Synthesized answer
Based solely on the provided passages, Michelangelo's powerful patrons directly caused his geographic movements and shaped his artistic labours. After Lorenzo the Magnificent's death, Michelangelo moved between Florence and Bologna, then to Rome in 1496 to work as a sculptor [1]. Pope Julius II called him to his service in 1505, after which he was employed alternately in Rome and Florence by Julius and his successors, Leo X, Clement VII, and Paul III [1][2].
These patrons also dictated the nature of his work, often against his will. Julius II forced Michelangelo to abandon the monument scheme and decorate the Sistine Chapel with frescoes [5]. Pope Leo X commanded him to construct a new facade for San Lorenzo, interrupting his work on Julius's monument, which Michelangelo agreed to "with tears in his eyes" [3]. Later, Pope Clement VII obliged Michelangelo to take up the task of a family mortuary chapel in San Lorenzo, though this undertaking also remained incomplete [3].
The passages show that patrons frequently interrupted Michelangelo's preferred projects, such as the monument to Julius II, and redirected his labours to their own commissions [3][5]. However, the passages do not…
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From the book
s time was introduced by the poet Politian into the circle of the scholars of the Academy and to their learned pursuits. Meanwhile, Michelangelo was studying with marked success the frescoes in the Branacci chapel. After Lorenzo's death he passed his time partly at home, partly at the monastery of Santo Spirito, where he busied himself with anatomical studies, and partly in the house of Pietro de' Medici, who, however, was banished in 1494. About the same time Michelangelo left Florence for Bologna. He returned in 1495, and began to work as a sculptor, taking as his model the works of his…
ternately in Rome and Florence by Julius and his successors, Leo X, Clement VII, and Paul III being his special patrons. In 1534, shortly after the death of his father, Michelangelo left Florence never to return. The further events of his life are closely connected with his artistic labours. Some weeks after his death his body was brought back to Florence and a few months later a stately memorial service was held in the church of San Lorenzo. His nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti, erected a monument over his tomb in Santa Croce, for which Vasari, his well known pupil and biographer, furnished the…
amily, was a friend of Michelangelo's youth and looked on him with much favour, but had new designs in reference to him. After Michelangelo had laboured for two years on the monument to Julius, Pope Leo, during a visit to Florence, commanded him, to construct a stately new facade for the church of San Lorenzo, the family burial place of the Medici. With tears in his eyes, Michelangelo agreed to this interruption of his great design. The building of the new facade was abandoned in 1520, but the sculptor returned to his former work for a time only. The short reign of Adrian VI was followed by…
id them by word and deed. "I will send you what you demand of me", he wrote, "even if I have to sell myself as a slave". After the death of his father he conceived a deep affection for a young Roman, Tommaso de' Cavalieri, and also entered into intimate friendship with the noble-minded poetess, Vittoria Colonna, then past her youth. With his pupils, Vasari and Condivi, he was on the most cordial terms, and a servant who was twenty-six years in his employ experienced his bounty. The biographies we have from the pupils just mentiond and the letters of Michelangelo himself testify to the gentler…
he cast a bronze statue of Julius II, of heroic size. This effigy was destroyed during a revolt against Julius in 1511. Once more in Rome, he was obliged for the time being to abandon the scheme for the monument to Julius and, against his will, to decorate the Sistine Chapel with frescoes. Julius II lived only long enough after the completion of the frescoes to arrange for his monument in his will. After his death in 1513 a formal contract was made for the construction of the memorial. According to this new agreement the monument was no longer to be an independent structure, but was to be…
More questions about this book
- How did Michelangelo's diverse early training—from his apprenticeship with Ghirlandajo to his time with the Medici and his anatomical studies—collectively contribute to the development of his unique artistic perspective?
- Explain how Michelangelo could simultaneously draw inspiration from "predecessors and the masterpieces of classical antiquity" while also "sacrificing his individuality." What does this balance imply about his creative process?
- What do the statements about Michelangelo's "fame" preceding him and the detailed accounts of his elaborate memorials suggest about the role and status of artists in Renaissance society?
- The text provides extensive biographical detail but deliberately omits specific titles of Michelangelo's works. What might be the purpose of this omission in an entry from the "Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)," and what does it emphasize about Michelangelo as an artist or figure?