Michelangelo

Michelangelo

By: Samantha Bailey

Art is very interesting and unique. It can tell different stories, help express feelings and show individuality. For example, the Renissance artists were inspired by their ideas of perfection. Michelangelo was a famous Renaissance sculptor who sculpted “Moses” and “David”.

Michelangelo was not only a sculptor but was also a painter, architect, and even a poet (McCulloch). People knew him as the ‘Renaissance Man’ (McCulloch). He was raised in Florence but he lived with a stonecutter and his wife during the time when his mother was sick and for a while after her death (McCulloch). Michelangelo studied at the school of Lorenzo de’ Medical under the guidance of Bertoldo di Givanni (Ripley). In 1494, Michelangelo transferred to Bologna and was awarded the corn mission for the three marble figures to complete the tomb of St. Dominic in S. Dominica Maguire (Ripley). When Michelangelo was a kid, he was uninterested in schooling so during that time, his favorite thing to do was copying paintings from churches and keep company with other local painters (McCulloch). Two of his 1st sculptors are ‘The Madonna of the Stairs’ and ‘The Battle of the Centaurs’" (McCulloch).

One of Michelangelo’s pieces that he is best known for is called ‘Moses’. This piece shows a man with a really long curly beard, sitting on what looks like a pedal stool in a kilt with horns coming out of his head (Ripley). "The horns coming from the head of the famous statue of Moses by Michelangelo were a mistake!" (McCulloch). "It is true that the Bible describes Moses as having horns coming from his head" (McCulloch). But Michelangelo did not mean to (McCulloch). It was simply a flaw (McCulloch). In Hebrew the words for "horn" and "ray of light" are spelled identically (McCulloch). The translators mistook the word "ray" for "horn" and as a result, Moses is often portrayed in western art as looking like a devil (McCulloch).

Another famous piece by the great Michelangelo is called ‘David’. This is one of the most famous pieces, period. Michealangelo began this statue in 1501 (Ripley). It took 3 years to sculpt (McCulloch). It’s over life-size (McCulloch). It is exactly 17 feet tall (McCulloch). This statue represents the biblical figure of David, who killed the giant Goliath with a stone from his slingshot (McCulloch). In this piece, you a see a statue of a man without clothes. Michealangelo named him David. In David’s right hand, he is holding the stone he kilt the Goliath with (Ripley). In this right hand, resting on his shoulder is the slingshot he used to launchthe stone (Ripley). His right leg is tensed while the left one juts forward like a boxer before a fight (Ripley). Tension is written all over his face. His eyes are wide open. His nostrils are flared. And the muscles between his eyebrows stand out, exactly as they would if they were tightened by concentration and aggression (McCulloch). He looks either furious or lost in his mind. Different shots of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ can be found at [].

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Michelangelo is an amazing sculptor. His life was tough, so he uses his emotions, love, and passion to become the great sculptor, poet, painter, and architecture he was. His piece “Moses” was inspired by God and he way God describes Moses in the Bible (McCulloch). Michelangelo was getting tired of the Medici Family so he carved //David// as a symbol of independence (Ripley). Michelangelo still inspires people today. =====

Works Cited:

"//Interesting Facts about Michelangelo"//. 2012 Buzzle.com, 2012. Web. 15 Mar 2012. [].

"Michelangelo's David." //Michelangelo's David//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar 2012. [|http://vlsi.colorado.edu/~rbloem/david.html].

"The Michelangelo Experience." //Michelangelo -Moses Sculptors//. The Michelangelo Experience, 2011. Web. 15 Mar 2012. []