Update my browser now. Self-portrait of Michelangelo. Italy tours says:. Sonia Diaz says:. Erika Mark says:. Unknown says:. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
Book a Tour. Find out more. Legendary Venice: St. You May Also Like. Follow us Stay up to date with travel tips, local insights and all things Italy on our social channels! Subscribe to our Newsletter Get curated Italy travel tips delivered to your inbox! Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece and Rome.
Against a backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development of new Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, architect, inventor, and student of all things scientific. The Medici family, also known as the House of Medici, first attained wealth and political power in Florence in the 13th century through its success in commerce and banking.
A jealous rival broke his nose when he was a teenager. His steady hand with a chisel and paintbrush soon made him the envy of all Toward the end of the 14th century A. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, According to Machiavelli, the ends always justify the means—no matter how cruel, calculating or immoral those means might be. Legend says the dynasty descended from a giant-slaying knight.
As the story goes, Averardo was riding through an area north of Florence known the Mugello when he His contemporaries recognised his extraordinary talent, and Michelangelo received commissions from some of the most wealthy and powerful men of his day, including popes and other affiliated with the Catholic Church. Born of humble backgrounds, died an artistic legend. Before his birth, his family were small bankers in Florence for generations. But the bank failed, forcing his parents to head to Caprese for more work.
The family moved back to Florence when Michelangelo was only one month old, a place he would always consider his home. His mother passed away when he was only six, leading him to be placed under the care of a family of stonecutters. Despite this, his father set Michelangelo up for an apprenticeship with the most successful painter in Florence, Domenico Ghirlandaio, at age thirteen.
After a year working with him, Domenico recommended him to Lorenzo de. Medici, the Florentine ruler, leading Michelangelo to study classical sculpture in the Medici gardens. In his youth, Michelangelo had taunted a fellow student, and received a blow on the nose that disfigured him for life. Over the years, he suffered increasing infirmities from the rigors of his work; in one of his poems, he documented the tremendous physical strain that he endured by painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Political strife in his beloved Florence also gnawed at him, but his most notable enmity was with fellow Florentine artist Leonardo da Vinci , who was more than 20 years his senior. Michelangelo's poetic impulse, which had been expressed in his sculptures, paintings and architecture, began taking literary form in his later years.
Although he never married, Michelangelo was devoted to a pious and noble widow named Vittoria Colonna, the subject and recipient of many of his more than poems and sonnets. Their friendship remained a great solace to Michelangelo until Colonna's death in Michelangelo, who was just 25 years old at the time, finished his work in less than one year, and the statue was erected in the church of the cardinal's tomb.
At 6 feet wide and nearly as tall, the statue has been moved five times since, to its present place of prominence at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Carved from a single piece of Carrara marble, the fluidity of the fabric, positions of the subjects, and "movement" of the skin of the Piet — meaning "pity" or "compassion" — created awe for its early viewers, as it does even today.
Today, the "Pieta" remains a universally revered work. Between and , Michelangelo took over a commission for a statue of "David," which two prior sculptors had previously attempted and abandoned, and turned the foot piece of marble into a dominating figure.
The strength of the statue's sinews, vulnerability of its nakedness, humanity of expression and overall courage made the "David" a highly prized representative of the city of Florence.
Originally commissioned for the cathedral of Florence, the Florentine government instead installed the statue in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to switch from sculpting to painting to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which the artist revealed on October 31, The work later had to be completely removed soon after due to an infectious fungus in the plaster, then recreated.
Michelangelo fired all of his assistants, whom he deemed inept, and completed the foot ceiling alone, spending endless hours on his back and guarding the project jealously until completion. The resulting masterpiece is a transcendent example of High Renaissance art incorporating the symbology, prophecy and humanist principles of Christianity that Michelangelo had absorbed during his youth.
0コメント