Bust of Lorenzo De’ Medici

Bust of Lorenzo De’ Medici

In 1519, Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Leo X and his cousin, Cardinal Giulio de Medici (later Pope Clement VII), to create the marble portraits of Lorenzo and Giuliano de Medici for the family’s Chapel San Lorenzo in Florence. This New Sacristy was the...
Bruges Madonna and Child

Bruges Madonna and Child

The Bruges Madonna and Child (height 49 inches, depth 28 inches, width 24 inches Early in 1504, even as the David received its finishing touches, Michelangelo was already at work on a free-standing marble statue of the Madonna and Child. The Bruges Madonna, as it is...
Tondo Pitti

Tondo Pitti

Tondo Pitti (ca. 1504-5; diameter 31 inches) In the Tondo Pitti group (commissioned by Bartolomeo Pitti), any formal frame is ignored and this outline is slightly oval. The Madonna and Child are simpler and more clearly formed than in the Tondo Taddei. With her left...
Tondo Taddei

Tondo Taddei

Tondo Taddei (ca. 1503; diameter 40 inches) The Tondo Taddei (at the Royal Academy, London), and the Tondo Pitti (at the National Museum of the Bargello, Florence) are the only two roundels (circular relief sculptures) carved by Michelangelo, produced when he was in...

Insightsful Facts about Michelangelo

Insightful Facts about Michelangelo by Laura C. Johnson He lived to be 89 years old. Life expectancy during his time was 43 years. Michelangelo did not lie on his back when painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. He stood. He was involved in a fraud when one of his...