Buonarroti Michelangelo (1475-1564)
As a painter, sculptor, architect and poet, Michelangelo Buonarroti was the archetype of the Renaissance artist, the ‘uomo universale’.
Michelangelo's talent was noticed at a young age by artistic patron Lorenzo de Medici. Before he was 30 he had already sculpted two of his most famous works: the Pietà and the large sculpture of David. Pope Julius II commissioned him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He worked on the ceiling for four long years and it received acclaim from all quarters for its enormous expressivity, its ‘terribilita’.
