Michelangelo

http://www.michelangelo.com/buon/bio-index2.html

EARLY LIFE

              Hi, my name is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, you can call me Michelangelo for short. I am one of the greatest artist of my time. I was born on March 6, 1475 in a town near Florence. I am the second of five brothers. Although I am born in a small village in Caprese, I considered myself as the "son of Florence" and so as my father.  My mother died when I was only 6 years of age. I lived with my father which is a nobleman. . My name become synonymous with the word "masterpiece." My father soon recognized my intelligence. When I was young, I lack trust in my fellows so while I am studying Principles of Latin, I made friends with Francesco Grannaci which is six years older than me.  

When I turned 13 years old, I worked on the workshop of the painter named Domenico Ghirlandaio. I went on to study at the sculpture school in the Medici gardens called San Marco. During the years I spent in the Garden of San Marco, I began to study human anatomy. I produced atleast two relief sculptures by the time I was 16 years old,  Battle of the Centaurs and Madonna of the Stairs in 1489-1492 at Casa Buonarroti, Florence. I recount my first two works in my diary, " In my first work was a small bas relief which is Madonna of the Stairs. Mary sits on the rock of the Church. She sees his son's death. My second work was another small bas relief. My tutor told me the story of the Battle of the Lapiths against the Centaurs." After the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent and also the influence of Savonarola, the Florentines were divided into several rival factions, the Arribiati, Piagnoni and Paleschi. The Arribiati means enraged, they wanted to reestablish an oligarchic republic dominated by the powerful Medici. The Piagnoni means weepers, led by Savonarola and his followers were recruited from all levels of society and fought fanatically for a purely religious state. The Paleschi were the official defenders of the Medici. They sought to perpetuate the status quo.  Lorenzo the Magnificent has a son named Piero Medici but he was not capable of governing Florence with the skill and diplomacy of his father.
FIRST ROMAN SOJOURN
I went to Rome where I can examine many unhearted classical statues and ruins. At about the same time, I did the marble Pieta in 1498-1500 still in its original place in St. Peter's Basilica.
MID-YEARS


Michelangelo painted this on the Sistine chapel.



This is the sculpture of David



In May 1508, I began to make preparatory designs for the Sistine Chapel. It was not until the fall that I started the actual painting in the Sistine chapel calling Giuliano Bugiardini, Aristotele da Sangallo and his old friend, Francesco Granacci, along with a number of laborers. I also did the sculpture of David between 1501 and 1504. It is a 5.17 metre (17 feet). It is a marble statue of a standing naked male. The sculpture of David is one of my masterpiece. The statue was placed in a public square, outside the Palazzo della Signoria, the seat of the civic government of Florence where it was unveiled on September 8, 1504. In 1534, I left Florence forever. My decision never to return was certainly was certainly influenced by the open hostility of Duke Alessandro de Medici.