Only Sculpture Michelangelo example essay topic

16 February 2003 Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel Michelangelo was one of the greatest sculptor, painter, architect and poet. His tastes were really simple; he didn't wish for luxury. He was wealthy, people took care of him, and he had good friends. He used to take daily walks no matter what the weather to stay healthy. When the weather turned bad, he used to wear a long woolen cloak that protected him from rain and cold. He ate pasta, fish, green salads, cheese and country bread.

He needed little sleep, and use to spend long evening sitting by the fire talking with friends, writing poems or drawing. Abrams, page 3 Michelangelo was born in 1475, the second son of 5 in an aristocratic family, the Buonarroti Simon i. His father's name was Lodovico and his mother's name was Francesca. His family was one of the important families in Florence for hundreds of years, but in the time that he was born the wealth of the family was going down. His father was too proud to work as a merchant or farmer; he only wanted that the terms as a governor would go up. He waited a few weeks and this happened.

Michelangelo's mother, Francesca was incapable of nursing Michelangelo so he was sent to Settignano to live with the family of a stonecutter. When he was 6 years, old his mother died because she had much babies. When he was 10 Lodovico married another woman so Michelangelo was sent back to Florence. By this time he could already work as a stonecutter but he couldn't read or write. It was normal that all the kids at the age of 10 could read and write, when he was 13 he learned. At this age he discovered that he had the gift of drawing and he used to draw as much as he could.

His friend, Francesco Gran acci, was studying to be a painter. Michelangelo told his father that he wanted to be a painter, but Lodovico only thought about money and the family's influence, Michelangelo asked him continuously so he father used to beat him a lot, but after a few months of perseverance Lodovico gave in. In the same year, Michelangelo became Domenico Ghirlandaio's apprentice. In 1489 Lorenzo de' Medici, a member of the leading family in Florence, invited an experienced sculptor, Bertoldo di Giovanni, to become the keeper of the Medici's art collection. Bertoldo wanted to train promising young sculptors, so he asked Ghirlandaio. He sent Michelangelo and Francesco.

Michelangelo was given a piece of marble. He made the head of a roman god. Lorenzo de' Medici liked this so much that he wanted Michelangelo live in his house with his family. Michelangelo joined the circle of the family where he was treated if he were a member of the family.

In 1491, with the help of Lorenzo and Bertoldo, Michelangelo carved a thin plaque called the Madonna of the stairs, in marble. A year later he finished the Battle of the Centaurs. Abrams, page 4-21 In 1492, Lorenzo de' Medici died because of a lighting struck the cathedral that made pieces of concrete to fly away and one of them hit Lorenzo. His oldest son, Piero, took power and he never liked Michelangelo, so he got him out of the house. Michelangelo didn't want to live with his dad so he went to the monastery, Santo Spirit. In this monastery he made a sculpture of Hercules that was larger than life.

In 1494, Piero had to flee Florence because there was a conflict between France and Naval that was Florence's neighbor. Before all of this happened, Michelangelo had a bad feeling so he escaped to the northeast to Venice. He was only 19 so he couldn't get a job. He then went south to Bologna. At the entrance soldiers stopped him and told him that he had to pay a fee entrance. He didn't have any money so they sent him to jail.

He was taken to a magistrate named Gian francesco Aldourandi, when he discovered that Michelangelo was a sculptor and had been a member of Lorenzo de' Medici household. He invited Michelangelo to stay at his palace. Aldourandi helped Michelangelo in obtaining commission to sculpture 3 statues for the tomb of St. Dominic. This tomb was an important for the city.

In 1495 he finished the statues and returned to Florence. In 1498, Michelangelo signed a contract. The contract said that he had to make the Piet'a; that was the figure of Christ. This is the only sculpture Michelangelo signed.

In 1501 the Board of Works considered Michelangelo for a commission for a major sculpture, and they chose him. He had to make a huge figure of David. With this sculpture, he became famous. In 1508 Julius II called Michelangelo to do the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo didn't want to do the project because he was a sculpture, not a painter, but he did it after all. He had acquired some experience when he was with Ghirlandaio. In 1512, the ceiling was done. At this point he was recognized not as only the greatest sculptor but also the greatest painter of his time. In 1513 Julius II died and Michelangelo was asked to make his tomb.

Abrams, page 22-34 In 1545 Michelangelo finally finished the Tomb of Julius. He had worked on it for 40 years. In 1534, Michelangelo was asked to take another enormous project in the Sistine Chapel. He was to paint the altar's wall that was the Last Judgment. He made this paint without help of other people. He finished it on 1541.

In 1542 Paul asked Michelangelo to paint 2 more frescoes; the Conversion of St. Paul and the Martyrdom of St. Peter. They were to be for the central section of the Pope's chapel (Paul ). In 1550 the frescoes were finished, and he started working Deposition, the Deposition is a sculpture of Christ that was just took out of the cross after he (Jesus) died. In 1547 Paul made Michelangelo architect of St. Peter's. He could change whatever he wanted to. Everything seemed well but suddenly Paul got sick and died, so Michelangelo needed to have a meeting with different people that were in charge of art, architecture and social things and with the new pope, Julius.

Julius really liked Michelangelo because of his attitude and he invited him over his palace and talked about art and architecture. Julius gave him permission to change St. Peter's plus he was also aloud to change the Roman Imperial Capitol. This was an historic and important place for the city. He fixed it so good that he was then considered one of the greatest architects.

In 1555, Michelangelo started working on a new Piet'a, the Ronda nini Piet'a. This was a sculpture of Christ with his mother but in spirits forms. In 1564 Michelangelo sadly died on a rainy winter day, he died a few weeks before his ninetieth birthday. By this time the Piet'a was still unfinished.

His body was at the church of Holy Apostles. There were hundreds of Romans that passed by the coffin to express their grieve and respect. It took hours to be done with the ceremony. Then he was sent to Florence were all architects, artists, painters, and craftsmen of Florence escorted the coffin. It's said that people fought to carry the coffin, to the burial site. Nearly one thousand of people attended his funeral at the Medici Church.

Abrams, page 34-56 "The first scene in the chronological order is The Separation of Light from Darkness. The picture has the figure of God with his arms raised, making the light separated from the darkness."The second scene in the chronological order is the Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants. In this picture God is on the right side of the paint with his stretched arms, about to make the sun and the moon, and on the other side, he creates grass and the first bushes from the earth."The third scene in the chronological order is the Separation of the Earth from the Waters. In this picture God flies over the waters. Behind God the sky is clear and bright, but the other side is grayish-white."The fourth scene in the chronological order is the Creation of Adam. In this picture Adam issues from the hand of God as the fingers of God touch in a loving gesture.

You can see the love that shows on the face of God and on the face of Adam. Under God's left underarm you can see Eve there watching Adam."The fifth scene in the chronological order is the Creation of Eve. In this picture Adam is asleep and Eve is right next to him looking at God with her arms extended towards Him, Adam is asleep because God took one of his limbs to create Eve."The sixth scene in the chronological order is the fall and Expulsion from Garden of Eden. The picture is divided into 2 one on the left and one on the right. On the left side Eve holds the apple boldly and Adam takes it greedily.

On the right side of the picture there are only rocks a barren tree stump and no life, this is outside of Eden, on the left side the picture is full of life and delight, Adam and Eve's bodies are too plump and smooth, and their hair is luxuriant, this is inside of Eden. On the right of the picture there is a cherub with a raised sword pointing the way out to Adam and Eve."The seventh scene in the chronological order is the Sacrifice of Noah. In the picture Noah celebrates the sacrifice on an altar helped by other figures. He is burning a sheep."The eighth scene in the chronological order is The Deluge.

The arc is in the background, there are some people on a island but they are about to die. There are 3 kind of humans behaviors on this picture: The righteous are safe in the ark, the dammed assailed the arc and the people attached to worldly things are trying to find a safe place with their possessions but they can't because they have too much."The ninth scene in the chronological order is The Drunkenness of Noah. This picture is the humiliation of the patriarch thanks to the wine". From the east door of the Chapel to the altar to the west, there are 7 prophets painted in the ceiling by Michelangelo this are: -Zechariah: He is painted as an old man with long beard wearing a green cloak, he is reading his book, and there are two boys behind his back. -Joel: He is reading a scroll and he is really into it. He has a book under his feet but it's hard to see it.

There is a boy on his right shoulder about to close a book, the other one is bringing him a folio on his left shoulder. -Isaiah: He is looking to his right shoulder and hearing a boy, the boy is excited and pointing to the back. His left arm is raised and with his finger he is like telling the boy to be quiet or stay still. His right arm is holding a book and he has his finger inside the book so he would not lose the page. His feet are without shoes and crossed. -Ezekiel: He has a white bear, looking to his right and he is surprised and really focused of what the boy is saying, the boy is pointing to heaven.

He is the only prophet that has a turban wrapped in around his head. He is holding a scroll with his left hand. -Daniel: Is painted young, he is resting his left arm on his book and with his right hand he is writing, a little boy is helping him hold Daniel's book. He is like copying stuff from the book and looks really interested. -Jeremiah: He is resting his head on his right hand with a sorrow expression he might be thinking about something too, his legs are crossed and his left arm is resting on his leg. Behind him there is a woman looking down with a sorrow expression too.

On the other side there is a man looking to the right. -Jonah: He is laid back looking at God with his arms turned to his left, his expressions are joy, delight, love and filial response. There are 2 boys that are acting very turbulent on the background, they look a little sad. web Michelangelo and the Sistine chapel. Videocassette.

Dir. V.I.E.W. 1996. In Rome, in 1536, Twenty years after finishing the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, Michelangelo started the paint called The Last Judgment. Christ separates the blessed and dammed, on the left side of the picture the blessed are ascending to heaven and on the right side of the picture the dammed are descending to hell. A cloud below Christ the apostle Bartholomew is holding a human skin that represents his martyrdom, the skin has Michelangelo's face that represents that he confessed his guilt and unworthiness.

The Last Judgment is painted on the altar's wall of the Sistine chapel. This is the largest fresco of the Renaissance. The picture was finished in 1541. Janson. Page 120 web -The Tomb of Julius II: Before the assignment of the Sistine ceiling in 1505, Michelangelo had been asked by Julius II to make his tomb, which was planned to be the most magnificent of Christian times. It was located in the new Basilica of St. Peter's, that was under construction.

Michelangelo really wanted to do the project, that had more than 40 figures. The pope ordered him to put aside the tomb project in favor of painting the Sistine ceiling. After finishing the chapel Michelangelo went back to work on the tomb. Michelangelo made a Moses, one of the finest sculptures. Janson. Page 120 web -The Laurentian Library: In the 1520's he designed the Laurentian Library and its elegant entrance hall adjoining San Lorenzo, but these structures were finished only decades later.

Instead of being not original to classical Greek and Roman practices, Michelangelo used his own style that are columns, pediments, and brackets for a personal and expressive purpose. Janson. Page 121 web -The Medici Tombs: Michelangelo undertook the Medici Tombs between 1519 and 1534. His design have two large wall tombs facing each other in the domed room.

One wall was for Lorenzo de' Medici, and the other for Giuliano de' Medici. The two tombs were representing opposite types: the Lorenzo, the contemplative, the introspective personality, and the Giuliano, the active, the extroverted one. Janson. Page 121 web -The Campidoglio: Michelangelo's program was carried out in the late 1550's, Campidoglio (Capitol) on the Capitoline Hill, is the civic and political heart of the city of Rome. He designed the Campidoglio around an oval shape, with the bronze equestrian statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in the center. He brought a new unity to the public building facade for the Palazzo dei Conservator i.

Janson. Page 121 web -Dome of St. Peter's Basilica: In 1546 Michelangelo when he was a chief architect worked on St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo became responsible for the altar end of the building on the exterior and for the final form of its dome. Janson.

Page 122 web "Michelangelo was born into a world were powerful princes ruled. But Michelangelo had gifts, and his extraordinary ability to draw and paint and sculpt figures out of marble became his passport to independence, fame and fortune. He earned the friendship of princes and popes and worked for nearly ninety years creating masterpieces for them, these are sculptures for their palaces, architecture for their libraries and churches. His greatest work of all was to paint the entire ceiling and later a huge wall of the Sistine Chapel in St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome, and the most important church in the Catholic world. This is the world of art, where anything is possible".

(Harry Abrams) Abrams, page 1.