Michelangelo's years of life and death. The genius Michelangelo

You probably know who Michelangelo Buonarroti is. The works of the great master are known throughout the world. We will tell you about the best that Michelangelo created. The paintings with the titles will surprise you, but his most powerful sculptures are what make it worth diving into the study of his work.

Another fresco by Michelangelo, located in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. 25 years have already passed since the ceiling painting was completed. Michelangelo returns for a new job.

There is little of Michelangelo himself in The Last Judgment. Initially, his characters were naked and, making his way through endless criticism, he had no choice but to give the iconography to the papal artists to be torn to pieces. They “dressed” the characters and did this even after the death of the genius.

This statue first appeared before the public in 1504 in Piazza della Signoria in Florence. Michelangelo just finished marble statue. She came out 5 meters and forever remained a symbol of the Renaissance.

David is about to fight Goliath. This is unusual, because before Michelangelo everyone depicted David at the moment of his triumph after defeating an overwhelming giant. But here the battle is just ahead and it is still unknown how it will end.

"The Creation of Adam" is a fresco and the fourth central composition on the ceiling Sistine Chapel. There are nine of them in total and they are all dedicated to biblical stories. This fresco is a unique illustration of God’s creation of man in his own image and likeness.

The fresco is so amazing that speculation and attempts to prove this or that theory and reveal the meaning of existence still hover around it. Michelangelo showed how God inspires Adam, that is, infuses him with a soul. The fact that the fingers of God and Adam cannot touch indicates the impossibility of the material being fully united with the spiritual.

Michelangelo Buonarroti never signed his sculptures, but he signed this one. It is believed that this happened after a couple of onlookers were arguing about the authorship of the work. The master was then 24 years old.

The statue was damaged in 1972 when it was attacked by geologist Laszlo Toth. With a rock hammer in his hand, he shouted that he was Christ. After this incident, the Pietà was placed behind bulletproof glass.

The marble statue of "Moses", 235 cm high, is located in the Roman basilica of the tomb of Pope Julius II. Michelangelo worked on it for 2 years. The figures located on the sides - Rachel and Leah - are the work of Michelangelo's students.

Many people have a question - why does Moses have horns? This was due to the Vulgate's misinterpretation of the Exodus - bible book. The word “horns” translated from Hebrew could also mean “rays,” which more correctly reflects the essence of the legend - it was difficult for the Israelis to look at his face because it was radiating.

The Crucifixion of Saint Peter is a fresco in the Paolina Chapel (Vatican City). One of the master’s last works, which he completed by order of Pope Paul III. After the fresco was completed, Michelangelo never returned to painting and focused on architecture.

Tondo "Madonna Doni" is the only one completed easel work, surviving to this day.

This is work completed before the master took up the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo believed that painting can be considered most worthy only if it perfectly resembles sculpture.

This easel work has only been considered a work by Michelangelo since 2008. Before that, it was just another masterpiece from the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo studied in this workshop, but hardly anyone could believe that this was the work of a great master, because at that time he was no more than 13 years old.

After careful examination of the evidence, Vasari's information, handwriting and style, The Torment of Saint Anthony is recognized as the work of Michelangelo. If this is true, then work on this moment considered the most expensive work art ever created by a child. Its approximate cost is more than $6 million.

Sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici (1526 - 1534)

marble statue, sculpture of Lorenzo Medici, Duke of Urbino, was created over several years - from 1526 to 1534. It is located in the Medici Chapel, decorating the composition of the Medici tombstone.

The sculpture of Lorenzo II de' Medici is not a portrait of a real historical figure. Michelangelo idealized the image of greatness by depicting Lorenzo in thoughtfulness.

Brutus (1537 - 1538)

The marble bust “Brutus” is an unfinished work by Michelangelo commissioned by Donato Gianotti, who was a staunch republican, considering Brutus a true tyrant fighter. This was relevant against the background of the restoration of the Florentine tyranny of the Medici.

Michelangelo was forced to stop working on the bust due to new sentiments in society. The sculpture remained preserved only because of its artistic value.

That's it for us about Michelangelo Buonarroti. The master's works are not fully represented here, which is just the Sistine Chapel, but the paintings with titles will not tell you about the great sculptor the way his marble sculptures will. However, any work by Michelangelo deserves attention. Share what you like best.

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, into an impoverished aristocratic family. In 1481 future artist lost his mother, and 4 years later he was sent to school in Florence. No special inclinations towards learning were found. The young man preferred to communicate with artists and redraw church frescoes.

Creative path

When Michelangelo was 13 years old, his father came to terms with the fact that an artist was growing up in the family. Soon he became a student of D. Ghirlandaio. A year later, Michelangelo entered the school of the sculptor B. di Giovanni, which was patronized by Lorenzo di Medici himself.

Michelangelo had another gift - finding influential friends. He became friends with Lorenzo's second son, Giovanni. Over time, Giovanni became Pope Leo X. Michelangelo was also friends with Giulio Medici, who later became Pope Clement VII.

Prosperity and recognition

1494-1495 characterized by the flourishing of the great artist’s creativity. He moves to Bologna, works hard on sculptures for the Arch of St. Dominica. Six years later, returning to Florence, he worked on commission. His most significant work is considered to be the sculpture “David”.

For many centuries it became the ideal image of the human body.

In 1505, Michelangelo, at the invitation of Pope Julius II, arrived in Rome. The pontiff ordered the tomb.

From 1508 to 1512 Michelangelo was working on the pope's second commission. He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which represented biblical history, from the very creation of the world to the great flood. The Sistine Chapel contains more than three hundred figures.

A short biography of Michelangelo Buonarroti speaks of him as a passionate and complex personality. Their relationship with Pope Julius II was not easy. But in the end he received a third order from the pontiff - to create his statue.

The most important role in the life of the great sculptor was played by his appointment as the chief architect of St. Peter's Cathedral. He worked there for free. The artist designed the cathedral's gigantic dome, which was completed only after his death.

The end of the earthly journey

Michelangelo lived a long life. He died on February 18, 1564. Before passing away, he dictated his will to a few witnesses. According to the dying man, he gave his soul into God’s hands, his body into the earth, and all his property into his relatives.

By order of Pope Pius IV, Michelangelo was buried in Rome. A tomb was built for him in St. Peter's Basilica. On February 20, 1564, the body of the great artist was temporarily placed in the Basilica of Santi Apostoli.

In March, Michelangelo was secretly transported to Florence and buried in the Church of Santa Croce, not far from N. Machiavelli.

By the nature of his powerful talent, Michelangelo was in to a greater extent a sculptor. But he was able to realize his most daring and daring plans thanks to painting.

Other biography options

• Michelangelo was a pious man. But he also had the usual human passions. When he completed the first Pietà, it was exhibited in St. Peter's Basilica. For some reason, rumors attributed the authorship to another sculptor, C. Solari. The indignant Michelangelo carved the following inscription on the belt of the Virgin: “This was done by the Florentine M. Buonarotti.” Later great artist I didn’t like to remember this episode. According to those who knew him closely, he was painfully ashamed of his outburst of pride. He never signed his work again.

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

March 6, 1475 in the family of the city councilor, a poor Florentine nobleman who lived in small town Caprese (Tuscany), a boy was born whose creations will be elevated to the rank of masterpieces, the best achievements of Renaissance art during the lifetime of their author. Lodovico Buonarroti said that higher power inspired him to name his son Michelangelo. Despite the nobility, which gave grounds to be among the city elite, the family was not wealthy. 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 he could read and write, the boy learned to work with clay and a chisel.

Seeing his son’s pronounced inclinations, Lodovico in 1488 sent him to study with the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio, in whose workshop Michelangelo spent a year. Then he becomes a student 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 the talented teenager and invites him to the palace, introducing him to the palace collections. Michelangelo stayed at the patron's court from 1490 until his death in 1492, after which he left home.

In June 1496, Michelangelo arrived in Rome: having bought a sculpture he liked, Cardinal Raphael Riario summoned him there. From that time on, the biography of the great artist was associated with frequent moves from Florence to Rome and back. Early creations already reveal features that will distinguish creative manner Michelangelo: admiration for beauty human body, plastic power, monumentality, drama of artistic images.

During the years 1501-1504, returning to Florence in 1501, he worked on the famous statue of David, which the venerable commission decided to install in the main city square. Since 1505, Michelangelo is again in Rome, where Pope Julius II calls him to work on a grandiose project - the creation of his luxurious tomb, which, according to their joint plan, was to be surrounded by many statues. Work on it was carried out intermittently and was completed only in 1545. In 1508, he fulfilled another request of Julius II - he began frescoing the vault in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican and completed this grandiose painting, working intermittently, in 1512.

Period from 1515 to 1520 became one of the most difficult in the biography of Michelangelo, was marked by the collapse of plans, throwing “between two fires” - service to Pope Leo X and the heirs of Julius II. In 1534 his final move to Rome took place. Since the 20s The artist’s worldview becomes more pessimistic and takes on tragic tones. The mood was illustrated by a huge composition “ 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 took the position of chief architect of the Cathedral of St. Petra. The largest work of this period, work on which lasted from the late 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, permeated with tragedy, dedicated to the eternal themes of love, loneliness, happiness, madrigals, sonnets and other poetic works were highly appreciated by his 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 highest achievements the art of the Renaissance during the lifetime of the master himself. Michelangelo lived for almost 89 years, an entire era, from the period High Renaissance to the origins of the Counter-Reformation. During this period, there were thirteen Popes - he carried out orders for nine of them. Many documents about his life and work have been preserved - testimonies from contemporaries, letters from Michelangelo himself, contracts, his personal and professional records. Michelangelo was also the first representative of Western European art whose biography was published during his lifetime.

Among his most famous sculptural works are "David", "Bacchus", "Pieta", statues of Moses, Leah and Rachel for the tomb of Pope Julius II. Giorgio Vasari, Michelangelo's first official biographer, wrote that "David" "robbed the glory of all statues, modern and ancient, Greek and Roman." One of the artist’s most monumental works are the frescoes of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, about which Goethe wrote that: “Without seeing the Sistine Chapel, it is difficult to get a clear idea of ​​what one person can do.” Among his architectural achievements are the design of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, the stairs of the Laurentian Library, Campidoglio Square and others. Researchers believe that Michelangelo's art 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 the impoverished Florentine nobleman Lodovico Buonarroti (Italian: Lodovico (Ludovico) di Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni) (1444-1534), who at that time was the 169th Podesta. For several generations, representatives of the Buonarroti-Simoni family were petty bankers in Florence, but Lodovico failed to maintain the financial condition of the bank, so he took government positions from time to time. It is known that Lodovico was proud of his aristocratic origins, because the Buonarroti-Simoni family claimed blood relationship with the Margravess Matilda of Canossa, although there was not enough documentary evidence to confirm this. Ascanio Condivi argued that Michelangelo himself believed in this, recalling the aristocratic origins of the family in his letters to his nephew Leonardo. William Wallace wrote:

“Before Michelangelo, very few artists claimed such origins. The artists did not have not only coats of arms, but also real surnames. They were named after their father, profession or city, and among them were 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 Monday morning, at 4 or 5:00 before dawn." This register also states that the christening took place on 8 March in the Church of San Giovanni di Caprese, and lists the godparents:

About his mother, Francesca di Neri del Miniato del Siena (Italian: Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena), who married early and died from exhaustion due to 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 property in the village was barely enough to support many children. In this regard, he was forced to give Michelangelo to a nurse, the wife of a Scarpelino from the same village, called Settignano. There, raised by the Topolino couple, the boy learned to knead clay and use a chisel before reading and writing. In any case, Michelangelo himself later said to his friend and biographer Giorgio Vasari:

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

"Count of Canossa"
(Drawing by Michelangelo)

Michelangelo was the second son of Lodovico. Fritz Erpeli gives the birth years 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 for the 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 communicating with artists and redrawing church icons and frescoes.

Youth. First works

In 1488, the father came to terms with his son’s inclinations and placed him as an apprentice in the workshop of the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. Here Michelangelo had the opportunity to familiarize himself with basic materials and techniques; his pencil copies of works by such Florentine artists as Giotto and Masaccio date back to the same period; already in these copies Michelangelo’s characteristic sculptural vision of forms appeared. His painting “The Torment of St. Anthony” (a copy of an engraving by Martin Schongauer) dates back to the same period.

He studied 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 de facto master of Florence. The Medici recognized Michelangelo's talent and patronized him. From approximately 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 (Lorenzo's second son, future Pope Leo X) and Giulio Medici ( illegitimate son Giuliano Medici, future Pope Clement VII). Perhaps at this time " Madonna at the Stairs" And " Battle of the Centaurs" It is known that at this time Pietro Torrigiano, who was also Bertoldo’s student, quarreled with Michelangelo and broke the guy’s nose with a blow to the face. After the death of the Medici in 1492, Michelangelo returned home.

In 1494-1495, Michelangelo lived in Bologna, creating sculptures for the Arch of St. Dominic. In 1495, he returned to Florence, where the Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola ruled, and created sculptures “ Saint Johannes" And " Sleeping Cupid" In 1496, Cardinal Raphael Riario bought Michelangelo's marble "Cupid" and invited the artist to work in Rome, where Michelangelo arrived on June 25. In 1496-1501 he creates " Bacchus" And " Roman Pieta».

In 1501 Michelangelo returned to Florence. Commissioned works: sculptures for " altar of Piccolomini" And " David" In 1503, work was completed on order: “ Twelve Apostles", start of work on " Saint Matthew"for the Florentine Cathedral. Around 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. An eight-month stay in Carrara follows, selecting the marble necessary for the work. In the years 1505-1545, work was carried out (with interruptions) on the tomb, for which sculptures were created " Moses», « Tied up slave», « Dying Slave», « Leah».

In April 1506 he returned to Florence again, followed by reconciliation with Julius II in Bologna in November. Michelangelo receives an order for bronze statue Julia II, worked on in 1507 (later destroyed).

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

In 1513, Julius II dies. Giovanni Medici becomes Pope Leo X. Michelangelo enters into a new contract to work on the tomb of Julius II. In 1514, the sculptor received an order for “ Christ with the 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 San Lorenzo in Florence, and he signs the third contract for the creation of the tomb of Julius II.

In the years 1516-1519, numerous trips took place to buy marble for the façade of San Lorenzo to 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 Laurentian Library.

In 1546, the artist was entrusted with the most significant architectural commissions of his life. For Pope Paul III, he completed the Palazzo Farnese (the third floor of the courtyard façade and the cornice) and designed for him a new decoration of the Capitol, the material embodiment of which, however, lasted for quite a long time. But, of course, the most important order, which 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 trust in him and faith in him on the part of the pope, Michelangelo, in order to show his good will, wished that the decree should declare that he served on the construction for the love of 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 Michelangelo's request, Federico Donati wrote a letter.

Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564 in Rome, just short of his 89th birthday. Witnesses to his death were Tommaso Cavalieri, Daniele da Volterra, Diomede Leone, doctors Federico Donati and Gherardo Fidelissimi, as well as servant Antonio Franzese. Before his death, he dictated his will with all his characteristic laconicism: “I give my soul to God, my body to the earth, my property to my relatives.”

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

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

Works

The genius of Michelangelo left its mark not only on the art of the Renaissance, but also on all subsequent world culture. His activities are mainly related to two Italian cities- Florence and Rome. By the nature of his talent, he was primarily a sculptor. This is also felt in paintings masters, unusually rich in plasticity of movements, complex poses, distinct and powerful sculpting of volumes. In Florence, Michelangelo created an immortal example of the High Renaissance - the statue “David” (1501-1504), which became the standard image of the human body for many centuries; in Rome - 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 ambitious plans precisely in painting, where he acted as a true innovator of color and form.

Commissioned by 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, he painted the grandiose, dramatic fresco “The Last Judgment” for Pope Paul III. The architectural works of Michelangelo - the ensemble of the Capitol Square and the dome of the Vatican Cathedral in Rome - amaze with their beauty and grandeur.

The arts have reached such perfection in him that you will not find either among ancient or modern people over many, many years. He had such and such a perfect imagination, and the things that seemed to him in the idea were such that it was impossible to carry out such great and amazing plans with his hands, and he often abandoned his creations, moreover, he destroyed many; so, it is known that shortly before his death he burned big number drawings, sketches and cardboards created with his own hand, so that no one could see the labors he overcame, and the ways in which he tested his genius in order to show it as nothing less than perfect.

Giorgio Vasari. "Biographies are 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, National Bargello Museum.
• Apostle Matthew. Marble. 1506. Florence, Academy of Fine Arts.
• Painting 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 Museum.
• Brutus. Marble. After 1539. Florence, National Bargello Museum.
• Last Judgment. The Sistine Chapel. 1535-1541. Vatican.
• Tomb of Julius II. 1542-1545. Rome, Church of San Pietro in Vincoli.
• Pieta (Entombment) of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Marble. OK. 1547-1555. Florence, Opera del Duomo Museum.

In 2007, it was found in the Vatican archives last work Michelangelo - 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 Basilica in Rome." It is believed that this is the last work famous artist, executed shortly before his death in 1564.

This is not the first time that Michelangelo's works have been found in archives and museums. So, in 2002, in storage National Museum design in New York, among the works of unknown Renaissance authors, another drawing was found: on a sheet of paper measuring 45x25 cm, the artist depicted a menorah - a candlestick for seven candles. At the beginning of 2015, it became known about the discovery of the first and, probably, the only one that has survived to this day. bronze sculpture Michelangelo - composition of two panther riders.

Poetic creativity

Michelangelo's poetry 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 glorification of man, the bitterness of disappointment and the loneliness of the artist. Favorite poetic forms are madrigal and sonnet. According to R. Rolland, Michelangelo began writing poetry as a child, however, there are not many of them left, since 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 offered to take him away best poems for publication. In 1545, Giannotto began preparing 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", painting XIX century

Thus, during his lifetime, a 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. This edition was incomplete and contained certain inaccuracies. In 1863, Cesare Guasti published the first accurate edition of the artist’s poems, which, however, was not chronological. In 1897, the German art critic Karl Frey published “The Poems of Michelangelo, collected and commented by Dr. Karl Frey "(Berlin). The edition by Enzo Noe Girardi (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 Michelangelo's poetic creativity involved, in particular, German writer Wilhelm Lang, who defended this topic dissertation published in 1861.

Use in music

Even during his lifetime, some of the poems were set to music. Among the most famous composers-contemporaries of Michelangelo are Jacob Arkadelt (“Deh dimm" Amor se l"alma” and “Io dico che fra voi”), Bartolomeo Tromboncino, Constanza Festa (a lost madrigal on a poem by Michelangelo), Jean de Cons (also - Consilium).

Also, composers such as Richard Strauss (a cycle of five songs - the first with words by Michelangelo, the rest by Adolf von Schack, 1886), Hugo Wolf (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, 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 language. 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'Holanda (1538-1539), Giulio Bonasone (1546) and others. His image was also in the biography of Condivi, which was published in 1553, and in 1561 Leone Leoni minted a coin with his image.

Describing Michelangelo's appearance, Romain Rolland chose portraits of Conte and d'Hollande as a basis:

Bust of Michelangelo
(Daniele da Volterra, 1564)

“Michelangelo was of medium height, broad-shouldered and muscular (...). His head was round, his forehead was square, wrinkled, with strongly pronounced brow ridges. Black, pretty rare 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 small hump (...). Thinly defined lips, the lower lip protrudes slightly. Thin sideburns, and a forked thin beard of a faun (...) a high-cheeked face with sunken cheeks.”

However, the cinema preferred to portray him as more attractive than he really was.

Michelangelo did not leave behind a single documented self-portrait, however, a number of his works are considered by researchers to be possible images of the artist. Among them are “Saint Proclus of Bologna”, the head of Holofernes in the fresco “Judith and Holofernes” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the loser in the sculptural group “Spirit of Victory”, the face on the skinned Saint Bartholomew (the fresco “The Last Judgment”), Saint Nicodemus in “ Drink II."

It is also believed that he is depicted in Raphael's fresco "The School of Athens", although this statement is not unequivocal. After Michelangelo's death, Daniele da Volterra made death mask the sculptor and his bust.

Spiritual quest and personal life

In 1536, Vittoria Colonna, Marchioness of Pescara, came to Rome, where this 47-year-old widowed poetess earned the deep friendship of 61-year-old Michelangelo. Vittoria became the only woman whose name is firmly associated with Michelangelo. Researcher Norton argued that “his poems to her... are sometimes difficult to distinguish from the sonnets to the young man Tommaso Cavalieri, and it is also known that Michelangelo himself sometimes replaced the address “signor” with “signora” before releasing his poems to the people.” In the future, his poems were censored by his great-nephew before publication.

Her departure to Orvieto and Viterbo in 1541 due to the rebellion of her brother Ascanio Colonna against Paul III did not cause a change in her relationship with the artist, and they continued to visit each other and correspond as before. She returned to Rome in 1544.

Sonnet No. 60

And the highest genius will not add
One thought to the fact that marble itself
It conceals in abundance - and that’s all we need
A hand obedient to reason will reveal.

Am I waiting for joy, is anxiety pressing on my heart,
The wisest, good donna, - to you
I am obliged to everything, and the shame is heavy for me,
That my gift does not glorify you as it should.

Not the power of Love, not your beauty,
Or coldness, or anger, or the oppression of contempt
They bear the blame for my misfortune, -
Because death is merged with mercy
In your heart - but my pathetic genius
By loving, he is capable of extracting one death.

Michelangelo

Biographers of the famous artist noted that “the correspondence of these two wonderful people is not only of high biographical interest, but is also an excellent monument historical era and a rare example of a live exchange of thoughts, full of intelligence, subtle observation and irony.”

Researchers wrote about the sonnets dedicated to Michelangelo Vittoria: “The deliberate, forced platonism of their relationship aggravated and brought to crystallization the love-philosophical structure of Michelangelo’s poetry, which largely reflected the views and poetry of the Marchioness herself, who during the 1530s played the role of Michelangelo’s spiritual guide . Their poetic “correspondence” attracted the attention of their contemporaries; Perhaps the most famous was sonnet 60, which became the subject of special interpretation.”

Records of conversations between Vittoria and Michelangelo, heavily processed, were preserved in the posthumously published notes of the Portuguese artist Francesco d'Holland.

Grade

Michelangelo was considered the greatest master during his lifetime. Now he is considered one of the greatest masters for the history of mankind. A significant number of his sculptures, paintings and works of architecture are the most famous in the world. His most famous work is the statue of David.

To the cinema

• “The Agony and the Ecstasy” - dir. Carol Reed, (USA-UK, 1965)
• Performance by G. Mackevicius "Overcoming"
• Documentary film "Michelangelo Superstar"

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 did not leave behind any offspring on earth, but only soulless stone statues. Although there was an extraordinary woman in the life of the great genius - a muse and lover.

Bringing it to life creative projects, the master could spend years in the 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, which he performed, mourning and suffering, as if not of his own free 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

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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 artistic craft.
And he had no choice but to send his son to study with the master Domenico Ghirlandaio.

https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0024.jpg" alt=" Madonna of the Staircase. (1491). Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti." title="Madonna at the stairs. (1491).

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

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Michelangelo's statues, like titans preserving their stone nature, have always been distinguished by their solidity and at the same time grace. The sculptor himself claimed that “A good sculpture is one that can be rolled down a mountain and not a single part 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 temple visitors 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

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

“After four tortured years of making 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 I had become.”.

The artist's personal life is shrouded in secrets and speculation.

But he was credited with various close relationships with his sitters. To support the version of homosexuality, Michelangelo said only the fact that he had never been married. He himself explained it as follows: “Art is jealous,” said Michelangelo, “and demands the whole person. I have a wife to whom everything belongs, 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 nudity, and his love sonnets, dedicated primarily to men, clearly contain homoerotic motifs.

The first mentions of a romantic nature will appear only when Michelangelo is already over fifty. Having met a young man named Tommaso de'Cavalieri, the master dedicated numerous love poems to him. But this fact is not reliable evidence 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, that these two people were connected by deep friendship and spiritual closeness until the master’s death. It was Tomasso who sat at the bedside of his dying friend until his last breath.

When the artist was already approaching 60, fate brought him together with a talented poetess named Vittoria Colonna, the granddaughter of the Duke of Urbana and the widow of the famous commander Marquis of Pescaro. Only this 47-year-old woman, distinguished by a strong masculine character and possessing extraordinary mind and innate tact, she 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 carried on correspondence, which became a real monument to the historical era.

https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0029.jpg" alt=" Michelangelo at the tomb of Vittoria Colonna, kissing the hand of the deceased. Author: Francesco Jacovacci." title="Michelangelo at the tomb of Vittoria Colonna, kissing the hand of the deceased.

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

He dedicated a posthumous sonnet to his beloved woman, which became his last poetic creativity.

Death of a Genius

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

So, the crown of creativity genius master Renaissance -, transformed from a 5-meter block of damaged marble into a masterpiece, glorified it throughout the world and is still considered one of the most famous and perfect works of art.

Everyone knows who Michelangelo is, one way or another. The Sistine Chapel, David, Pieta - this is what this genius of the Renaissance is strongly associated with. Meanwhile, dig a little deeper, and most are unlikely to be able to clearly answer what else the world remembers the wayward Italian. Expanding the boundaries of knowledge.

Michelangelo made money from forgeries

It is known that Michelangelo began with sculptural falsifications, which brought him a lot of money. The artist purchased marble from huge quantities, but no one saw the results of his work (it is logical that the authorship had to be hidden). The most notorious of his forgeries may be the sculpture "Laocoon and His Sons", which is now attributed to three Rhodian sculptors. It was suggested in 2005 that the work may be a fake by Michelangelo, citing that Michelangelo was among the first to arrive at the site and was one of those who identified the sculpture.

Michelangelo studied the dead

Michelangelo is known as an excellent sculptor who was able to recreate the human body in marble in the smallest detail. Such painstaking work required an impeccable knowledge of anatomy, meanwhile, at the beginning of his career, Michelangelo had no idea how the human body works. To fill in the missing knowledge, Michelangelo spent a lot of time in the monastery morgue, where he examined dead people, trying to understand all the intricacies of the human body.

Michelangelo hated painting

They say that Michelangelo sincerely did not like painting, which, in his opinion, was significantly inferior to sculpture. He called painting landscapes and still lifes a waste of time, considering them “useless pictures for ladies.”

Michelangelo's teacher broke his nose out of envy

As a teenager, Michelangelo was sent to study at the school of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, which existed under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici. Young talent showed great diligence and diligence in his studies and quickly achieved not only success in the school field, but also won the patronage of the Medici. Incredible success, attention from influential people and, apparently, a sharp tongue led to the fact that Michelangelo made many enemies at school, including among teachers. Thus, according to the work of Giorgio Vasari, the Italian Renaissance sculptor and one of Michelangelo’s teachers, Pietro Torrigiano, out of envy of his student’s talent, broke his nose.

Michelangelo was seriously ill

For the last 15 years of his life, Michelangelo suffered from osteoarthritis, a disease that causes joint deformities and pain in the limbs. His work helped him avoid losing his ability to work completely. It is believed that the first symptoms appeared during work on the Florentine Pieta.

Also, many researchers of the work and life of the great sculptor claim that Michelangelo suffered from depression and dizziness, which could have appeared as a result of working with dyes and solvents, which caused poisoning of the body and all further accompanying symptoms.

Secret self-portraits of Michelangelo

Michelangelo rarely signed his works and never left behind a formal self-portrait. However, he still managed to capture his face in some pictures and sculptures. The most famous of these secret self-portraits is part of the Last Judgment fresco that you can find in the Sistine Chapel. It shows Saint Bartholomew holding a flayed piece of skin that represents the face of none other than Michelangelo.

Michelangelo was a poet

We know Michelangelo as a sculptor and painter, but he was also an accomplished poet. In his portfolio you can find hundreds of madrigals and sonnets that were not published during his lifetime. However, despite the fact that contemporaries were unable to appreciate Michelangelo’s poetic talent, many years later his work found its audience, so in 16th-century Rome the sculptor’s poetry was extremely popular, especially among singers who transcribed poems about mental wounds and physical disabilities to music.

Michelangelo's major works

There are few works of art in the world that could evoke as much admiration as these works of the great Italian master. We invite you to look at a few of the most famous works Michelangelo and feel their greatness.