Genius | Michelangelo Buonarroti
“A beautiful thing never gives so much pain as does failing to hear or see it.”
- Michelangelo Buonarroti
He stood on the scaffolding with his eyes toward heaven. The irony wasn’t lost on him. He didn’t smile or muse. The thought came and went as he refocused on the lines around the two fingers. The fingertips were almost touching. Behind them was no form. He took a step back to watch the picture unfold in his mind, looking for aberrations as his intended analogical mirror between God and man reflected back into itself.
His eyes went to the curve of the vehicle that housed the Creator, and for a moment, he wondered if this brought Glory or shame to the source of his inspiration. Again, the thought passed and his eyes went to the curves and then to his sketch. He had looked at the human brain many times. When he dissected cadavers, the brain was always where he started. The interact lacing of rounded lobes coupled with crevices that fell into lines of unseen patterns was something that always caught his attention and convinced him focus on the form. Now, as he looked at the features on the ceiling and the outline in his notes, he found some lost details. He added them.
A thought crossed his mind and stopped. He peered into it. His focus shifted. The Christ-child of the Doni Tondo was in front of him again, super-imposed over the two fingers as the celebrated birth of one brought focus to the birth of all. The story was different, and he was glad. That story was full of joy, bound in pain, grounded in redemption.
But the one in front of him, the unfinished work of the two fingers which would show the creation of man was neutral. The story of what happened after was not. But redemption could not exist without a need for it. One cannot exist without the other. He would show the need first this time, and then what was required.
He folded up the sketch and walked back to the point of the two fingers, lifted his brush, and began again. He did not hear the gasp of those that watched him.
An Eye for Creation
Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in Caprese, Italy in 1475. His family was in finance and owned a bank that failed early on, causing them to move to Florence and then Settigano to live with his nanny and her husband, a stonecutter, after his mother died. This was where he first gained his love of marble. When he was a young boy, he was sent to Florence to study grammar, but became enamored with the paintings and sculptures in churches and began to trace them and draw whatever he could.
At this time, Florence was a center for art and culture. Called the “flower of the Renaissance”, Florence budded with the renewal of scholarship and learning. Michelangelo gained inspiration from almost everything around him, especially the architecture of the churches he visited. Seminal works like doors of the Baptistry – which he called “The Gates of Paradise” - and the many sculptures that surrounded him each day filled his mind with ideas and awe. Frescos were prevalent almost everywhere he went. The excellence in everything he saw motivated him to pursue the same excellence, and as he absorbed the different styles, patters, colors and stories, he became more and more determined to be as exact as possible in everything he did.
Early Influence
In 1488, a 13-year-old Michelangelo was apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, a master fresco painter who had recently been commissioned with other artists to paint the walls of the Sistine Chapel. Under Ghirlandaio, Michelangelo learned the process of fresco painting and started to garner wages for his work. After a year of apprenticeship, he and another student were sent to the Platonic Academy founded by the powerful Medici family. The opportunity was perfect for the young genius as he returned to the stone medium and learned techniques and processes for carving what he saw in each block. During his time at the school he had access to poets, scholars, writers and other artists. He was also able to dissect cadavers and gain a unique and rare perspective on human anatomy which would influence his work for the rest of his life.
It was during this time that he would create some of his first recorded works, including the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of Centaurs. The shallow-depth style would serve as an analogous starting point in everything that he did both then and in the future. Precision, depth, the real application of lyrical beauty in painting and sculpting, became the ways by which he would create scenes, both on plaster and from rock.
Prolific and Unending
Michelangelo’s work with the Medici family entered some turbulent times. He left their court in 1492 and returned to his father’s house. It was there that he purchased a block of marble and carved the Hercules, which would later be lost during the 18th century. In addition, he used his carvings to gain additional access to cadavers so he could continue his study of the human body through dissections.
In 1494, after entering back into the service of the Medici family he decided to leave Florence for Bologna, where he was commissioned to create more sculptures and study the different styles within the Basilica of St. Petronius. These experiences gave him the opportunity to hone his craft and understand his passion as his knowledge expanded.
After many years working and building his skill, he was commissioned at the age of 23 by a French ambassador to carve the Pieta, which depicted the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of Jesus. Before beginning, he said he wanted to create a work that could be called “the hearts image”, and not represent the death or the torture that Christ had to endure. Instead he wanted to show the serene face of the son, and the communion by God and man, through the sanctification wrought by Christ’s death on the cross. Michelangelo finished it a year later, and over time, it has become one of the greatest sculptures in the history of the world.
After his work on the Pieta, Michelangelo returned to Florence and was asked to take up a project that they had commissioned another sculptor to do over 40 years earlier. The intention behind the request was to have a carved figure represent Florentine freedom. Michelangelo accepted the work and in four years made the statue of David. This depiction of the Biblical David, was different than any other during the renaissance. Like other portrayals, it represented the scene of David verse Goliath. Unlike the other versions, Michelangelo instead only showed David, omitting Goliath entirely and instead showing a tense David about to engage in the struggle with the giant. Many scholars have noted the tense expression, the clinched neck, and vein popping on David’s right hand to indicate stress. The achievement solidified him as a masterful sculptor and increased the demand for his skill and services, many of which he accepted – including an incomplete and lost project where he worked opposite to Leonardo Da Vinci.
After the completion of David in 1504, he returned to Rome via an invite from Pope Julius II. The invite was actually a commission for Michelangelo to sculpt the Popes tomb, which included numerous figures and intricate carvings. He worked on this tomb off and on for the next forty years and never finished it to his liking despite creating magnificent pieces like the figure of Moses. His commission to work on the Popes tomb sparked outrage from several artists who were in the service of the Vatican Court. One of the primary dissenters was an architect of St. Peter’s Basilica named Bramante who held influence and was responsible for much of the design work within the Basilica. Hoping to embarrass and shame Michelangelo, he pushed the Pope to add another commission on Michelangelo’s roster, believing that the required medium was not the artist’s strength. What happened instead is nothing short of a miracle in artistic expression.
The work was commissioned to start in 1508, and was at first only going to be comprised of a small section that depicted the Twelve Apostles. Instead, Michelangelo argued for another vision well beyond the bounds of the original request. His only demand with the proposal was that he be allowed a free hand to work the story he had in his mind, and create something that only he could see. The result was over four years of work, and one of the greatest masterpieces ever created. The Sistine Chapel composition covered the entire 500 square meters of ceiling and contained over 300 figures. It tells the story of the Book of Genesis, from Adam to Noah, and then the Prophet Jeremiah. It includes other depictions of men and women foretelling the coming of Jesus, all surrounding the story of the Creation and the Fall. To this day, the work is one of the pillars of the Renaissance and is one of the greatest artisitic works in the history of the world. If all attempts to shame lead to such outcomes, may we all be shamed, and what a gorgeous world this would be.
From 1513 to his death in 1546, he was commissioned to paint masterpieces like The Last Judgement, lead many architectural projects, and at the end be commissioned as the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica that had been under construction for more than 100 years. At the time of his death, Michelangelo had completed over 200 pieces of art that included sculptures, paintings, carvings, and poetry.
The Man and His Style
Early in his life, Michelangelo learned the process of painting frescos, and over time, preferred it to oil paintings. His process began with sketches which he protected. His drawings were detailed enough for him to plan from paper, to plaster or stone, and map his progress toward a design that mirrored his imagination. He believed strongly in defined lines, never blurring or making the vision less than what the lines could contain. He was also a master of depth and shadow, somehow showing boundaries through defined lines and giving glimpses of the dimensional perspective as a result. His paintings were mostly bright, with images that tell stories, mostly biblical, which is in line with the humanist philosophy of the renaissance. His eye for light and shadow were unapparelled, bringing both his sculptures and paintings off the canvas and into the mind of the viewer.
As a man he was described as being singular-minded and focused. He would eat only as-needed and drink the same. His thoughts were always on his work. He never married and had no children. His prolific work, drive, and mastery of everything linked to his artistic passion and expression, embodied the renaissance and elevated him as the leader in the era.
Lessons from History
As it is with most of our podcasts, I want to tell you more. I want to go into detail about every piece that he did, as each one has its own story, but am sadly out of time. To look at a Michelangelo piece is to look at a dream made real, cut and measured in lines, forms and scenes that started as a thought, made manifest by masterful work, with skill that has never been seen since. To this day, his skill is unmatched. For me, it is not possible to see one of his pieces, and not fall into it. Some call it magic, others divine inspiration, others still call it singular talent that we will never see again. However we define the source, the pieces of art Michelangelo created use a definition that served as an outline for a new era, a vision that was cast through picture and rock, motivating the generations that followed, and still inspiring us today.
