(1474-1564) Considered to be one of the greatest artists of all time, Michelangelo Buonarroti created sculptures and paintings of gigantic proportions in terms of scale and importance. His sculpture of David and his covering of the ceiling of Sistine Chapel in the Vatican forever placed him among the greatest artists of all time. Born in the small Italian village of Caprese near Florence on March 6, 1475, Michelangelo was a younger contemporary of such people as the explorer Christopher Columbus and great artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci. His time was of a new age of enlightenment where artistic and inventive freedom was beginning to come back into the forefront.
Some of Michelangelo’s greatest achievement parallel important developments in his life. His sense of local patriotism inspired one of his grandest and most noted works, the gigantic statue of David which he carved between 1501 and 1504. It was done to inspire the people of Florence who were at the time, facing adversity from outside threats to the city. The Biblical character of David was a symbol to the people of the weak with God’s help fighting the Goliath-like forces who were threatening the city. One of Michelangelo’s other greatest achievements was that of painting the ceiling of a small, otherwise insignificant chapel on one end of the Vatican. The massiveness of this panoramic vision of the Biblical history of the ages was perhaps the grandest of all great artistic works.
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”
“Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.”
“The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
“I am still learning.”