Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about Michelangelo?
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It’s time to chat about Michelangelo facts.
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Facts about Michelangelo
1 – Michelangelo was born on 6 March 1475 in Caprese, Italy and died at the age of 88 on February 18th, 1564. His full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni.
2 – His father, Ludovico di Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni, was a Florentine merchant and his mother was a baker’s daughter.
3 – As an adult, he became the most famous artist of the Renaissance period.
4 – In 1508, he painted “The Sistine Chapel” for Pope Julius II.
5 – The name “Michelangelo” means “little one from heaven.”
6 – In 1508 he painted The Holy Family with Saint Anne and John the Baptist for his patron Giuliano de Medici.
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7 – Some say that he painted with “fingers dipped in fire” because it seems like every brush stroke has so much energy behind it.
8 – His last words were “I am just beginning.”
9 – Michelangelo’s style is called Mannerism because of its exaggerated proportions and detail. His paintings were also often characterized by a certain quality called sfumato (meaning ‘misty’).
10 – Michelangelo’s paintings have been stolen by Nazis and recovered by US soldiers during World War II.
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11 – The statue of David, one of his most famous works, was commissioned by Florence’s ruler at that time, Duke Giuliano de Medici.
Michelangelo’s David is one of four sculptures that he created as part of a commission to create statues for the niches on each side of the entrance to Florence Cathedral.
12 – He painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512.
13 – The artist’s last painting was the Pietà, which he completed 4 months before his death in 1564.
14 – Michelangelo’s other works include paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and sculptures such as Pietà (1498) and Moses (1515-16). Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome with biblical scenes from Genesis.
15 – When he grew up, his nickname became “Il Divino” which means “the divine one.”
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16 – Michelangelo’s most famous work is the statue of David which he created when he was 27 years old and carved from a giant block of marble.
17 – The statue took four years to create and it stands 17 feet tall. It was unveiled at the end of 1504, on September 8th.
18 – He studied painting and sculpture under Domenico Ghirlandaio. His sculptures are characterized by a sense of movement with figures appearing to be straining or struggling against some unseen force, as well as intense expressions on their faces.
19 – One of his most famous quotes is “The greater danger lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”
20 – Other famous quotes include:
I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
Genius is eternal patience.
Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.
I live and love in God’s peculiar light.
It is well with me only when I have a chisel in my hand.
Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.
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21 – His statue David was carved from a single block of carrara marble. It weighs more than 6 tons or 12,478 pounds.
22 – Throughout his life, he completed artworks for nine different Catholic Popes.
23 – The last sculpture of Michelangelo’s was Pieta Rondanini – which was 195 cm tall and remained unfinished as he worked on it until the last days of his life.
24 – Michelangelo also wrote poems – of which about 300 still survive.
25 – Throughout his life he had many influential patrons including Lorenzo de Medici (1449 – 1492) who commissioned him to paint The Last Judgment in Florence Cathedral; Pope Julius II (1443 – 1513), who commissioned him to sculpt two large figures for niches above the main door of St Peter’s Basilica; Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (1479 – 1534), also known as Pope Clement VII, who patronized him during his time as papal architect between 1527 and 1 534; Emperor Charles V (1500 – 58) who employed Michelangelo after his return from Rome to paint The Battle of Cascina and other subjects at Bologna.
