What did Michelangelo do? Michelangelo Buonarroti: biography, paintings, works, sculptures

The High Renaissance, or Cinquecento, which gave mankind such great masters as Donato Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Santi, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Giorgione, Titian, covers a relatively short period - from the end of the 15th century to the end of the second decade of the 16th century.

Fundamental shifts associated with the decisive events in world history, the successes of advanced scientific thought, endlessly expanded people's ideas about the world - not only about the earth, but also about the Cosmos. The perception of people and the human person seemed to be enlarged; in artistic creativity, this was reflected in the majestic scale of architectural structures, monuments, solemn fresco cycles and paintings, but also in their content, expressiveness of images.

The art of the High Renaissance is characterized through such concepts as synthesis, result. He is characterized by wise maturity, focus on the general and the main; pictorial language became generalized and restrained. The art of the High Renaissance is a lively and complex artistic process with dazzlingly bright rises and the subsequent crisis - the Late Renaissance.

In the second half of the XVI century. in Italy, the decline of the economy and trade was growing, Catholicism entered into a struggle with humanistic culture, culture was going through a deep crisis, disappointment in the ideas of the Renaissance. Under the influence of external circumstances, there was an understanding of the frailty of everything human, the limitations of its capabilities.

The heyday of the High Renaissance and the transition to the Late Renaissance can be traced back to one human life - the life of Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was a sculptor, architect, painter and poet, but most of all a sculptor. He placed sculpture above all other arts and was in this the antagonist of Leonardo. Sculpting is carving by chipping and hewing a stone; the sculptor with his mind's eye sees the desired shape in the stone block and "cuts through" to it deep into the stone, cutting off what is not the shape. This is hard work, not to mention great physical exertion, it requires the sculptor to have an infallible hand: what has been broken off incorrectly can no longer be put back on, and special vigilance of inner vision. This is how Michelangelo worked. As a preliminary stage, he made drawings and sketches from wax, roughly outlining the image, and then entered into combat with a marble block. In the "release" of the image from the stone block hiding it, Michelangelo saw the hidden poetry of the sculptor's work.

Released from the "shell", his statues keep their stone nature; they are always distinguished by their monolithic volume: Michelangelo Buonarroti famously said that a statue that can be rolled down a mountain is good, and not a single part of it will break off. Therefore, almost nowhere in his statues are there free arms separated from the body.

Another distinguishing feature of Michelangelo's statues is their titanic nature, which later passed to human figures in painting. The tubercles of their muscles are exaggerated, the neck is thickened, likened to a mighty trunk that carries the head, the roundness of the hips is heavy and massive, the blocky figure is emphasized. These are the titans, whom the solid stone endowed with its properties.

Buonarroti is also characterized by an increase in the feeling of tragic contradiction, which is also noticeable in his sculpture. The movements of the "titans" are strong, passionate, but at the same time, as if constrained.

Michelangelo's favorite technique is the contraposto ("Discobolus" by Miron) coming from the early classics, reformed into the serpentinato technique (from Latin serpentine): the figure is screwed into a spring around itself through a sharp turn of the upper torso. But Michelangelo's contraposto does not look like the light, undulating movement of Greek statues; rather, it resembles a Gothic bend, if it were not for the mighty physicality.

Although the Italian Renaissance was the revival of antiquity, we will not find there a direct copy of antiquity. The new spoke to the ancient on an equal footing, like a master with a master. The first impulse was an admiring imitation, the final result - an unprecedented synthesis. Starting with an attempt to revive antiquity, the Renaissance creates something completely different.

The Mannerists will also use the serpentinata technique, the serpentine turns of the figures, but outside of Michelangelo's humanist pathos, these turns are nothing more than pretentiousness.

Another frequently used ancient technique by Michelangelo is chiasm, mobile balance (“Dorifor” by Poliklet), which received a new name: ponderatio - weighing, balance. It consists in a commensurate distribution of the strength of forces along two intersecting diagonals of the figure. For example, the hand with the object corresponds to the opposite supporting leg, and the relaxed leg corresponds to the free arm.

Speaking about the development of sculpture of the High Renaissance, its most important achievement can be called the final emancipation of sculpture from architecture: the statue is no longer envy from the architectural cell.

Pieta

Pieta, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

One of the most famous works of Michelangelo Buonarroti is the sculptural composition "Pieta" ("Lamentation of Christ") (from the Italian pieta - mercy). It was completed in 1498-1501. for the chapel of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome and belongs to the first Roman period of Michelangelo's work.

The very plot of the image of Mary with the body of the dead Son in her arms came from the northern countries and was by that time widespread in Italy. It originates from the German iconographic tradition Versperbilder (“image of the supper”), which existed in the form of small wooden church images. Mary's mourning for her Son is an extremely important moment for Catholicism. With her exorbitant suffering (for the suffering of a mother who sees the torment of her son is immeasurable), she is exalted and exalted. Therefore, Catholicism is characterized by the cult of the Mother of God, acting as the Intercessor of people before God.

Mary is depicted by Michelangelo as a very young girl, too young for such an adult son. She seems to have no age at all, is out of time. This highlights the eternal significance of mourning and suffering. The grief of the mother is light and sublime, only in the gesture of the left hand, as if mental suffering spills out.

The body of Christ lies lifeless in the arms of the Mother. This sculpture is not at all like any other by Michelangelo. There is no titanicity, strength, muscularity here: the body of Christ is depicted as thin, weak, almost muscleless, it does not have that stoneness and massiveness. The unfinished movement of the contrapposta is also not used; on the contrary, the composition is full of static, but this static is not the one about which one can say that there is no life, no thought in it. It seems that Mary will sit like this forever, and her eternal "static" suffering is more impressive than any dynamics.

Michelangelo expressed the deeply human ideals of the High Renaissance, full of heroic pathos, as well as the tragic sense of the crisis of the humanistic worldview during the Late Renaissance.

Making sense

Buonarroti’s conflicts with the popes, speaking out on the side of the besieged pope and the king of Florence, the death and exile of friends and associates, failure with many architectural and sculptural ideas - all this undermined his worldview, faith in people and their capabilities, contributed to the eschatological mood. Michelangelo felt the end of a great era. Even in his worship of human beauty, great delight is associated with fear, with the consciousness of the end, which must inexorably follow the embodiment of the ideal.

In sculpture, this manifested itself in the technique of non finita - incompleteness. It manifests itself in the incomplete processing of the stone and serves as an effect of the inexplicable plasticity of the figure, which has not completely emerged from the stone. This technique by Michelangelo can be interpreted in different ways, and it is unlikely that one of their explanations will become final; rather, all explanations are right, since by their multiplicity they reflect the versatility of the use of the technique.

On the one hand, a person in the sculpture of the late Michelangelo (and hence the Late Renaissance) strives to escape from stone, from matter, to become complete; this means his desire to break free from the bonds of his corporeality, human imperfection, sinfulness. We remember that the problem, this problem of the impossibility of leaving the framework set for man by nature, was central to the crisis of the Renaissance.

On the other hand, the incompleteness of the sculpture is the author's admission of his inability to fully express his idea. Any completed work loses the original ideality of the idea, therefore it is better not to finish the creation, but only to outline the direction of aspiration. This problem is not reduced only to the problem of creativity: transforming, it goes Plato and Aristotle (from the world of ideas and the world of things, where matter "spoils" ideas), through the crisis of the Renaissance, through Schelling and the romantics to the symbolists and decadents of the late nineteenth century. Reception non finita gives the effect of a creative impulse, short, not completed, but strong and expressive; if the viewer picks up this impulse, he will understand what the figure should become in the incarnation.

full name Michelangelo de Francesco de Neri de Miniato del Sera and Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni; ital. Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni

Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, thinker; one of the greatest masters of the Renaissance and early Baroque

Michelangelo

short biography

Michelangelo- an outstanding Italian sculptor, architect, artist, thinker, poet, one of the brightest figures of the Renaissance, whose multifaceted work influenced the art of not only this historical period, but also the development of the entire world culture.

On March 6, 1475, a boy was born in the family of a city councilor, a poor Florentine nobleman, who lived in the small town of Caprese (Tuscany), whose creations will be elevated to the rank of masterpieces, the best achievements of Renaissance art during the life of their author. Lodovico Buonarroti said that higher powers inspired him to name his son Michelangelo. Despite the nobility, which gave reason to be among the urban elite, the family was not prosperous. Therefore, when the mother died, the father of many children had to give 6-year-old Michelangelo to be raised by his nurse in the village. Before reading and writing, the boy learned to work with clay and a chisel.

Seeing his son's pronounced inclinations, in 1488 Lodovico gave him as an apprenticeship to the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio, in whose studio Michelangelo spent a year. Then he becomes a student of the famous sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, whose school was patronized by Lorenzo de Medici, who at that time was the de facto ruler of Florence. After some time, he himself notices a talented teenager and invites him to the palace, introduces him to the palace collections. At the court of the patron, Michelangelo is from 1490 until his death in 1492, after which he leaves for home.

In June 1496, Michelangelo arrives in Rome: there, having bought a sculpture he likes, he is summoned by Cardinal Rafael Riario. Since that time, the biography of the great artist has been associated with frequent moves from Florence to Rome and back. Early creations already reveal features that will distinguish the creative manner of Michelangelo: admiration for the beauty of the human body, plastic power, monumentality, dramatic artistic images.

During the years 1501-1504, returning in 1501 to Florence, he worked on the famous statue of David, which a respectable commission decided to install in the main city square. Since 1505, Michelangelo is back in Rome, where he is called by Pope Julius II to work on a grandiose project - the creation of his magnificent tombstone, which, according to their joint plan, should have surrounded many statues. Work on it was carried out intermittently and was completed only in 1545. In 1508, he fulfills another request of Julius II - he starts painting the frescoes of the vault in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican and finishes this grandiose painting, working intermittently, in 1512.

Period from 1515 to 1520 became one of the most difficult in the biography of Michelangelo, passed under the sign of the collapse of plans, throwing "between two fires" - the service of Pope Leo X and the heirs of Julius II. In 1534 he finally moved to Rome. From the 20s. the artist's attitude becomes more pessimistic, painted in tragic tones. An illustration of the mood was the huge composition "The Last Judgment" - again in the Sistine Chapel, on the altar wall; Michelangelo worked on it in 1536-1541. After the death of the architect Antonio da Sangallo in 1546, he held the position of chief architect of the Cathedral of St.. Peter. The largest work of this period, work on which lasted from the end of the 40s. to 1555, there was a sculptural group "Pieta". Over the last 30 years of the artist's life, the emphasis in his work gradually shifted to architecture and poetry. Deep, filled with tragedy, dedicated to the eternal themes of love, loneliness, happiness, madrigals, sonnets and other poetic compositions were highly appreciated by contemporaries. The first publication of Michelangelo's poetry was posthumous (1623).

On February 18, 1564, the great representative of the Renaissance died. His body was transported from Rome to Florence and buried in the church of Santa Croce with great honors.

Biography from Wikipedia

Michelangelo Buonarroti, full name Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni(Italian Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni; March 6, 1475, Caprese - February 18, 1564, Rome) - Italian sculptor, artist, architect, poet, thinker. One of the greatest masters of the Renaissance and early Baroque. His works were considered the highest achievements of Renaissance art during the lifetime of the master himself. Michelangelo lived for almost 89 years, an entire era, from the High Renaissance to the origins of the Counter-Reformation. During this period, thirteen Popes were replaced - he carried out orders for nine of them. Many documents about his life and work have been preserved - testimonies of contemporaries, letters from Michelangelo himself, contracts, his personal and professional records. Michelangelo was also the first representative of Western European art, whose biography was printed during his lifetime.

Among his most famous sculptural works are "David", "Bacchus", "Pieta", the statues of Moses, Leah and Rachel for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Giorgio Vasari, the first official biographer of Michelangelo, wrote that "David" "has taken away the glory of all statues, modern and ancient, Greek and Roman." One of the most monumental works of the artist is the ceiling frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, about which Goethe wrote that: "Without seeing the Sistine Chapel, it is difficult to get a visual idea of ​​what one person can do." Among his architectural accomplishments are the design of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, the stairs of the Laurenzian Library, Piazza Campidoglio and others. Researchers believe that the art of Michelangelo begins and ends with the image of the human body.

Life and art

Childhood

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in the Tuscan town of Caprese, north of Arezzo, in the family of an impoverished Florentine nobleman Lodovico Buonarroti (Italian: Lodovico (Ludovico) di Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni) (1444-1534), who at that time was the 169th Podesta. For generations, members of the Buonarroti-Simoni family were the small bankers of Florence, but Lodovico was unable to maintain the financial condition of the bank, so he occasionally held public office. It is known that Lodovico was proud of his aristocratic origin, because the Buonarroti-Simoni family claimed blood relationship with the Margraves Matilda of Canos, although there was not enough documentary evidence to confirm this. Ascanio Condivi claimed that Michelangelo himself believed in this, recalling the aristocratic origin of the family in his letters to his nephew Leonardo. William Wallace wrote:

“Before Michelangelo, very few artists claimed such an origin. The artists did not have not only coats of arms, but also real names. They were named after their father, profession or city, and among them such famous contemporaries of Michelangelo as Leonardo da Vinci and Giorgione"

According to Lodovico's record, which is kept in the Casa Buonarroti Museum (Florence), Michelangelo was born "(...) on a Monday morning, at 4 or 5:00 before dawn." This register also states that the christening took place on 8 March at the Church of San Giovanni di Caprese and lists the godparents:

About his mother, Francesca di Neri di Miniato del Siena (Italian Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena), who married early and died of exhaustion from frequent pregnancies in the year of Michelangelo's sixth birthday, the latter never mentions in his voluminous correspondence with his father and brothers . Lodovico Buonarroti was not rich, and the income from his small estate in the countryside was barely enough to support many children. In this regard, he was forced to give Michelangelo to the nurse, the wife of "scarpelino" from the same village, called Settignano. There, raised by the Topolino couple, the boy learned to knead clay and use a chisel before he could read and write. In any case, Michelangelo himself later said to his friend and biographer Giorgio Vasari:

“If there is anything good in my talent, it is from the fact that I was born in the rarefied air of your Aretine land, and the chisels and the hammer with which I make my statues, I extracted from the milk of my nurse.”

"Count Kanossky"
(Drawing by Michelangelo)

Michelangelo was the second son of Lodovico. Fritz Erpeli gives the year of birth of his brothers Lionardo (Italian Lionardo) - 1473, Buonarroto (Italian Buonarroto) - 1477, Giovansimone (Italian Giovansimone) - 1479 and Gismondo (Italian Gismondo) - 1481. In the same year, his mother died, and in 1485, four years after her death, Lodovico married a second time. Michelangelo's stepmother was Lucrezia Ubaldini. Soon Michelangelo was sent to the school of Francesco Galatea da Urbino (Italian Francesco Galatea da Urbino) in Florence, where the young man did not show much inclination to study and preferred to communicate with artists and redraw church icons and frescoes.

Youth. First works

In 1488, the father resigned himself to his son's inclinations and placed him as an apprentice in the workshop of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. Here Michelangelo got the opportunity to get acquainted with the basic materials and techniques, his pencil copies of the works of such Florentine artists as Giotto and Masaccio belong to the same period, already in these copies the sculptural vision of forms characteristic of Michelangelo appeared. His painting “The Torment of St. Anthony” (copy of an engraving by Martin Schongauer) belongs to the same period.

He worked there for one year. A year later, Michelangelo moved to the school of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, which existed under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici, the actual owner of Florence. The Medici recognize Michelangelo's talent and patronize him. From about 1490 to 1492, Michelangelo was at the Medici court. Here he met the philosophers of the Platonic Academy (Marsilio Ficino, Angelo Poliziano, Pico della Mirandola and others). He was also friends with Giovanni (second son of Lorenzo, future Pope Leo X) and Giulio Medici (illegitimate son of Giuliano Medici, future Pope Clement VII). Perhaps at this time were created " Madonna at the stairs" And " Battle of the Centaurs". It is known that at this time Pietro Torrigiano, who was also a student of Bertoldo, quarreled with Michelangelo and broke the boy's nose with a blow to the face. After the death of the Medici in 1492, Michelangelo returned home.

In the years 1494-1495 Michelangelo lives in Bologna, creates sculptures for the Arch of St. Dominic. In 1495 he returned to Florence, where the Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola rules, and creates sculptures " Saint Johannes" And " Sleeping Cupid". In 1496, Cardinal Rafael Riario buys Michelangelo's marble Cupid and invites the artist to work in Rome, where Michelangelo arrives on June 25. In 1496-1501 he creates " bacchus" And " Roman Pieta».

In 1501 Michelangelo returned to Florence. Commissioned works: sculptures for " piccolomini altarpiece" And " David". In 1503, work was completed on order: “ Twelve Apostles", the beginning of work on" Saint Matthew» for the Florentine Cathedral. Approximately in 1503-1505, the creation of " Madonna Doni», « Madonna Taddei», « Madonna Pitti" And " Brugger Madonna". In 1504, work on " David»; Michelangelo receives an order to create " Battles of Kashin».

In 1505 the sculptor was summoned by Pope Julius II to Rome; he ordered a tomb for him. Followed by an eight-month stay in Carrara, the choice of marble necessary for work. In 1505-1545, work was carried out (with interruptions) on the tomb, for which sculptures were created " Moses», « Bound Slave», « Dying slave», « Leah».

In April 1506 - again returning to Florence, in November, reconciliation with Julius II in Bologna follows. Michelangelo receives an order for a bronze statue of Julius II, on which he works in 1507 (later destroyed).

In February 1508, Michelangelo returned to Florence again. In May, at the request of Julius II, he travels to Rome to paint the ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel; he works on them until October 1512.

Julius II dies in 1513. Giovanni Medici becomes Pope Leo X. Michelangelo concludes a new contract to work on the tomb of Julius II. In 1514, the sculptor receives an order for " Christ with a cross"and the chapel of Pope Leo X in Engelsburg.

In July 1514, Michelangelo returned to Florence again. He receives an order to create the facade of the Medici Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, and he signs a third contract for the creation of the tomb of Julius II.

In the years 1516-1519, numerous trips took place for marble for the facade of San Lorenzo in Carrara and Pietrasanta.

In 1520-1534, the sculptor worked on the architectural and sculptural complex of the Medici Chapel in Florence, and also designed and built the Laurencin Library.

In 1546, the artist was entrusted with the most significant architectural orders in his life. For Pope Paul III, he completed the Palazzo Farnese (the third floor of the courtyard facade and cornice) and designed for him a new decoration of the Capitol, the material embodiment of which continued, however, for quite a long time. But, of course, the most important order that prevented him from returning to his native Florence until his death was for Michelangelo his appointment as the chief architect of St. Peter's Cathedral. Convinced of such confidence in him and faith in him on the part of the pope, Michelangelo, in order to show his good will, wished that the decree declared that he served on the building out of love for God and without any remuneration.

Death and burial

A few days before Michelangelo's death, his nephew, Leonardo, arrived in Rome, to whom on February 15, at the request of Michelangelo, Federico Donati wrote a letter.

Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564 in Rome, not long before his 89th birthday. His death was witnessed by Tommaso Cavalieri, Daniele da Volterra, Diomede Leone, doctors Federico Donati and Gerardo Fidelissimi, and servant Antonio Franzese. Before his death, he dictated a testament with all his characteristic laconicism: "I give my soul to God, my body to the earth, my property to my relatives."

Pope Pius IV was going to bury Michelangelo in Rome by building a tomb for him in St. Peter's Basilica. On February 20, 1564, the body of Michelangelo was temporarily laid to rest in the Basilica of Santi Apostoli.

In early March, the body of the sculptor was secretly transported to Florence and solemnly buried on July 14, 1564 in the Franciscan church of Santa Croce, not far from the tomb of Machiavelli.

Artworks

The genius of Michelangelo left an imprint not only on the art of the Renaissance, but also on all further world culture. His activities are mainly associated with two Italian cities - Florence and Rome. By the nature of his talent, he was primarily a sculptor. This is also felt in the master's paintings, unusually rich in plasticity of movements, complex poses, distinct and powerful modeling of volumes. In Florence, Michelangelo created an immortal example of the High Renaissance - the statue "David" (1501-1504), which became for many centuries the standard image of the human body, in Rome - the sculptural composition "Pieta" (1498-1499), one of the first incarnations of the figure of a dead man in plastic. However, the artist was able to realize his most grandiose plans precisely in painting, where he acted as a true innovator of color and form.

By order of Pope Julius II, he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512), representing the biblical story from the creation of the world to the flood and including more than 300 figures. In 1534-1541, in the same Sistine Chapel for Pope Paul III, he performed the grandiose, dramatic fresco The Last Judgment. The architectural works of Michelangelo amaze with their beauty and grandeur - the ensemble of Capitol Square and the dome of the Vatican Cathedral in Rome.

The arts have reached such perfection in him that you will not find either among the ancients or the new people for many, many years. His imagination was so and so perfect, and the things presented to him in the idea were such that it was impossible to carry out plans so great and amazing with his hands, and often he abandoned his creations, moreover, many destroyed; so, it is known that shortly before his death he burned a large number of drawings, sketches and cardboards created by his own hand, so that no one could see the labors he overcame, and in what ways he tested his genius in order to show it only perfect.

Giorgio Vasari. "Lives of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects." T. V. M., 1971.

Notable works

• Madonna at the stairs. Marble. OK. 1491. Florence, Buonarroti Museum.
• Battle of the centaurs. Marble. OK. 1492. Florence, Buonarroti Museum.
• Pieta. Marble. 1498-1499. Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica.
• Madonna and Child. Marble. OK. 1501. Bruges, Notre Dame church.
• David. Marble. 1501-1504. Florence, Academy of Fine Arts.
• Madonna Taddei. Marble. OK. 1502-1504. London, Royal Academy of Arts.
• Madonna Doni. 1503-1504. Florence, Uffizi Gallery.
• Madonna Pitti. OK. 1504-1505. Florence, Bargello National Museum.
• Apostle Matthew. Marble. 1506. Florence, Academy of Fine Arts.
• Painting on the vault of the Sistine Chapel. 1508-1512. Vatican.
  • Creation of Adam
• Dying slave. Marble. OK. 1513. Paris, Louvre.
• Moses. OK. 1515. Rome, church of San Pietro in Vincoli.
• Atlant. Marble. Between 1519, ca. 1530-1534. Florence, Academy of Fine Arts.
• Medici Chapel 1520-1534.
• Madonna. Florence, Medici Chapel. Marble. 1521-1534.
• Laurentian Library. 1524-1534, 1549-1559. Florence.
• Tomb of Duke Lorenzo. Medici Chapel. 1524-1531. Florence, Cathedral of San Lorenzo.
• Tomb of Duke Giuliano. Medici Chapel. 1526-1533. Florence, Cathedral of San Lorenzo.
• Crouching boy. Marble. 1530-1534. Russia, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage.
• Brutus. Marble. After 1539. Florence, Bargello National Museum.
• Terrible Judgment. The Sistine Chapel. 1535-1541. Vatican.
• Tomb of Julius II. 1542-1545. Rome, Church of San Pietro in Vincoli.
• Pieta (Laying in the Coffin) of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Marble. OK. 1547-1555. Florence, Opera del Duomo Museum.

In 2007, the last work of Michelangelo was found in the archives of the Vatican - a sketch of one of the details of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. The red chalk drawing is "a detail of one of the radial columns that make up the drum of the dome of St. Peter's in Rome." It is believed that this is the last work of the famous artist, completed shortly before his death in 1564.

This is not the first time Michelangelo's work has been found in archives and museums. So, in 2002, in the vaults of the National Design Museum in New York, among the works of unknown authors of the Renaissance, another drawing was found: on a sheet of paper measuring 45 × 25 cm, the artist depicted a menorah - a candlestick for seven candles. In early 2015, it became known about the discovery of the first and probably the only bronze sculpture of Michelangelo that has survived to this day - a composition of two panther riders.

Poetic creativity

The poetry of Michelangelo is considered one of the brightest examples of the Renaissance. About 300 poems by Michelangelo have survived to this day. The main themes are the chanting of a person, the bitterness of disappointment and the artist's loneliness. Favorite poetic forms are madrigal and sonnet. According to R. Rolland, Michelangelo began to write poetry as a child, however, there are not so many of them left, because in 1518, he burned most of his early poems, and destroyed another part later, before his death.

Some of his poems were published in the works of Benedetto Varchi (Italian: Benedetto Varchi), Donato Giannotto (Italian: Donato Giannotti), Giorgio Vasari and others. Luigi Ricci and Giannotto suggested that he select the best poems for publication. In 1545, Giannotto undertook the preparation of the first collection of Michelangelo, however, things did not go any further - Luigi died in 1546, and Vittoria died in 1547. Michelangelo decided to abandon this idea, considering it vanity.

Vittoria and Michelangelo at Moses, 19th century painting

Thus, during his lifetime, the collection of his poems was not published, and the first collection was published only in 1623 by his nephew Michelangelo Buonarroti (the younger) under the title "Poems of Michelangelo collected by his nephew" in the Florentine publishing house Giuntine (Italian Giuntine). This edition was incomplete and contained certain inaccuracies. In 1863, Cesare Guasti (Italian: Chesare Guasti) published the first accurate edition of the artist's poems, which, however, was not chronological. "(Berlin). The edition of Enzo Noe Girard (Bari, 1960) Italian. Enzo Noe Girardi) consisted of three parts, and was much more perfect than Frey's edition in the accuracy of the text and was distinguished by a better chronology of the arrangement of poems, although not entirely indisputable.

The study of the poetic work of Michelangelo was carried out, in particular, by the German writer Wilhelm Lang, who defended a dissertation on this topic, published in 1861.

Use in music

Some of his poems were set to music during his lifetime. Among the most famous contemporary composers of Michelangelo are Jacob Arcadelt ("Deh dimm" Amor se l "alma" and "Io dico che fra voi"), Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Constanta Festa (the lost madrigal to Michelangelo's poem), Jean where Cons (also - council).

Also, composers such as Richard Strauss wrote music to his words (a cycle of five songs - the first to the words of Michelangelo, the rest - to Adolf von Shack, 1886), Hugo Wolf (the vocal cycle "Songs of Michelangelo" 1897) and Benjamin Britten (song cycle " Seven sonnets by Michelangelo, 1940).

On July 31, 1974, Dmitri Shostakovich wrote a suite for bass and piano (opus 145). The suite is based on eight sonnets and three poems by the artist (translated by Abram Efros).

In 2006 Sir Peter Maxwell Davies completed Tondo di Michelangelo (for baritone and piano). The work includes eight sonnets by Michelangelo. The premiere took place on October 18, 2007.

In 2010 the Austrian composer Matthew Dewey wrote "Il tempo passa: music to Michelangelo" (for baritone, viola and piano). It uses a modern translation of Michelangelo's poems into English. The world premiere of the work took place on January 16, 2011.

Appearance

There are several portraits of Michelangelo. Among them are Sebastiano del Piombo (c. 1520), Giuliano Bugiardini, Jacopino del Conte (1544-1545, Uffizi Gallery), Marcello Venusti (Museum in the Capitol), Francisco d "Olanda (1538-1539), Giulio Bonasone (1546) etc. Also, his image was in the biography of Condivi, which was published in 1553, and in 1561 Leone Leoni minted a coin with his image.

Describing the appearance of Michelangelo, Romain Rolland chose the portraits of Conte and d "Holland as a basis:

Bust of Michelangelo
(Daniele da Volterra, 1564)

“Michelangelo was of medium height, broad in the shoulders and muscular (...). His head was round, his forehead was square, wrinkled, with strongly pronounced brow ridges. Black, rather sparse hair, slightly curly. Small light brown eyes, the color of which was constantly changing, dotted with yellow and blue specks (...). Wide, straight nose with a slight hump (...). Thinly defined lips, the lower lip protrudes slightly. Thin sideburns, and a forked sparse beard of a faun (...) a high-cheeked face with sunken cheeks.

😉 Greetings lovers of history and art! The article "Michelangelo Buonarroti: biography, facts, video" is about the life of an Italian sculptor, artist, architect, the greatest master of the Renaissance.

Michelangelo: biography

The future genius in the field of painting and sculpture was born at the very beginning of the spring of 1475 in the town of Caprese, not far from His full name is: Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni.

His father, Lodovico, was the mayor of this town, and then returned to Florence. The Buonarroti family was ancient, but impoverished. The aristocrat Lodovico considered it unworthy to work for himself. The family lived on modest income from a farm in the village of Settignano, also near Florence. There the baby was given to the nurse, the wife of the stonemason.

The stone has been mined here since time immemorial, and the sculptor often repeated that he “imbibed with milk the ability to work with a chisel and hammer.” The boy's creative abilities manifested themselves in early childhood. But the father was categorically against his son becoming a painter.

However, the 13-year-old teenager was already able to show his freedom-loving character and, after long objections, he received consent to study with the artist Domenic Ghirlandaio. Then he moved to the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni.

This school was patronized by Lorenzo Medici, well versed in art. He immediately saw the undoubted talent of an unusual student. The young man even lived in the Medici palace for several months. But Lorenzo died and at the age of seventeen Michelangelo Buonarroti returned home.

In Florence, there was confusion with political leaders, and in 1494 the young artist left her. He also visits Bologna, and then again goes to his parents. And again not for long.

The new rulers were unable to pacify the inhabitants, and then suddenly a terrible epidemic of a merciless plague struck the city, scything its victims right and left. In the middle of the summer of 1496, Michelangelo ended up in Rome and lived there for more than five years. Here, his success and subsequent huge popularity were expected.

First masterpieces

Almost immediately, as soon as he set foot on this land blessed for many painters, he received an offer to build a statue of Bacchus from marble, and two years later another large order also from marble followed - the composition "Pieta".

Michelangelo "Pieta", 1499 (Marble. Height 174 cm) St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

The composition was unanimously recognized as a masterpiece and this strengthened the position of the young man in the creative world. The next order was the painting "Burial", but it was not finished. At the age of 26, he again comes to his homeland, where life becomes more stable.

Buonarroti propose to create a statue of David. This work was completed in 1504. The statue brought fame to the sculptor in his homeland. Florentines were simply stunned by the splendor of this work.

Michelangelo "David", 1501-1504 (Marble. Height 5.17 m) Academy of Fine Arts, Florence

It was planned to erect a statue near the cathedral, but this elegance and at the same time majesty was worthy of the very heart of Florence. And she rightfully took her place in the central square. Very soon, the statue turned into a symbol of the republic, which fought for freedom.

Of interest is the order from the city authorities - to paint a canvas on the plot of the battle of Kashin. It was necessary to portray the convincing victory of the Florentine army over the army of the Pisans, which took place in 1364.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that another work for the same Palazzo, which would depict the Battle of Anghiari, undertook to write, which was much older than Michelangelo. But the painter accepted this peculiar challenge.

The world has long been aware of the rather difficult relationship between Leonardo and Michelangelo, and everyone expected the results of this creative duel of two geniuses. But both works were never completed.

Rome and the Vatican

Vinci did not begin to finish the picture after a deafening failure with an experiment on the wall painting technique he invented, and Michelangelo wrote a series of amazing sketches and left for Rome in the spring of 1505, where he was invited by Pope Julius II.

He arrived only nine months later, because he spent a long time in the quarries of Carrara, selecting marble for work. According to the plan, the tomb of Julius II was to be decorated with 40 sculptures, but very quickly the pope changed his mind, and in 1513 he died. For many years, court hearings on the payment of the sculptor continued.

In 1545, Michelangelo completed work on the tomb, although it was only a pale shadow of the plan. Another order of the pope was the painting of the vault of the chapel in the Vatican. The painter worked on it for about four years. When the fresco was presented to the public, it was unanimously recognized as a work of genius.

The new Pope Leo X made several commissions from Michelangelo for the Florentine church of San Lorenzo. The artist started them only three years later. These were two huge projects: the Medici tomb and the Laurentian library, where a unique collection of books and manuscripts was kept.

In 1529-30. the master was entrusted with defensive structures that could withstand the well-armed Medici troops, who were expelled in 1527.

Three years later, they returned the throne, and the sculptor had to urgently leave Florence. True, Pope Clement VII gave a guarantee not to persecute the artist and he continued his work.

Fragment of the fresco "The Creation of Adam" in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican

In 1534, the master moved to Clement VII, who prepared an order for him, had already died. Pope, Paul III, changed the subject of the mural and asked to depict the Last Judgment. This gigantic fresco, completed in 1541, is yet another masterpiece. (Watch the video at the end of the article)

last years of life

Michelangelo Buonarroti has devoted the last 20 years to architecture. And at the same time he creates two amazingly beautiful frescoes for the Paolina Chapel. Since 1546, the master worked on the reconstruction of the Cathedral of St. Peter. He offered his vision of the architecture of the temple. The cathedral, which was consecrated in 1626, is the fruit of his genius.

Michelangelo at the end of his life created drawings depicting the Crucifixion and sculptures "Pieta". In one, he depicts himself as Joseph of Arimathea.

The other one he had been working on in the very last days was not finished. The greatest sculptor and painter died in February 1564, two weeks before the age of 89.

Friends, in this video you can watch the works of the master and find out more information "Michelangelo Buonarroti: biography and creativity" ↓

The greatest master and thinker of the High Renaissance - Michelangelo Buonarroti, who lived a long and fruitful life, always thought that all his creations were not worthy of the Lord God. And he himself is not worthy to end up in Paradise after death, because he left no offspring on earth, but only soulless stone statues. Although there was an extraordinary woman in the life of a great genius - a muse and a lover.

Bringing creative projects to life, the master could spend years in quarries, where he selected suitable blocks of marble and laid roads for their transportation. Michelangelo tried to do everything with his own hands, he was an engineer, a laborer, and a stonemason.

The life path of the great Buonarroti was full of amazing labor feats that he performed, grieving and suffering, as if not by his own will, but forced by his genius. And distinguished by a sharp and extremely strong character, he had a will harder than granite itself.

Mike's childhood

In March 1475, the second son of five boys was born into the family of a poor nobleman. When Mika was 6 years old, his mother, exhausted by frequent pregnancies, died. And this tragedy left an indelible mark on the psychological state of the boy, which explained his isolation, irritability and unsociableness.

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Having reached the age of 13, Mike told his father, who wanted to give his son a decent financial education, that he intended to study art.
And he had no choice but to send his son to study with the master Domenico Ghirlandaio.

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Already in 1490, they began to talk about the exceptional talent of the still very young Michelangelo Buonarroti, and at that time he was only 15 years old. And two years later, the novice sculptor already had marble reliefs “Madonna at the Stairs” and “Battle of the Centaurs” on the account of the novice sculptor.

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The statues of Michelangelo, like titans, keeping their stone nature, have always been distinguished by solidity and at the same time elegance. The sculptor himself claimed that "Good is the sculpture that can be rolled down the mountain and not a single part of it will break off."

The only masterpiece of a genius with his autograph

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He made this signature in a fit of anger at the visitors of the temple, who attributed his creation to another sculptor. A little later, the master repented of his attack of pride and never signed any of his works again.

4 years of hard labor on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel

At 33, Michelangelo will begin his titanic work on the greatest achievement in the field of painting - the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. The painting with a total area of ​​600 square meters was taken from the plots of the Old Testament: from the moment of the Creation of the world to the Flood.

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At the end of the work, the master was practically blind from the fact that poisonous paint constantly dripped into his eyes during work, and its fumes completely undermined the health of the great master.

“After four tortured years, having made over 400 life-size figures, I felt so old and tired. I was only 37, and all my friends no longer recognized the old man that I had become..

The personal life of the artist, shrouded in secrets and conjectures.

There have always been many rumors around the personal life of the famous sculptor.
Biographers stated that due to the fact that Michelangelo was deprived of maternal love, he did not develop relationships with women.

But he was credited with various close relationships with his sitters. In confirmation of the version of Michelangelo's homosexuality, only the fact that he had never been married spoke. He himself explained it as follows: “Art is jealous,” said Michelangelo, “and demands the whole person. I have a wife to whom I belong, and my children are my creations.

Some researchers believed that Michelangelo generally avoided physical sex, whether with women or men. Others considered him bisexual. However, as an artist, he preferred male nudity to female, and in his love sonnets, dedicated mainly to men, there are clearly homoerotic motifs.

The first mention of a romantic character will appear only when Michelangelo is already over fifty. Having met a young man named Tommaso de'Cavalieri, the master dedicates numerous love poems to him. But this fact is not reliable evidence of their intimate relationship, since divulging this to the whole world through love poetry was dangerous at that time even for Michelangelo, who in his youth was twice subjected to homosexual blackmail and learned caution.

But one thing is certain for sure, that these two people were connected by deep friendship and spiritual closeness until the death of the master. It was Tomasso who, until his last breath, sat at the bedside of his dying friend.

When the artist was already under 60, fate brought him together with a talented poetess named Vittoria Colonna, the granddaughter of the Duke of Urban and the widow of the famous commander Marquis Pescaro. Only this 47-year-old woman, distinguished by a strong masculine character and possessing an extraordinary mind and innate tact, was able to fully understand the state of mind of a lonely genius.

For ten years until her death, they constantly communicated, exchanged poems, and corresponded, which became a real monument of the historical era.

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Her death was a heavy loss for the artist, who until the end of his days regretted that he kissed only the hand of his beautiful beloved, and he so wanted to kiss her on the lips, but he "не смел осквернить своим смрадным прикосновением её прекрасные и свежие черты". !}

He dedicated a posthumous sonnet to his beloved woman, which was the last in his poetic work.

Death of a genius

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Michelangelo, during his lifetime, was revered by fans and enjoyed immense popularity, which many of his colleagues did not have.

So, the crown of creativity of the brilliant master of the Renaissance - reincarnated from a 5-meter block of spoiled marble into a masterpiece, glorified him throughout the world and is still considered one of the most famous and perfect works of art.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), famous Italian sculptor, painter and architect, one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance. He came from an ancient family of the counts of Canossa, was born in 1475 in Chiusi, near Florence. Michelangelo's first acquaintance with painting came from Ghirlandaio. The versatility of artistic development and the breadth of education was facilitated by his stay with Lorenzo Medici, in the famous gardens of St. Mark, among the outstanding scientists and artists of that time. Carved by Michelangelo during his stay here, the mask of a faun and the relief depicting the struggle of Hercules with the centaurs drew attention to him. Shortly thereafter, he performed "Crucifixion" for the convent of Santo Spirito. During the execution of this work, the prior of the monastery placed at the disposal of Michelangelo a corpse, on which the artist first became acquainted with anatomy. Subsequently, he dealt with it with passion.

Portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti. Artist M. Venusti, ca. 1535

In 1496, Michelangelo sculpted a sleeping cupid from marble. Having given it, on the advice of friends, the appearance of antiquity, he passed it off as an antique work. The trick succeeded, and the deceit opened afterward resulted in Michelangelo's invitation to Rome, where he executed a commissioned marble Bacchus and the Madonna with the Dead Christ (Pietà), which made Michelangelo from a respected sculptor the first sculptor of Italy.

In 1499, Michelangelo reappears in his native Florence and creates for her a colossal statue of David, as well as paintings in the Council Hall.

Statue of David. Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1504

Then Michelangelo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II and, by his order, created a grandiose project for a monument to the pope with many statues and reliefs. For various reasons, Michelangelo executed only one famous statue of Moses from this multitude.

Michelangelo Buonarroti. Statue of Moses

Forced to start painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the intrigues of rivals who thought to destroy the artist, knowing his unaccustomed to painting technique, Michelangelo at 22 months, working alone, created a huge work that caused general surprise. Here he depicted the creation of the world and man, the fall with its consequences: the expulsion from paradise and the global flood, the miraculous salvation of the chosen people and the approach of the time of salvation in the person of the sibyls, prophets and ancestors of the Savior. The Flood is the most successful composition in terms of the power of expression, drama, courage of thought, mastery of drawing, and the variety of figures in the most difficult and unexpected poses.

Michelangelo Buonarroti. Flood (detail). Fresco of the Sistine Chapel

The enormous painting of the Last Judgment, which, however, is somewhat inferior to the first in the nobility of style, executed by Michelangelo Buonarroti between 1532 and 1545 on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, also amazes with the power of fantasy, grandeur and mastery of the drawing.

Michelangelo Buonarroti. Terrible Judgment. Fresco of the Sistine Chapel

Image source - site http://www.wga.hu

Around the same time, Michelangelo created for the Medici monument a statue of Giuliano - the famous "Pensiero" - "thoughtfulness".

At the end of his life, Michelangelo leaves sculpture and painting and devotes himself mainly to architecture, taking upon himself “for the glory of God” the gratuitous management of the construction of the church of St. Peter in Rome. He didn't finish it. The grandiose dome was completed according to the design of Michelangelo after his death (1564), which interrupted the stormy life of the artist, who also took an ardent part in the struggle of his native city for his freedom.

Dome of St. Peter's Church in Rome. Architect - Michelangelo Buonarroti

The ashes of Michelangelo Buonarroti rest under a magnificent monument in the church of Santa Croce in Florence. Numerous of his sculptural works and paintings are scattered throughout the churches and galleries of Europe.

The style of Michelangelo Buonarroti is distinguished by grandeur and nobility. His desire for the extraordinary, his deep knowledge of anatomy, thanks to which he achieved amazing correctness of the drawing, attracted him to colossal creatures. Michelangelo Buonarroti has no rivals in sublimity, vigor, boldness of movement and majesty of forms. He shows special skill in depicting a naked body. Although Michelangelo, with his addiction to plastic, gave color a secondary importance, nevertheless his color is strong and harmonious, Michelangelo put fresco painting above oil painting and called the latter a woman's work. Architecture was his weak side, but in it, being self-taught, he showed his genius.

Secretive and uncommunicative, Michelangelo could do without loyal friends and did not know female love until the age of 80. He called art his beloved, paintings his children. Only at the end of his life did Michelangelo meet the famous beautiful poetess Vittoria Colonna and fell in love with her passionately. This pure feeling caused the appearance of Michelangelo's poems, which were then published in 1623 in Florence. Michelangelo lived with patriarchal simplicity, did a lot of good, was, in general, affectionate and gentle. Only impudence and ignorance he punished inexorably. He was on good terms with Rafael, although he was not indifferent to his fame.

The life of Michelangelo Buonarroti is described by his students Vasari and Candovi.