Michelangelo The Story of a Sculptor

He is revered as one of the greatest artists of all time. For centuries, he has typified the perfect artistic genius. His greatest legacy is the surviving works we can see today. The Sistine Chapel, the Statue of David. Yet behind the artworks lies a complex and stubborn man. And in this week's Biographics, we go beyond the facade to discover the real Michelangelo. Italy in the 15th century was very different to the country we know today. Back then, it was a collection of small republics. These city-states were all under the governorship of the Pope, who was located in Rome. The key republics were Florence, Genoa, and Venice. Every state had its own governors, its own nobles, peasants, priests, and government officials. Nestled in the remote Apennine mountains of central Italy was the small village of Caprisi. It was here, on March 6, 1475, that Francesca de' Neri Buonarroti gave birth to her second son, Michelangelo. Her husband, Lodovizzi de' Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni, was a lowly official who had the job of convicting and sentencing criminals. When baby Michelangelo was six months old, the family of four moved to Florence. Here, Lodovizzo bought a small farm near the village of Settignano. It was in this village that the child spent his early years, under the care of a wet nurse. Farming off newborns to a wet nurse for the first two years of life was a common practice at that time. The woman who took in Michelangelo was married to a stonecutter. In later years, when he had transformed himself into a sculptor, Michelangelo commented that he had drunk marble dust with his nurse's milk. When he was three, Michelangelo returned to live with his family in Florence. The family was poor and, with new babies arriving frequently, the household was overcrowded. Lodovizzo received a meager government salary and his farm wasn't very successful. In fact, he believed that the work of a lowly farmer was beneath him. When he was six years of age young, Michelangelo's tough life got even tougher. His mother died, leaving behind five young sons, including a newborn. Lodovizzo did his best, working two jobs and still managing to trundle the boys off to mass at the Church of Santa Croce in Florence every Sunday. This church was filled with magnificent works of art, including a crucifix carved by the famous sculptor Donatello and wall paintings by Giotto, one of the greatest artists of all time. The young Michelangelo must have marveled at these magnificent pieces. In 1485, Lodovizzo took a new wife. Lucrezia Degli Ubaldini Gagliano came from a rich family, bringing 600 florin to the union as a dowry. This was an enormous amount at the time and it flipped the fortunes of the family overnight. An immediate result of the family's newfound wealth was that Lodovizzo was able to afford to send Michelangelo to a Latin school to learn reading, writing and mathematics. But the boy soon proved that he was no academic. Bored with his lessons, he would stare out of the window while doodling on paper. However, one thing he did fall in love with was poetry. Returning home for vacation, Michelangelo told his father that he was more interested in art than in academic studies. But Lodovizzo was not impressed. At that time, artists were the lowly paid servants of noblemen, being considered little more than a servant. Lodovizzo wanted his son to aspire to more than that. The only person who seemed to understand Michelangelo's passion for art was an older boy that he had befriended by the name of Francesco Granazzi. Francesco himself was a budding artist, apprenticed to the famous artist Domenico Gallendaio. He took Michelangelo to his master's workshop and showed him works in progress. The younger boy was mesmerized by what he saw. He knew that being an artist was his destiny. Despite his father's negativity, Michelangelo kept begging to be allowed to pursue his passion. Meanwhile, his friend Francesco encouraged him to produce some drawings, which he showed to his master, Gallendaio. The great artist was impressed and expressed the desire to also take Michelangelo on as an apprentice. Finally, Lodovizzo relented and, at the age of twelve, his son became apprenticed to Gallendaio. The master ran the most successful artist's workshop in Florence, along with his two brothers. They were kept busy decorating churches in Florence. The brothers had a number of apprentices, aged between eight and fifteen, who lived with them and assisted with paintings and murals. The parents, including Lodovizzo, had to pay for living expenses and training. From the Gallendaio brothers, young Michelangelo learned how to prepare a wooden panel for painting and how to plaster a wall in preparation for the painting of a fresco. He was also taught how to make working drawings, called cartoons, which would form the basis of finished paintings. Among the apprentices, Michelangelo was an immediate standout. Still, he proved to be stubborn and quite full of himself. He was given the task of copying works previously drawn by his master and, having done so, declared that his works were better than the originals. Gallendaio acknowledged that the boy had great talent, but he was angered by his prideful attitude. He also saw that Michelangelo lacked the patience needed to learn some of the skills required, such as painting frescoes. He showed little interest in grinding and mixing paints, and couldn't be bothered mixing the ingredients needed for the smooth plaster needed for fresco painting. When he was fourteen, Michelangelo went one step too far. He had copied some drawings that his master had done of women. But then he dared to correct some finer aspects of the originals by going over them with a broad-nibbed pen. This was too much. Gallendio kicked Michelangelo out of the workshop, claiming that there was no teaching this know-it-all. Rather than being discouraged, the talented teen made the decision that paint and plaster were not for him. He considered them to be a lesser form of art. To him, the real skill lay in stone, producing fine sculptures of the human form. This desire would take him to the very pinnacle of Florentine nobility, the House of Medici. Before Michelangelo had been dismissed by Gallendio, some members of the ruling Medici family visited the workshop. Among them was an elderly sculptor named Bertoldo de Giovanni. This man noticed the talent that Michelangelo possessed, and struck up a relationship with the boy. After his dismissal, the budding young sculptor sought out the older man. Bertoldo was employed by Lorenzo de' Medici, the most powerful man in the city. He was making statues and medals for the man, and looking after his art collection. Many of Lorenzo's statues were displayed in a garden where artists went to draw and carve. This area was a gathering place for student sculptors who would get feedback and instruction from Bertoldo about their work. Soon, Michelangelo was a regular in the garden. The now 15-year-old began creating sculptures from clay and bringing them to the garden. Though he was younger than the other budding sculptors, his skill was clearly beyond theirs. This led to jealousy. Sometimes it even led to physical violence. In one encounter, Michelangelo even had his nose broken. But the boy was not deterred. Begging a piece of marble from another sculptor, he created his first relief carving – the head of a faun. Just as he had been hoping, this sculpture was seen by Lorenzo de' Medici, who was immediately taken with the boy's skill. He brought Michelangelo into his fold, giving him his own room and paying him an allowance. The young artist's life was now more peaceful. He was able to settle down to the task of perfecting his chosen art form. One of his first major projects was to carve a scene from mythology on marble as a relief panel. This was the Battle of the Centaurs. These creatures, with the heads and arms of men and the bodies of horses, gave him plenty of scope to show action and form. The realism and gentle precision of this work is remarkable for a sculptor of such a young age. The other major piece that Michelangelo produced while working in the house of Medici was a relief panel called Madonna of the Steps. It shows the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Jesus. The piece is carved on fine white marble and shows the Madonna's face in profile as she holds her infant son against her. Things were going remarkably well for the 17-year-old. He was living in the inner sanctum of the richest family in the city, and he had a powerful patron who admired his talent. Unfortunately, it wasn't at last. In April, 1492, Lorenzo suddenly died. His son, Piero, took over, but he cared little for sculpture. He gave Michelangelo no work until the winter, when he decided that he would like a snowman made. He ordered Michelangelo to make one. It would prove to be the artist's strangest commission. Around this same time, the prior of Santo Spirito asked the young sculptor to make a crucifix for his church. Delighted with the result of the prior, he gave Michelangelo the use of a room in which he could work. Here, he was able to dissect corpses in order to study anatomy. The idea behind this was, of course, to make the most lifelike sculptures of the human body possible. He believed that in order to know how to make these sculptures, he had to know how the human body was put together. Thus, he became one of the first people to dissect and study the human body in this way. By 1494, Florence was facing a crisis. An army led by King Charles VIII of France was at the walls and was threatening to overrun the city. Many people, including Michelangelo, fled the city. He travelled to Bologna, in northern Italy, and then on to Venice, an important trading city. Here, Michelangelo hoped to find work. However, he could not find any employment, so he went back to Bologna. Having lost his patron, Michelangelo set out in search of a replacement. He founded in the form of Gianfrancesco Aldrovandi, a local noble and politician. Aldrovandi set his talented new sculptor to the task of carving the missing figures at Again, Michelangelo, now 20, had fallen on his feet. He enjoyed a comfortable home, had stone and supplies provided, and received commissions for his artwork. Just as had happened in Florence, this bred resentment among other sculptors. They paid rent, bought tools and stone, and survived out of their own pockets. Meanwhile, back in Florence, a change of power had occurred. A priest by the name of Girolamo Savonarola had instigated a fierce campaign against the House of Medici. When the threat of French invasion had emerged, the House of Medici had fled the city, leaving Savonarola free to take power. This tricked churchmen disapproved of paintings and sculptors that showed the naked human body. As a result, prospects were not good for local sculptors. However, in 1495, Michelangelo felt a great urge to return to Florence to see his family. While there, he made contact with some members of the House of Medici, now living under false names. One of them, Lorenzo de Pierfrancesco de Medici, wanted Michelangelo to help him sell a statue he had made earlier. It was a figure of the Roman god of love, Cupid. If the statue was aged to look like an ancient statue, Lorenzo reasoned, it would make a lot of money in Rome. Michelangelo smeared the statue with dirt to make it look as if it had been buried. He then took the forged antique to Rome, where it was purchased by a senior churchman, Cardinal Riario. While in Rome, Michelangelo was introduced to some powerful people, including members of the Borgia family, who numbered among them the Pope. Cardinal Riario, who was well aware that Michelangelo was really the creator of Cupid, quickly commissioned him to create another statue for his collection. The statue that resulted has come to be recognized as Michelangelo's first masterpiece, the statue of Bacchus, the Greek god of wine and celebrations. Yet, although everyone else was impressed, the Cardinal was not. He thought the god looked too drunk and refused to pay for the work. Michelangelo now had to fight to get paid for a job he had already completed. On top of this, he received news that his father had fallen into bad financial straits. What he needed, and fast, was a new patron to support not just himself, but also his family. For several months, nothing seemed to pan out for the 21-year-old master sculptor. He was without a patron, he was without payment for his Bacchus statue, and his father was in desperate need of financial assistance. Then, in November of 1497, things took a turn for the better. He was commissioned to produce an exciting new work by a French ambassador by the name The Cardinal envisioned a statue of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Jesus, a subject known as the Pieta. It took Michelangelo two years to complete the Pieta, but it was worth it. The finished work was displayed in the Vatican, and everyone who saw it was amazed at the realism of the flesh and fabric that the sculptor had fashioned from the cold marble. The Pieta made Michelangelo famous. Now, the most powerful men in Europe were clamoring to have him work for them. Back in Florence, the scene had changed once again. Savonarola, the priest, had fallen into disfavor and been executed. It was now safe for artists to return and pursue projects there. The authorities of the Florentine Cathedral began to formulate the idea to commission a giant statue of the biblical killer of Goliath, young David. Two sculptors had already been commissioned to do the job. Both had failed, merely managing to make the huge block of marble almost unusable. In 1501, the job was given to Michelangelo. In order to do the job, the sculptor had to stop working on another job in Rome and relocate to Florence. This splitting from one project to another became a common practice, and one that created frequent legal ramifications. The creation of David was an immensely challenging and lengthy job. The first decision was to choose a pose that fitted in with the way the marble had already been worked. This prevented him from emulating the traditional pose, which showed David standing with Goliath's head at his feet. So, therefore, he decided to depict David, in the moments before the fight, as if he was looking upon his foe. His next move was to surround the huge piece of marble with barricades. Then he went to work. He tirelessly chipped away at the giant. Three years later, the statue of David was completed. It was a triumph, with crowds lavishing praise on the creator of the 14-foot nude figure. The man who had commissioned the work, Piero Soderini, ruler of Florence, was also impressed, but he told Michelangelo that David's nose was too broad. The sculptor's stubborn pride now came to the fore, but it was tempered with common sense. Taking a handful of marble dust, he climbed up the scaffolding and pretended to chisel the nose. He then let the dust fall to the ground. Soderini declared that the nose was now much better. In 1503, a new Pope, Julius II, was elected in Rome. Julius had great artistic ambitions, and he knew who he wanted to spearhead the many projects he had in mind. And this, of course, was Italy's greatest sculptor, Michelangelo. Michelangelo had the skills needed to do justice to the great theocratic works the Pope envisioned. Julius knocked down the unstable 5th century Basilica of St. Peter's in the Vatican and began rebuilding the church on a much grander scale. The centerpiece was to be his own tomb, which would be designed and carved by Michelangelo. This massive project was intended to show the greatness of Julius as both a Pope and also as a patron of the arts. It was to be three stories high and covered in life-size sculptures. The sculptor spent the first eight months just quarrying the marble needed for the project. It would prove to be his most frustrating project, one on which he would work on and off for the next 40 years. In the end, the finished tomb was smaller than planned, but still vast. Only three of the statues were by Michelangelo, the large bearded Moses, and the biblical characters of Rachel and Leah. And instead of being placed in St. Peter's, it was put in the much less grand Church of San Pietro. Four years into the tomb project, Pope Julius set his sights on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The ceiling was painted with a pattern of gold stars, but the Pope envisioned something far grander. Even though Michelangelo was known as a sculptor and not a painter, the Pope chose him to do the work. The great sculptor had not worked on a fresco since his days as an apprentice back in Florence. But back in the day when the Pope chose you for a job, you did it. But that did not mean you had to do it willingly. Michelangelo considered himself to be a slave to the whims of the Pope. He wrote about the painting project, This is not my profession. I am wasting my time and all for nothing. May God help me. It was a massive job. The chapel's ceiling covered a curved surface of about 5,600 square feet. In addition, the ceiling had an uneven surface, and it was 60 feet above the chapel's floor. The Pope commissioned the artist to fill this canvas with scenes from the Old Testament. Michelangelo planned out nine scenes taken from the Book of Genesis. The centerpiece would be the creation of Adam. For four painstaking years, Michelangelo worked on the ceiling. It was back-breaking work. The figures were designed to be seen from the floor, but the artist had to paint high up on the scaffolding, lying on its back. According to his official biographer, Condivi, he worked on his own, applying the plaster, mixing the colors, and doing all the painting. The results were breathtaking. The use of perspective and the dramatic rendition of the figures were admired by everyone who saw them. Having triumphantly completed the Sistine Chapel project, Michelangelo returned to his work on the Tomb of Julius. When Pope Julius died in 1513, the urgency went out of the project. In 1517, the new Pope, Leo X, asked Michelangelo to design a new facade for the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence. Though he had no experience as an architect, the sculptor was confident that he could do a good job. He threw himself into the project, buying a piece of land near the church in order to work on his facade. But then, in 1520, the project was put on hold and cancelled altogether. Michelangelo was furious. He had invested himself fully, both physically and financially, into the project. Partly to placate him, the Pope gave him a replacement project, the Medici Tombs, to be created in remembrance of two members of the family who had died prematurely. Michelangelo began work on the Medici Chapel in 1519, to which was added a library a few years later. Both buildings took years to complete and are stunning designs. The artist was now at the height of his creative powers, but crisis was just around the corner. In 1527, armies from France and the Holy Roman Empire invaded Italy. Rome was looted and burned. By now, there was yet another Pope, Clement VII, and he sided with the Holy Roman Empire when it besieged Florence. A loyal Florentine, Michelangelo returned home to defend his city. He set to work designing new fortifications to help protect the city. But his efforts were in vain. After a long struggle, the city fell, with many people being killed. Michelangelo went into hiding, concealing himself in a tiny crypt under the altar of the Medici Chapel in San Lorenzo. There he stayed until news came through that the Pope had no animosity against him. Michelangelo spent his latter years writing poetry and continuing to work for the Popes in Rome. One of his most famous poems describes how uncomfortable he was when painting the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, bent almost double, with paint splashing on his face. As he aged, he wrote more poems of a religious nature. Throughout the reign of several Popes, he held the position of Chief Architect of St. Peter's. Meanwhile, he worked on carvings that were variations of the work that had first propelled him to fame, the Pieta. It was while working on one of his Pietas on February 12, 1564, that he began to feel feverish. He took to his bed, and despite the efforts of his doctors, he died six days later. His dying wish was to have his body returned to Florence, the city he loved.