Robin Richmond INTRODUCING MICHELANGELO BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY INTRODUCING MICHELANGELO 9 Robin Richmond Little, Brown and Company Boston Toronto London LOWER MILLS — ' Textcopyright£ RobinRichmond1991 AllrightsreservedNopanofthishook maylx-reproducedinanyformorbyany electronicormechanicalmeans,including informationstorageandretrievalsystems, withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe publisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomay quote-briefpassagesmareview FirstU.S.Edition 1992 For Saskia with love AproductionofBelithaPressofGreatBritain in1991 PhotographsbvNipponTelevisionNetwork copyright©NipponTelevisionNetwork Corporation1992 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-Publication I)ata Richmond.Robin introducing—Michelangelo/Robin Richmond 1stU.S.ed. p. cm. Originallypublished:GreatBritain Belitha Pass.1991. Includesindex. Titlepageart:CartoonforaportraitofMichelangelo,1550,by Summary:AbiographyoftheRenaissance DanieledaVolterra. artist,illustratedwithreproductionsof Contentspageart:DetailfromthelunetteAzorandSadoc hiswork byMichelangelo,intheSistineChapel.Thoughttobea I1sMhinch(ieJl1a6n-g7e4l4o40B-u9onarroti,—1-4^5-15—64 Pagsceeelisfl-i4pnogar,tnrMdaiic5t:.heMloanntgaelgoe'sshpolwanisngfodrettahielsfofrrtoifmictahteioSnissotifnFelCohraenpceel, JBuivoegnrialpehlyit—eraJtuuvreeni2leArltiitsetrsature.Italy MichelangelosDavid,andthedomeofSaintPeter'scathedral. 3 MichelangeloBuonarroti.1-T5-1564. I Artists I Title. Photographiccredits "V-',)'9/22j—B9Rd5c£lfi 1992 RomanoCagnoni:21 |B) 91-25602 NibpapcokncToevleervsi,si3o,n22N,e2t4w/o2r5k,2C6o,rp2o7r,a2t8i,on2.9,T3o0kyo,Japan:Frontand L0 9 8 7 6 5 * 3 2 I Sca(bi:nse4t,s)5,,62,37,8,9,10,11,12,13.14,15,16,17,18,19,20,22and23 TeylersMuseum,Haarlem:Titlepage PublishedsimultaneouslyinCanadaby TwentiethCenturyFox:2-4 Little,Brown&Company(Canada)Limited ThephotographicmontageusingScalaimagesonpages-4and5is PrintedinSingapore bvIanPickard. Contents Whowas Michelangelo? 4 EarlyLife 6 Florence andthe Renaissance 8 TheArtistsApprenticeship 10 Becominga Sculptor 12 Lifeand Death 14 The GreatPietas 16 Michelangelo'sDavid 18 Rediscovering the Past 20 Michelangeloversus the Pope 22 The Commission to Paint the 24 Sistine Chapel Ceiling Restoring the Ceiling 28 TheLastYears 30 Some KeyDates 31 Index 32 Who cfeelangelp? V Michelangelowas0ne ofthe mostfamous artists that ever fiYecjTSpmepeoplethinkh&Was also the greatest. Ikqfc somethingyou will have to decide. He was<t frianwho createdwonderful art in an exciting moment in history. His^strongpersonality made people either love him or hate him, but his art " wassopowerful that even his enemies had"to-admire . and respect him. He liveda"long, Rill life and saw lanychangeTtake place His work shows us his innerworld ofprivate joys and sorrows and reflects the changingworldaround him. Looking at Michelangelos/Work^helps us" appreciate what itwas like fo be alive more than four hundred years ago. But it also tells us about ourselves. It speaks to us as strongly now aswhen itwas first created, becausepeople are-stiifthe.same as they everwere. Even though Michelangelo ,. died a$ery longtime agdpwe.can still lookathisworkand understand it. -Butwe can increase our enjoyment ifweidarn^omething ofKis life "- <f( mfci&'niiM&^¥ nil s. : >>/ "Vf Early Life Michelangelowas the first name ofthe son born to Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni and Francesca Miniato del Sera on March 6, 1475, in a little town called Caprese, in the region ofTuscany, near Florence. Michelangelo's motherwas veryyoung and delicate. She found—it hard to look after two small, demanding boys Michelangelo and his olderbrother, Lionardo. And Michelangelo's fatherwas a dolcefarniente, a mild-mannered, good-for-nothing manwho lost his job as mayor ofCaprese soon after his second sons birth. Lifewas difficult for the Buonarroti family. Michelangelo's mother decidedto send the babyMichelangelo awayto be looked afterfor awhile bya stonecutterswife. So Michelangelo spent an important part ofhis babyhood away from his home and his parents. Theartistwhopaintedthesechildren isunknown,buttheygiveusanidea ofhowchildrendressedinfifteenth- centuryFlorence,whenMichelangelo wasgrowingup.Theyaretakenfroma largerpainting,GameofLittleOwl, anon. Michelangelomayhavethoughtofhis own mother,whomhehardlyknew, whenhelookedatthispaintingin Florenceofamotherandherchild, fromDistributionoftheGoodsofthe Church. 1425,b) Masaccio(1401-1428).