Michelangelo, Giant of the Renaissance (Part One)

Michelangelo, the Eternal Genius

Michelangelo Buonarroti-Simoni was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy in Tuscany , about sixty miles east of Florence. A month later his father moved the family back to the Tuscan capital. Ludovico Buonarroti’s family were bankers and money lenders and despite the failure of the family bank, Michelangelo’s father managed assets and property that allowed an upper middle class existence. He occasionally served as a bureaucrat and at the time of Michelangelo’s birth he was assigned to Caprese as an administrator within the local government.

in November of 1497, Michelangelo set out for Carrara and the marble quarries there that supplied the legendary stone for the region’s most important art works. In his possession, he had a letter of introduction from the French cardinal to help him to procure the most magnificent marble available. Michelangelo’s personal visit to Carrara was highly unusual, most customers merely ordered a certain amount of stone and had it shipped to Rome or Florence. It would take six months before Michelangelo selected an appropriate block of material and it was not until August of 1498 that Michelangelo began work on his next project: The Pieta, a portrayal of Mary mourning the death of her crucified son, Jesus Christ.

Podcast Episode Details

Michelangelo, Giant of the Renaissance (Part One)