Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti was one of the most impressive artists of the Italian Renaissance. Michelangelo's work as an artist primarily involved painting, poetry, sculpting and architecture. Michelangelo was born in Caprese, Italy, in the year 1475 (BIOGRAPHY, 2020). Growing up, the artist was not greatly interested in education. He was, however, interested in watching painters do their work in a nearby building, and he also loved drawing what he could see. Due to his disinterest in education and family business, his father decided to apprentice him to a Florentine painter's work studio. At this juncture, Michelangelo was only 13. With the guidance of the Florentine painter, Michelangelo was introduced to the technique of fresco (Artble, 2017). The fresco technique is a mural painting technique where pigment is used on wet plaster. However, this was not the only artist that influenced Michelangelo's work as an artist. He also worked under a sculptor by the name of Bertoldo di Giovanni where he learned a lot about sculpting (Artble, 2017).

Although Michelangelo dealt in painting, poetry, architecture and sculpture, he mainly thought of himself as a sculptor. David was one of the most iconic sculptures done by Michelangelo (Armitage, 2016). The sculpture was painted in the course of three years. The sculpture was a representation of David, who is an essential character in the Bible. Unlike other artistic works that primarily portrayed David as a biblical hero who triumphed over Goliath, Michelangelo sculpted him in a somehow tense and alert posture. The piece of art expressed both the courage of David and vulnerability through his nakedness. Initially, the sculpture was positioned at Florence's Piazza Della Signoria and later moved to Galleria dell' Accademia, where it remains up to date. With sculptures such as David and Pieta, Michelangelo mastered how light and shadow could be used together to enhance the art (BIOGRAPHY, 2020).

Apart from sculpture work, Michelangelo is well known for his painting of the Sistine Chapel. Since Michelangelo primary considered himself to be a sculptor and not a painter, he attempted to turn down Pope Julius when he was asked to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling (Artble, 2017). His attempt to turn down the request was also motivated by the perception that it attempted to sabotage his name and artwork by challenging him to paint. However, he eventually agreed to the request and did an impressive job that becomes one of his most important artworks. The painting on the ceiling depicted nine stories from the book of Genesis. Although the artist died in 1564, people still travel to Vatican City every year to see his Sistine Chapel painting (BIOGRAPHY, 2020).

Michelangelo had a tremendous influence on artist of the Italian Renaissance. He challenged the conventional way of thinking by showing other artists and people that painting the human body was not a sin (De Campos & Da Costa Oliveira, 2018). Through his artwork, Michelangelo was able to give a man a better understanding of himself. He persistently suggested that there was a lot of beauty to be seen from the human body. Understanding the human body played a huge role in his sculptures and paintings, which were greatly influential to renaissance artists (Artble, 2017). Michelangelo greatly dominated the renaissance period by combining artistic imagination and a high degree of technical competence. Michelangelo's artwork has far-reaching historical influence. His influence on art led to Mannerism's development, an art movement that exaggerated the human body in different proportions. Currently, most of his artwork is still available in different parts of the world. Michelangelo's artwork still interests most people because he set new standards, primarily for sculpting and painting (Artble, 2017).