How Did Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni Influence Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese Michelangelo, Italy and died at the age of 88 in Rome, Italy. Shortly after being born his family moved to Florence, Italy which became his home for the rest of his life. Then at the age of 13 Michelangelo became an apprentice to the city’s most well known painter, Domenico Ghirlandaio. A year later Michelangelo’s gift drew the attention Lorenzo de’ Medici, the most powerful patron of the Renaissance. One could argue that this is the true start of Michelangelo’s career as a creator. Lorenzo de’ Medici offered Michelangelo the opportunity to live in a room of his palatial home. Medici surrounded himself with many influential and creative people and because of this Michelangelo was able to study with the a well known sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni. He was also able to gain special permission from the Catholic Church to study cadavers for insight into anatomy. One could argue that this work influenced many of his sculptures and artwork later on in his career. At the age of 23 Michelangelo began working in Rome where he would create his first well known sculpture.

The sculpture is currently located in St. Peter’s Basilica and the parton was a French Cardinal. The Pietà is a depiction of Virgin Mary supporting the dead body of Christ across her lap. It was sculpted from a single block of marble. He was able to complete in less than a year. Then in 1501 he returned to Florence where he was hired to create a marble male figure of David. This 17 foot tall statue of David took three years to sculpte and is located at entrance of the Palazzo dei Priori. David is considered to be a symbol of the Florentine