|
Early
Life in Florence
Michelangelo's
father, a Florentine official
named Ludovico Buonarroti with
connections to the ruling Medici
family, placed his 13-year-old
son in the workshop of the
painter Domenico Ghirlandaio.
After about two years,
Michelangelo studied at the
sculpture school in the Medici
gardens and shortly thereafter
was invited into the household of
Lorenzo de' Medici, the
Magnificent. There he had an
opportunity to converse with the
younger Medici, two of whom later
became popes (Leo X and Clement
VII). He also became acquainted
with such humanists as Marsilio
Ficino and the poet Angelo
Poliziano, who were frequent
visitors. Michelangelo produced
at least two relief sculptures by
the time he was 16 years old, the
Battle of the Centaurs and the
Madonna of the Stairs (both
1489-92, Casa Buonarroti,
Florence), which show that he had
achieved a personal style at a
very early age. His patron
Lorenzo died in 1492; two years
later Michelangelo fled Florence,
when the Medici were temporarily
expelled. He settled for a time
in Bologna, where in 1494 and
1495 he executed several marble
statuettes for the Arca (Shrine)
di San Domenico in the Church of
San Domenico.
|
The
Creation of Man,
1508-12,
from the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel
click
on image to
enlarge
|
