Julius II. Victory is a flexible, graceful figure of polished marble, supported by the figure of an old man, rising only slightly above the rough surface of the stone. This group demonstrates Michelangelo's close connection with the art of such refined Mannerists as Bronzino, and represents the first example of the combination of completeness and incompleteness to create an expressive image. Stay in Rome. In 1534 Michelangelo moved to Rome. At this time, Clement VII was considering the theme of fresco painting of the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. In 1534 he settled on the theme of the Last Judgment. From 1536 to 1541, already under Pope Paul III, Michelangelo worked on this huge composition. Previously, the composition of the Last Judgment was built from several individual parts. In Michelangelo it is an oval whirlpool of naked muscular bodies. A figure of Christ, reminiscent of Zeus, is located at the top; his right hand is raised in a gesture of cursing those to his left. The work is filled with powerful movement: skeletons rise from the ground, a saved soul rises up a garland of roses, a man, whom the devil drags down, covers his face with his hands in horror. The Last Judgment was a reflection of Michelangelo's growing pessimism. One detail of the Last Judgment testifies to his gloomy mood and represents his bitter "signature". At the left foot of Christ there is a figure of St. Bartholomew holding his own skin in his hands (he suffered martyrdom and was flayed alive). The saint's facial features are reminiscent of Pietro Aretino, who passionately attacked Michelangelo because he considered his interpretation of a religious subject indecent (later artists painted drapery on nude figures from the Last Judgment). Face on the skinned St. Bartholomew - self-portrait of the artist. Michelangelo continued to work on the frescoes in the Paolina Chapel, where he created the Conversion of Saul and the Crucifixion of St. Peter's are unusual and wonderful works in which Renaissance norms of composition are violated. Their spiritual richness was not appreciated; they saw only that “they were just the works of an old man” (Vasari). Gradually, Michelangelo probably developed his own idea of Christianity, expressed in his drawings and poems. At first it was fed by the ideas of the circle of Lorenzo the Magnificent, based on the uncertainty of interpretations of Christian texts. IN recent years Michelangelo's life rejects these ideas. He is interested in the question of how commensurate art is with the Christian faith and whether it is not an impermissible and arrogant rivalry with the only legitimate and true Creator? In the late 1530s, Michelangelo was mainly engaged in architectural projects, of which he created many, and built several buildings in Rome, among them the most significant complex of buildings on the Capitoline Hill, as well as designs for the Cathedral of St. Petra.
In 1538, a Roman equestrian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius was installed on the Capitol. According to Michelangelo's design, it was framed on three sides by the facades of buildings. The highest of them is the Senoria Palace with two staircases. On the side facades there were huge, two-story Corinthian pilasters, topped with a cornice with a balustrade and sculptures. The Capitol complex was richly decorated with ancient inscriptions and sculptures, the symbolism of which affirmed the power of ancient Rome, inspired by Christianity. In 1546, the architect Antonio da Sangallo died, and Michelangelo became the chief architect of the Cathedral of St. Petra. Bramante's plan of 1505 called for a centric temple, but soon after his death the more traditional basilica plan of Antonio da Sangallo was adopted. Michelangelo decided to remove the complex neo-Gothic elements of Sangallo's plan and return to a simple, strictly organized centric space dominated by a huge dome on four pillars. Michelangelo was not able to fully realize this plan, but he managed to build the back and side walls of the cathedral with giant Corinthian pilasters with niches and windows between them. From the late 1540s to 1555, Michelangelo worked on the Pietà sculpture group (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence). The dead body of Christ is held by St. Nicodemus and on both sides are supported by the Mother of God and Mary Magdalene (the figure of Christ and partly of St. Magdalene is completed). Unlike the Pietà of St. Peter, this group is more flat and angular, focusing on the broken line of Christ's body. The arrangement of the three unfinished heads creates a dramatic effect rare in works on this subject. Perhaps the head of St. Nicodemus was another self-portrait of the old Michelangelo, and the sculptural group itself was intended for his tombstone. Finding a crack in the stone, he smashed the work with a hammer; it was later restored by his students. Six days before his death, Michelangelo was working on the second version of the Pieta. Pietà Rondanini (Milan, Castello Sforzesca) was probably begun ten years earlier. The lonely Mother of God supports the dead body of Christ. The meaning of this work is the tragic unity of mother and son, where the body is depicted so emaciated that there is no hope for the return of life. Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564. His body was transported to Florence and solemnly buried.
LITERATURE
Litman M.Ya. Michelangelo Buonarroti. M., 1964 Lazarev V.N. Michelangelo. - In the book: Lazarev V.N. Old Italian masters. M., 1972 Heusinger L. Michelangelo: an essay on creativity. M., 1996
Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .
You probably know who Michelangelo Buonarroti is. The works of the great master are known throughout the world. We will tell you about the best that Michelangelo created. The paintings with the titles will surprise you, but his most powerful sculptures are what make it worth diving into the study of his work.
Another fresco by Michelangelo, located in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. 25 years have already passed since the ceiling painting was completed. Michelangelo returns for a new job.
There is little of Michelangelo himself in The Last Judgment. Initially, his characters were naked and, making his way through endless criticism, he had no choice but to give the iconography to the papal artists to be torn to pieces. They “dressed” the characters and did this even after the death of the genius.
This statue first appeared before the public in 1504 in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Michelangelo had just completed the marble statue. She came out 5 meters and forever remained a symbol of the Renaissance.
David is about to fight Goliath. This is unusual, because before Michelangelo everyone depicted David at the moment of his triumph after defeating an overwhelming giant. But here the battle is just ahead and it is still unknown how it will end.
The Creation of Adam is a fresco and the fourth central composition on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. There are nine of them in total and they are all dedicated biblical stories. This fresco is a unique illustration of God’s creation of man in his own image and likeness.
The fresco is so amazing that speculation and attempts to prove this or that theory and reveal the meaning of existence still hover around it. Michelangelo showed how God inspires Adam, that is, infuses him with a soul. The fact that the fingers of God and Adam cannot touch indicates the impossibility of the material being fully united with the spiritual.
Michelangelo Buonarroti never signed his sculptures, but he signed this one. It is believed that this happened after a couple of onlookers were arguing about the authorship of the work. The master was then 24 years old.
The statue was damaged in 1972 when it was attacked by geologist Laszlo Toth. With a rock hammer in his hand, he shouted that he was Christ. After this incident, Pietà was placed behind bulletproof glass.
The marble statue of Moses, 235 cm high, is located in the Roman basilica of the tomb of Pope Julius II. Michelangelo worked on it for 2 years. The figures located on the sides - Rachel and Leah - are the work of Michelangelo's students.
Many people have a question - why does Moses have horns? This was due to the Vulgate's misinterpretation of Exodus, a biblical book. The word “horns” translated from Hebrew could also mean “rays,” which more correctly reflects the essence of the legend - it was difficult for the Israelis to look at his face because it was radiating.
"The Crucifixion of St. Peter" is a fresco in the Paolina Chapel (Vatican City). One of latest works master, which he completed by order of Pope Paul III. After the fresco was completed, Michelangelo never returned to painting and focused on architecture.
Tondo "Madonna Doni" is the only one completed easel work, surviving to this day.
This is work completed before the master took up the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo believed that painting can be considered most worthy only if it is perfectly similar to sculpture.
This easel work has only been considered a work by Michelangelo since 2008. Before that, it was just another masterpiece from the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo studied in this workshop, but hardly anyone could believe that this was the work of a great master, because at that time he was no more than 13 years old.
After careful examination of the evidence, Vasari's information, handwriting and style, The Torment of Saint Anthony is recognized as the work of Michelangelo. If this is true, then work on at the moment considered the most expensive work art ever created by a child. Its approximate cost is more than $6 million.
Sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici (1526 - 1534)
The marble statue, a sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, was created over several years - from 1526 to 1534. It is located in the Medici Chapel, decorating the composition of the Medici tombstone.
The sculpture of Lorenzo II de' Medici is not a portrait of a real historical figure. Michelangelo idealized the image of greatness by depicting Lorenzo in thoughtfulness.
Brutus (1537 - 1538)
The marble bust “Brutus” is an unfinished work by Michelangelo commissioned by Donato Gianotti, who was a staunch republican, considering Brutus a true tyrant fighter. This was relevant against the background of the restoration of the Florentine tyranny of the Medici.
Michelangelo was forced to stop working on the bust due to new moods in society. The sculpture remained preserved only because of its artistic value.
That's it for us about Michelangelo Buonarroti. The master's works are far from being fully represented here, which is just the Sistine Chapel, but the paintings with titles will not tell you about the great sculptor the way his marble sculptures will. However, any work by Michelangelo deserves attention. Share what you like best.
Everyone knows who Michelangelo is, one way or another. The Sistine Chapel, David, Pieta - this is what this genius of the Renaissance is strongly associated with. Meanwhile, dig a little deeper, and most are unlikely to be able to clearly answer what else the wayward Italian is remembered by the world. Expanding the boundaries of knowledge.
Michelangelo made money from forgeries
It is known that Michelangelo began with sculptural falsifications, which brought him a lot of money. The artist purchased marble from huge quantities, but no one saw the results of his work (it is logical that the authorship had to be hidden). The most notorious of his forgeries may be the sculpture "Laocoon and His Sons", which is now attributed to three Rhodian sculptors. It was suggested in 2005 that the work may be a fake by Michelangelo, citing that Michelangelo was among the first to arrive at the site and was one of those who identified the sculpture.
Michelangelo studied the dead
Michelangelo is known as an excellent sculptor who was able to recreate the human body in marble in the smallest detail. Such painstaking work required an impeccable knowledge of anatomy, meanwhile, at the beginning of his career, Michelangelo had no idea how the human body works. To fill in the missing knowledge, Michelangelo spent a lot of time in the monastery morgue, where he examined dead people, trying to understand all the intricacies of the human body.
Michelangelo hated painting
They say that Michelangelo sincerely did not like painting, which, in his opinion, was significantly inferior to sculpture. He called painting landscapes and still lifes a waste of time, considering them “useless pictures for ladies.”
Michelangelo's teacher broke his nose out of envy
As a teenager, Michelangelo was sent to study at the school of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, which existed under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici. The young talent showed great diligence and diligence in his studies and quickly achieved not only success in the school field, but also won the patronage of the Medici. Incredible successes, attention from outside influential people and, apparently, a sharp tongue led to the fact that Michelangelo made many enemies at school, including among the teachers. Thus, according to the work of Giorgio Vasari, the Italian Renaissance sculptor and one of Michelangelo’s teachers, Pietro Torrigiano, out of envy of his student’s talent, broke his nose.
Michelangelo was seriously ill
For the last 15 years of his life, Michelangelo suffered from osteoarthritis, a disease that causes joint deformities and pain in the limbs. His work helped him avoid losing his ability to work completely. It is believed that the first symptoms appeared during work on the Florentine Pieta.
Also, many researchers of the work and life of the great sculptor claim that Michelangelo suffered from depression and dizziness, which could have appeared as a result of working with dyes and solvents, which caused poisoning of the body and all further accompanying symptoms.
Secret self-portraits of Michelangelo
Michelangelo rarely signed his works and never left behind a formal self-portrait. However, he still managed to capture his face in some pictures and sculptures. The most famous of these secret self-portraits is part of the Last Judgment fresco, which you can find in the Sistine Chapel. It shows Saint Bartholomew holding a flayed piece of skin that represents the face of none other than Michelangelo.
Michelangelo was a poet
We know Michelangelo as a sculptor and painter, but he was also an accomplished poet. In his portfolio you can find hundreds of madrigals and sonnets that were not published during his lifetime. However, despite the fact that contemporaries were unable to appreciate Michelangelo’s poetic talent, many years later his work found its audience, so in 16th-century Rome the sculptor’s poetry was extremely popular, especially among singers who transcribed poems about mental wounds and physical disabilities to music.
Michelangelo's major works
There are few works of art in the world that could evoke as much admiration as these works of the great Italian master. We invite you to look at some of Michelangelo's most famous works and feel their greatness.
Michelangelo rightly called one of the greatest geniuses Italian Renaissance along with Raphael. He was a true all-rounder in the art world. Being not only a talented architect, sculptor and painter, Michelangelo wrote poems and sonnets.
The master himself gravitated more toward sculpture, but under pressure he had to do a lot of work he didn’t like: painting and creating frescoes. Unfortunately, large number his works have not survived to this day. In addition, Michelangelo did not have time to complete many of his undertakings. But first things first.
The great genius Michelangelo Buonarotti, full name who - Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni - was born on March 6, 1475 in Tuscany, in the small town of Caprese. His father, Lodovico Buonarotti, was an impoverished nobleman. Michelangelo's mother died of exhaustion when the boy was six years old. The young woman could not bear numerous pregnancies.
The father, not having the financial ability to raise all his children, gave Michelangelo to be raised by a nurse, in whose family the boy learned to work with clay and a chisel. As an adult, the master admitted that he began kneading clay before writing and reading.
When Michelangelo was 13 years old, his father, seeing his abilities, sent his son to Florence to study in the studio of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. A year later, the teenager moved to the school of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, who was patronized by Lorenzo di Medici, the ruler of the Florentine Republic.
The politician immediately recognized the talent in the young student and invited Michelangelo to his service. It is believed that it was at this time that Michelangelo created the bas-reliefs “Battle of the Centaurs” and “Madonna near the Stairs”. Michelangelo remained at the Medici court until the latter's death in 1492, and then went home.
Since 1495, the artist lives and works now and then in. In 1495, the sculptures “Saint Johannes” and “Sleeping Cupid” (lost) appeared in Florence. A year later, Michelangelo came to Rome at the invitation of Cardinal Raphael Riario and made Bacchus and the Roman Pieta or Lamentation of Christ.
Then again Florence, for four whole years. There, from 1501 to 1505, the master created the famous “David”, which was installed on main square cities. In addition, he painted the “Madonna of Doni”, created the bas-relief “Madonna of Taddei”, etc.
In 1505, the master traveled to Rome at the invitation of Pope Julius II, who began the construction of a new St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, renovating the papal residence, and also building a tomb for himself. It was on this tomb that Michelangelo began working.
Its creation lasted several decades with interruptions. For her, Michelangelo made the sculptures “Moses”, “The Dying Slave”, “The Bound Slave” and “Leah”.
According to legend, the sculptor’s ill-wishers, seeing his superiority, convinced Julius II what close attention to his tomb is a bad omen and can hasten death. The Pope was advised to keep Michelangelo busy with painting, or rather, to entrust him with painting the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.
The master began to work with a heavy heart. But unexpectedly the process captured him, and in four years he single-handedly painted the entire chapel. How he managed this is still a mystery.
After the death of Julius II, Michelangelo worked on the Medici Chapel in Florence and designed a new design for the Capitoline Hill in Rome. In addition, he was the chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica.
Michelangelo died at the age of 88 on February 18, 1564 in Rome, but was buried in his beloved Florence, in the Church of Santa Croce.
To this day, the master is known as a talented sculptor and painter, and few people know that Michelangelo was a poet. After his death, about 300 poems, madrigals and sonnets remained. They are dedicated to love, happiness and loneliness.
