Michelangelo Biography: Who Was This Guy, Really? | Art History Lesson

Even though the Mona Lisa may be the most famous artwork in the world, I would argue this bit of painting would be a close second. You've got to check this out. Support provided by the Glick Fund, a CICF fund focused on inspiring philanthropy. Additional support provided by the Crystal DeHaan Family Foundation in honor of the children and families of Crystal House. We'll just call him Michelangelo, was born March 6th, 1475 in Caprice, Italy. Yeah, he wasn't always the happiest artist, but we'll get back to that later. Michelangelo had four brothers and his father was a magistrate, and his mother stayed at home with the kids. Now, when Michelangelo was an infant, she became pretty sick. In fact, Michelangelo ended up having to have a wet nurse, so he ended up living with a family of stonecutters. Interestingly, Michelangelo said it was because of the stonecutter wet nurse that he drank in the hammer and chisel. Yeah, not too sure about that one. By the way, did you know Michelangelo didn't want to be known as a painter? In fact, he would probably be insulted if you first referred to him as a painter and not a sculptor. Seriously, you did not just refer to me as painter, did you? Like many 16-year-olds, Michelangelo didn't really care for school, so he often would skip class and head to a nearby church to watch the painters. His family detested art and felt like he was a disgrace to the family. It was definitely not a suitable profession for a man. I think once Michelangelo started to make a name for himself as an artist, he loved to remind everybody back home. You can tell since he would always sign his letters home with Michelangelo Sculptor in Rome. That's right, and don't you forget about it. After realizing that Michelangelo had some artistic talent, his dad encouraged him to find an apprenticeship where he could learn more about art. He went from a painter's workshop to then studying within a powerful, rich, elite family within Florence, the Medici family. Did I mention they were the rulers of Florence? Yeah, they were. Working with this family gave him special privileges. One of those was being able to study dead bodies at the church waiting to be buried. This fueled his passion to understand human anatomy, and unfortunately, the stench and nastiness of the experience started to make him sick. Enough of that. Just a few short years later, when Michelangelo was only 25 years old, it was apparent he had a black belt in sculpture. After relocating to Rome, one of the cardinals within the Catholic Church commissioned him to create a sculpture. Michelangelo, being pretty cocky at this time, said, A bit confident, right? Actually, it's this sculpture, La Pieta. Have you ever seen this one before? You bet you have. Check it out. Michelangelo sculpted this from a single piece of marble stone. What amazes me is it only took him one year to complete this six foot by six foot sculpture. Have any idea what the title means? Well, Pieta simply means pity or compassion, which makes sense considering the subject being Christ and his mother, Mary. So you're probably asking yourself, what makes this sculpture so incredible? Let me explain. Check out the details in the folds and the ribs and muscles on the body. All this movement these details create. Trying to sculpt these details was incredibly hard. And trust me, people knew it, which is why many pilgrims would come to Rome just to see this sculpture. After returning to Rome, he hears about a sculpture that two other artists had abandoned because it was too difficult. Fueled with confidence from La Pieta, he takes over the job. David took three years to sculpt, probably due to its size of 17 feet. David quickly becomes the pride of Florence, and they even nicknamed it the giant. After Michelangelo finishes this sculpture, his fame starts to build. In fact, word got around to the Pope, Pope Julius II. Immediately, Pope Julius commissions Michelangelo to create his tomb. This was huge for Michelangelo, especially since all he wanted to do was sculpt. And designing the tomb for the Pope was a huge honor. Michelangelo is so pumped to get going, he starts gathering a team, pouring the stone needed and working on his idea. Of course, right in the middle of this, the Pope turns his attention and funding to rebuild St. Peter's Basilica, which was falling apart. You have to keep in mind that Rome has basically turned into a cow pasture at this point, and the Pope wants to return Rome back to its powerful roots. A very Renaissance idea, I might add. Needless to say, he is super frustrated with the Pope, and when he wouldn't pay Michelangelo back for the stone he bought, he heads back to Florence, vowing never to return to Rome. That is until the Pope sends him a request. Have any idea what he's about to ask him to do? That's right, grab your paintbrush and get back to Rome and paint the Sistine Chapel. Let me tell you his response to the Pope. I do not wish to attend to anything but the tomb and not the painting. Believe it or not, no one wanted to paint the Sistine Chapel. This wasn't just about the painting process. This also had to do with the chapel itself. Let me school you for a minute. The Sistine Chapel was built in 1477, and was designed to the same biblical proportions as the Temple of Solomon, which made it a fortress. The walls at the base are 10 feet thick. Arrow slits added around the outside, and they even added special holes to pour boiling oil out of. Pretty crazy. I bet you didn't know this, but the chapel had been painted before by a team of artists, with 32 popes painted around the room, and then a blue field of stars was added to the ceiling. However, not even 21 years after the construction, cracks start to appear in the vault. To stop this from getting worse, in 1504, they placed huge iron rods underneath the floor. Of course, now we have a major problem. The ceiling and the walls must be repaired. After putting some of the Pope's muscle on Michelangelo, he told him he could only work on the tomb if he painted the Sistine Chapel. He reluctantly agrees. Be sure to check out part two, Michelangelo the Sistine Chapel and PJ2, which we'll be releasing soon. Simply subscribe to our channel here so you get it first. You could say fashion dates back to early civilizations like the Egyptians and Romans. The modern fashion house started in the 19th century. Charles Frederick Worth is known as the father of haute couture, and the first designer to sew a label with his name into his designs. His house of Worth in Paris was also the first boutique to use live models to demonstrate the look of his designs. Couture items were custom made for the