Excerpt from Artist Biographies, Vol. 1 of 5: Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Angelo The object of this work is to place before the peo ple a biography....
Michelangelo
(1475-1564)
Who Was Michelangelo?
Michelangelo Buonarroti was a painter, sculptor, architect and poet widely considered one of the most brilliant artists of the Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo was an apprentice to a painter before studying in the sculpture gardens of the powerful Medici family.
The object of this work is to place before the peo ple a biography of the greatest of Italian painters, at once authentic, compact, and inexpensive.
What followed was a remarkable career as an artist, famed in his own time for his artistic virtuosity. Although he always considered himself a Florentine, Michelangelo lived most of his life in Rome, where he died at age 88.
Early Life
Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy, the second of five sons.
When Michelangelo was born, his father, Leonardo di Buonarrota Simoni, was briefly serving as a magistrate in the small village of Caprese.
The family returned to Florence when Michelangelo was still an infant.
His mother, Francesca Neri, was ill, so Michelangelo was placed with a family of stonecutters, where he later jested, "With my wet-nurs