Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, engineer, and poet. Universally recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time, Michelangelo’s exceptionally long career dominated the Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo was the most celebrated sculptor of the Renaissance and one of its greatest painters and architects. He is world-renowned for his ceiling frescos for the Sistine Chapel, his paintings commissioned by the sixteenth-century Florentine aristocracy, his work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, his many canvasses depicting scenes from the Bible, his famous Doni Tondo of the holy family at Florence’s Uffizi gallery, and his masterpiece The Last Judgment.
Born in Caprese, Arezzo province, Michelangelo spent his early years as an apprentice in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio. He was wholly devoted to art and religion, living frugally in spite of his fame.
Michelangelo achieved such renown in his life that he was celebrated as Il Divino (the “Divine One.”) He fashioned some of the key images of Western Christianity. He established his reputation with sculptures such as the Pietà (c.1497–1500) and David (1501–04.) Under papal sponsorship, he decorated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome (1508–12) and painted the fresco The Last Judgment (1536–41,) both significant works of Mannerism.
Michelangelo devoted himself almost wholly to architecture and poetry after 1545. His architectural achievements include the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica (1546–64) in the Vatican.
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If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Mastery, Work, People, Excellence
Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.
—Michelangelo
The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Art
Beauty is the purgation of superfluities.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Beauty
The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one’s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Self-Discovery, Assurance, Promises, Confidence
Genius is eternal patience.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Genius, Creativity, Patience, Resilience
Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.
—Michelangelo
Patience is eternal genius.
—Michelangelo
Criticize by creating.
—Michelangelo
In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action.
I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Attitude
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that our aim is too low and we reach it.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Ideal, Aspirations, Goals
The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.
—Michelangelo
Topics: Goals, Achievement, Risk
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