Painting, Architecture, and Sculpturing of Michelangelo - Essay Example

? Michelangelo al Affiliation Michelangelo Michelangelo is among the greatest artists of the high renaissance period. He wasa multi talented artist with a great wealth of skills in painting, architecture and sculpturing. He also wrote poems. Michelangelo was born in the year 1475 in Italy (Esaak, 2007). His interest in art manifested itself since childhood. He was particularly interested in sculpturing. Since it was a general practice that one had to know how to paint before becoming a sculptor, Michelangelo first studied painting. He later shifted to sculptures after mastering painting. Michelangelo made many paintings while in Florence. His skill impressed the Pope and he got an invite to make a painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Church. Michelangelo was also an architect. He contributed his ideas to many architectural masterpieces that are in Italy today. His most celebrated contribution in the field of architecture is the St. Peters cathedral. He developed many principal features that can be seen at the cathedral including the design for the dome. Early works The earliest sculpture made by Michelangelo was the Battle of the Centaurs. He created the sculpture when he was about seventeen years old. This artwork is regarded highly due to its simplicity. He used solid forms that created squarish figures making the sculpture depict violence in an intense manner (Harden, 2008). The Medici family was overthrown following the death of Lorenzo in 1492. Michelangelo was forced to flee to Bologna where he continued with his work. He made sculptures of three saints for the San Domenico church. Rome Michelangelo returned briefly to Florence before moving to Rome. In Rome he made a sculpture of a Bacchus for a banker. The Bacchus is the only large sculpture from the earlier days of Michelangelo’s art work that still survives to date. It is also the only sculpture designed to be viewed from all sides. The banker also paid Michelangelo to carve the Peita ( a carving in which Mary holds the dead body of Christ while on her knees) in 1498 (Pettit, 1998). The sculpture is presently located in St. Peters. The sculpture was larger than the usual life size sculptures. The theme of contrast was manifested a lot in the work. Mary’s position was vertical while the body of Christ lay horizontally. One person was alive while the other was dead. One was male and the other female. Florence In 1501 Michelangelo returned to Florence. By then, he was the most talented sculptor in Central Italy. The Florence cathedral commissioned him to carve the David. In 1504, he was commissioned to paint the Battle of Cascina. The painting depicted soldiers climbing from a river they had been swimming in to respond to a military distress call. Michelangelo continued to work on other large projects but he failed to finish most of them. In 1505, Michelangelo was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II (1443–1513). He was requested to design the pope’s tomb. The tomb was to incorporate approximately 40 life size statues. Michelangelo worked on and off on the project for a period of forty years (Harden,2008). Statue of David This is the most acknowledged sculpture done by Michelangelo. When Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1501 after the fall of Girolamo Savonarola, he was asked to complete a statue of David that an earlier artist had left unfinished. The statue was to be a symbol of freedom. He responded by finishing the statue of David. This statue was a master work of art made of marble (Bonner, 2001). It established the prominence of Michelangelo as an artist with extraordinary skill and a creative imagination. Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel was the chief chapel in the Vatican. Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope in 1508 to paint the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. The artwork done on this ceiling was unique compared to artwork done on other ceilings. The project halted for some months. When Michelangelo returned to continue with the project, his style shifted a bit to intensify emotional tension. The ceiling was completed in 1512 and Michelangelo returned to work on the tomb of Julius. He curved a Moses and two Slaves. The models used for the carvings were similar to those he used to carve the prophets. After the death of Julius in 1513, the work on the tomb was halted. Michelangelo made 350 paintings in the Sistine Chapel. They cover an area of 1000 sq. ft. He took four years complete the work. The paintings are still intact and can be viewed by visitors. Medici Chapel Michelangelo was commissioned to design the Medici Chapel in 1520. He used his own discretion in creation the composition for the chapel. The chapel was for the two Medici dukes. It had two tombs. Each tomb had two allegorical figures and an image of the deceased. The allegory used on the first tomb was day and night while the second tomb used morning and evening. The project was not completed by Michelangelo but his students took over the work and did it to completion. The Biblioteca Laurenziana, was built opposite the San Lorenzo to house the books of Pope Leo X. Michelangelo was also commissioned to assist in designing it. It is here that the architectural skills of Michelangelo were displayed. The staircase and entrance hall display the best of Michelangelo’s architectural works. Poetry Michelangelo was also skilled in poetry writing. He wrote many poems between the 1530s and 1540s.There are several poems that still survive today. Earlier poems covered the theme of Neoplatonic love (Bonner, 2001). These poems were philosophical and complex. The later poems were Christian in nature. They were written in simple language that was clear and easy to understand. Last Judgment Michelangelo left Florence in 1534 Rome. He spent the next ten years making paintings for Pope Paul III (1468–1549) at the Vatican. In 1536, he began painting the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. The painting shows angels on one side pushing the condemned down to hell while other angels on another side pull up the saved. Christ is the coordinator of both groups. It was the largest fresco painted by Michelangelo (Esaak, 2007). During the same time, he also painted Frescoes in the Pauline Chapel. Architectural works Michelangelo was also very skilled in architectural work. He worked on projects assigned to him and also contributed ideas to projects by other people. He also worked on projects started by other men. Such projects include St. Peter’s where he came up with the design for the dome. He also designed the Campidoglio. In Florence, he designed the Basilica of San Lorenzo, the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian library. In Rome, he worked on projects such as the Santa Maria de Angeli, the Palazzo Farnese, the Capella Sforza and the San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (Beck, 1999). Conclusion Michelangelo made many paintings and carved a lot of sculptures during his lifetime art during the renaissance period. Florence became a world renowned art center because of him. Michelangelo lived for 90 years and died in 1564 (Bonner, 2001). The memory of Michelangelo has been honored all over the world due to his great works. Whether it was in the field of painting, architecture or sculpture carving, the influence of Michelangelo was greatly felt. It is noted that all major Italian sculptors of the 16th century based their styles on the ideas developed be Michelangelo. References Bonner, R. Neil. ed. (2001, Dec 14). Michelangelo Buonarroti Website. Retrieved from http://www.michelangelo.com/buon/bio-index2.html Beck, James H. (1999).Three worlds of Michelangelo. New York: Norton Publishing. Harden, Mark. ( 2008, Sept 10). Michelangelo. Retrieved from http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/michelangelo.html Pettit, Jayne. (1998). Michelangelo: Genius of the Renaissance. New York: Franklin Watts. Esaak, Shelly. ( 2007, Jun 5). Michelangelo Buonarroti. Retrieved from http://arthistory.about.com/cs/namesmm/a/michelangelo.htm Read More