The whole world knows the name of Michelangelo Buonarotti, and mainly the name, since he always signed with his name, omitting the surname. Living and creating in the Renaissance, he left an indelible mark on the history of art. Michelangelo devoted his whole life to his work, and achieved great successes in this field, for which his descendants remembered him.
For unknown reasons, the artist never mentioned his mother. It is known that she died when he was still a 6-year-old child, but even then, as an adult, he never mentioned her in correspondence, and his letters have survived to this day. Michelangelo came from a noble family. True, his ancestors went bankrupt before his birth, so they had a pedigree, but with money it was not enough. Michelangelo had many sisters and brothers, too many for the father left alone after the death of their mother could provide them all. As a result, he gave Michelangelo to be raised in another family, in the same village where his family lived. Michelangelo’s adoptive parents were potters, and, living with them, he learned to sculpt pots and decorate them before he learned to write and read.
He never showed interest in studying at school, but he was keenly interested in art. At first, his father tried to fight this, but in the end he gave up and gave Michelangelo as a student to one of the local painters. The road to fame was provided for him by a happy occasion. A representative of the Medici family, whose position could be roughly called the “Governor of Florence”, discerned the talent of the young artist and became his patron. In those days, the average life expectancy was much lower than now. However, Michelangelo lived to his advanced 89 years, and achieved great fame during his lifetime. His biography was written and published before his death. Among the most famous of his works, as a sculptor, is a statue of David. At first it stood in the square, but several centuries later it was removed, replaced with a copy, and the priceless original is now stored in the museum.
For the first time, Michelangelo met a woman whom he fell in love after having crossed a 60-year milestone. During his lifetime, Michelangelo became famous as a person with a very sharp tongue. He was never shy about viciously criticizing the work of other artists. Michelangelo lived all his life in Italy, never tempted to leave his native country. He spent many years in Rome. It was Michelangelo who acted as the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. This is one of the most famous cathedrals in the world. Michelangelo’s sketch of one of his halves was accidentally discovered in 2007.
Work on the vault of the Sistine Chapel took him four years, with the Pope personally hiring Michelangelo. The artist made a condition that he would do everything as he wanted, and all these years he painted “from the head”, without making sketches and sketches. Moreover, until the completion of the work, he did not let the Pope even inside the chapel, not wanting anyone to see the unfinished vault. Being a man of many talents, Michelangelo tried himself in the role of a poet. He wrote magnificent poems, but they did not bring him fame. About 300 of his poems have survived to this day. Some of his poems were turned into musical works during his lifetime.
