Michelangelo
1475-1564
The genius was born in Italy | Youth.
Years of study.
1488-1495 / Rome.
"Pieta".
1496-1501 / Florence.
"David".
1501-1505 / Rome.
Tomb of Pope Julius II.
1505-1545 / Rome.
Frescoes of the Sistine Chapel vault.
1508-1512 / Florence.
The Medici tombs.
1516-1534 / Rome.
Late works.
"The Last Judgment".
1534-1541 / Architecture.
The Cathedral of St. Peter.
1538-1564 | site map | home page
2.
Youth.
Years of study (1488-1495)
Study in the Medici Gardens (1489)
Three years of complete submission to the will of the owner, as the contract says, would be a hard time for a young man with the character and talent of Michelangelo.
But chance opened another way for him.
Together with Granacci, he went to the gardens of the famous Villa Careggi to study and copy the monuments of ancient sculpture.
The owner of the villa was Lorenzo de ' Medici, nicknamed the Magnificent, who liked to give folk festivals.
Since 1489, after a one year stay in the studio of Ghirlandaio, a turning point occurred in the life of Michelangelo.
"At that time, Lorenzo dei Medici the Magnificent kept the sculptor Bertoldo in his garden in the Piazza San Marco, not so much as the keeper and keeper of the numerous beautiful antiquities collected there and acquired by him for a lot of money, but because, wanting at all costs to create a school of excellent painters and sculptors, he wanted them to have the named Bertoldo, who was a pupil of Donato, as their leader and supervisor; and although he was already so old that he could no longer work, he was nevertheless a very experienced and very famous, not only because he thoroughly cleaned the casting of the pulpits of his teacher Donato, but also for his numerous bronze cast works depicting battles and other small things, in the masterful execution of which it was impossible to find an equal in all of Florence at that time.
Lorenzo, who had the greatest love for both painting and sculpture, was saddened that there were no famous and noble sculptors in his time, while there were many painters who had the greatest merits and fame, and, as I have already said, he decided to establish the Vasari school.
At the initiative of Lorenzo de ' Medici, an art school was opened in the Medici Gardens at the Florentine monastery of San Marco.
The advantage of this school was that its students, free from the shop environment and the need to help the teacher in the execution of orders, had the opportunity to develop their individuality by mastering their skills.
In addition, this school was created on the basis of a beautiful collection of ancient and modern works of art collected by the Medici family.
Lorenzo the Magnificent asked Ghirlandaio to send two of his best students to this school.
Here Michelangelo's talent develops in many directions, he began his career as a sculptor.
Here Michelangelo found his second teacher the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni.
Although Bertoldo was already an old man when Michelangelo came to study with him, he studied at one time with the great Italian sculptor of the XV century.
Donatello.
Thus, having received a thorough training in the field of drawing and painting from the first teacher, Michelangelo inherits the skill of a sculptor — from the second.
From Bertoldo comes the deep interest of the young Michelangelo in antiquity.
However, the most important for the creative development of Michelangelo were the works of Giotto, Donatello, Masaccio, Jacopo della Quercia,as well as antique plastic.
He gets acquainted with the magnificent collection of ancient monuments collected by Lorenzo.
A passionate collector, a great lover of art, Lorenzo could not help but appreciate the abilities of the young sculptor.
His dream has begun to come true now he will become a sculptor!
However, he had a long time to study as a sculptor.
At first, he was taught to draw sketches.
The most important thing is that the artist draws, as he sees, fixes an external impression on paper.
The sculptor approaches the form from the inside and, taking it, passes all its flesh and materiality through his being, the principle of Bertoldo's teaching.
A drawing is a candle that is lit so that the sculptor does not stumble in the dark; a scheme that makes it easier to understand what is visible.
Michelangelo understood some of these instructions with his mind, but the hard experience made him appreciate the teacher's advice much more.
Deliberately testing perseverance and strength of character, Lorenzo the Magnificent put many obstacles in his way.
But Michelangelo overcame all obstacles and proved that he was worthy of further training in the Gardens, creating his first sculpture a Faun.
Under the guidance of Bertoldo, Michelangelo studied the art of sculpting, and made considerable progress in this field.
His talent was so clearly manifested already in these early years that his fellow students began to envy him.
Vasari mentions how Torigiani, another student of Bertoldo, broke his nose in a fight.
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