Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475, in the City of Caprese, south of Florence, Italy. His father's name is Ludovico Buonarroti Simoni and his mother's name is Francesca di Neri.
A stone carver's wife breastfed Michelangelo. As a child, he played with hammers and mason's pencils. After growing up, he said that he became interested in sculpture because of these toys.
In 1488, he was given by his father to the workshop of the painter Ghirlandaio in Florence. Here he learned to make frescoes (wall paintings), which would become his strongest side. His intention was to become a real sculptor who would express the masses of stone.
Coincidence brought him to comparison with Lorenzo di Medici. Medici, the Duke of Florence, admired Michelangelo's intelligence and artistic talent. He took him to his palace and introduced him to his children. The future genius was treated like a true son. Together with the Duke's children, he attended the famous "Garden School" founded by the Medicis in Piazza San Marco. Just as he knew works of art from ancient times, he also met and benefited from the leading philosophers, intellectuals, scholars and artists of the time.
Masaccio's paintings aroused his enthusiasm for painting. He went to the morgue with the palace surgeon and learned about human anatomy. Michelangelo was able to stay in the Medici palace for three years. He left when Lorenzo died in 1492. He went to Venice and Bologna. He stayed in this city for about a year as the guest of Gianfrancesco Aldovrandi. He returned to Florence in 1495. It dealt with religious subjects and mythology. When the statue called "Sleeping God of Love" fell into the hands of Cardinal Riaria, he invited him to Rome. He stayed in Rome between 1496 and 1501. He examined ancient Roman and Greek statues in this city. In "Drunken Bacchus" and "Pieta" he made for the Vatican, concern for elegance and a dull and conservative style are seen.
He was invited to Florence in 1501. He was shown a huge block of marble lying in the courtyard of the Church of Santa Maria del Fiore. 40 years ago, sculptor Agostino di Duccio wanted to make a "David" statue out of it, but abandoned it when he started work. Later, no sculptor could touch this marble brought from the Carrara quarries, for fear of wasting it. They gave Michelangelo two years. But he worked for four years and created a masterpiece that is 7 meters tall. «David» was so admired that it was deemed appropriate to have it erected in the most important place in the city by a jury consisting of Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, Perugino and Piero di Cosimo. And so, the statue called «Judith», made by the famous sculptor Donatello, standing in front of the Palazzo della Signoria, was removed and placed in its place.
In March 1505, Pope Giulo II summoned Michelangelo to Rome. His wish was to have a magnificent mausoleum prepared for him and to eternalize his name on earth. He came to Rome for the second time in 1505. He went to Carrara, where the quarries were located, to select the required marble. This is where the idea of making a statue of Moses came to mind. He would place Moses as the main motif in Giulio's tomb. When he returned to Rome, they gave him the job of decorating the walls and domes of the Sistine Church with religious frescoes. The grave work was left behind. First he got angry and returned to Florence. Upon the insistent invitation of the Pope, he came to Rome two years later and started painting the famous frescoes. He created a masterpiece by working on the 14 x 40 meter wide ceiling for 4 years. He first set to work with his assistants. He fired them all because of their incompetence. He locked himself in the church like a madman; He locked the doors. Alone, he climbed the scaffoldings and completed the paintings.
This way of working was extremely difficult, almost lethal. The requirements of the fresco technique were very severe. The paint should have been applied while the wall was wet. It was difficult to move the brush on the plaster and required a lot of force. Since the scaffolding was very close to the ceiling, he was left with wounds and pain all over from lying on his back most of the time. It was absolutely insane work. When the church was opened to the public with a ceremony, those who entered had only two reactions: amazement and fear. What they saw amazed everyone with its beauty. He was also frightening because of his appearance, which was impossible to get out of a person's hands. They saw Michelangelo as if he were the devil himself. Even the Pope was surprised because he did not expect this much.
In 1513 the Pope died. Giulio's grave has been reconsidered. However, Michelangelo could not start this work because he received many orders. However, in 1544 he completed the magnificent statue called «Moses». Even Michelangelo did not want to believe that the statue was actually a lifeless marble. He portrayed the spiritual force in the form of material force so perfectly that, after his work was completed, he hit the statue's knee with his hammer and said:
"Speak," he shouted!
The artist had now reached the peak of his fame. He was the apple of the Pope's eye. He designed the exterior of the Church of San Lorenzo and made sculptures for the Medici family cemetery. He prepared it in accordance with the request of Elemente VI, the Pope from the Medicis. Michelangelo was a versatile artist. He had poems, letters, prose, paintings, sculpture and architecture. He built the dome of the famous San Pietro Church in 1547; He decorated the interior with paintings and drew plans and projects for many important buildings in Florence and Rome. He was rewarded in various ways by Popes, Emperors, princes and poets; While he was admired, even jealously, by some artists, he was hated by others.
In 1555, he started the sculpture group called "Pieta", which he would take up again only 10 years later and die before completing it. The great artist, who said, "I have no thought that has not found its shape with the idea of death," died on February 18, 1564, at the age of 89. He was buried in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence, next to the Monument to Dante.