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FINDING INSPIRATION<o:p></o:p>The second of five sons, I was born into a relatively rich family in Caprese, Italy. My father, a magistrate, was a severe man who at times was violent towards me and my brothers. He moved us to Florence when I was still a baby.My early life was hard as my mother died when I was only six. My father couldn’t cope and sent me to live with my nanny and her husband, a stonecutter. Watching the stonecutter chisel with care and skill was mesmerising. I watched with fascination as he transformed blocks of stone into figures and animals.Growing up in Florence was a blessing for me as the city inspired me. I loved art and lived in an age where people valued learning, literature and creativity. Not understanding my artistic temperament and ambition, my father felt I should qualify in a profession. He felt I was wasting my time doodling and that I should concentrate on my studies and do some real work. Arguments and beatings were the ways he tried to settle matters.<div>BECOMING AN ARTIST</div>After many such battles with my father, I decided to ignore his objections and signed an apprenticeship with the city’s most prominent painter, Ghirlandaio, in 1488. After only a year, he gave me a high recommendation to the powerful ruler of the city, Lorenzo de Medici.Working for the Medici family allowed my creativity to flourish, and I soon began producing beautiful artwork, taking inspiration from the beauty of nature and the human form. I completed two sculptures - the Madonna of the Steps and the Battle of the Centaurs. The action and power in the latter foretold my interests in my later works of art.In 1495, I created a sculpture of Cupid. It was sold to a cardinal who loved it so much that he invited me to Rome. I then stayed in that magnificent city for most of my life. In 1496, the cardinal commissioned a sculpture of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and agriculture, but to my disappointment, it was rejected. Nevertheless, my name became known and respected in the art world.&nbsp;<div>CREATING MASTERPIECES</div>Before long, I was commissioned by the French ambassador in Rome to sculpt the Pietà. Showing the Madonna with Jesus laid across her knees, this sculpture was my first major piece of work, and its beauty took many people by surprise.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F39e72f0f07c444fdba48e3ed54b607fb" alt="" style="width: 324.016px; height: 215.625px;"> Sadly, it also created jealousy amongst some fellow artists. Despite the desire to be generous with my talents, I knew I needed to be cautious. Word came my way that someone else claimed to be the sculptor. To stop this lie, I signed my name on the sash around the Madonna. This was the only one of my artistic works that I ever signed. The Pietà&nbsp;established me as an artist of note. My growing fame gave me the confidence to continue to create, not only sculptures but also paintings and drawings. In 1501, I was commissioned to create the sculpture of David by the Guild of Wool Merchants, who were responsible for the care and upkeep of the cathedral in Florence. I was given a long, thin piece of marble, quarried 40 years earlier, to work with.Many people were puzzled as to how I would work with the material. I had to think carefully about how to tackle this project. I worked for three years in secret before the sculpture was proudly unveiled in September 1504. My hands and fingers were blistered from hours and hours of painstaking work. Covered in dust, I looked a ghostly figure, exhausted through the hard physical effort, particularly in the summer heat.David was a huge statue, three times taller than most people. It was so rewarding to see it emerge at last.<div>PAINTING ON A CEILING</div>In 1508, I was asked to take on an enormous painting commission: to paint the 12 apostles on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. I was initially reluctant, but the Pope was not to be dissuaded.The ceiling was huge, almost 43 metres long and 13 metres wide, and over 13 metres high. The scale of this task was overwhelming, and the work far exceeded the initial request. My short temper also made it difficult to find assistants who could help me.I devised a set of pulleys and scaffolds so that I could work high above the floor, but nothing could make this task easy or comfortable. It was physically demanding work every day for four years, and I often worked on my back so that I could paint above my head.I decided to depict many scenes from the Bible, including painting over 300 biblical figures – all with different faces and expressions. One image was of God’s hand reaching out to Adam’s – this proved most popular and became known as The Creation of Adam. My work had taken four years, but it was a huge success, cementing my reputation.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F29f8564099a8494486a448c1a52af104" alt=""> <div>MAJESTIC PROJECTS</div>Of course, I had my critics, and some said I was arrogant at times. Maybe I was impatient as I was under pressure. I was always trying to use my time well and I was also wary of those around me. Trusting people was not easy. Yet there were many people depending on me as a project leader, so I led by example. I had a reputation for doing things my own way. I saw it as being focused and single-minded about my routine, although others described me as preoccupied with my own reality.In 1534, Pope Clement VII called me back to the Sistine Chapel to paint the wall behind the altar with a huge scene of the Last Judgement. It had been a long time since I had worked on the ceiling, and it felt rather strange to be working back there.It took me five years to complete and was again physically exhausting, especially as I was 67 by the time I finished. The work received mixed reviews, as the nudes I’d painted were frowned upon. But I was praised for the artistry and Pope Paul III asked me to do more work for him.&nbsp;In 1546, at the age of 71, I received the greatest and final commission of my life when the Pope appointed me chief architect of the vast St Peter’s Basilica. The centrepiece of the Vatican, this was where popes were laid to rest and also the home of the tallest dome in the world. The project had already been worked on by a number of other architects, but it had no focus. I transformed it into one of the most beautiful structures on earth.<div>FINAL YEARS</div>While chipping at marble, I developed poetic ideas and wrote them down. I wasn’t very confident of their worth, but I completed around 300 in all, and they complimented my practical work.<div><img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F98a18d26509a4175bae1aa03c2cb0e9c" alt="" style="width: 292.433px; height: 372.188px;"> </div>Although I never married, I was very fond of a woman poet, Vittoria Colonna, and dedicated many sonnets and drawings to her.Eventually, age caught up with me and nothing could alleviate the pain of my kidney stones.For many years, my time was occupied by giving life to great ideas, as a sculptor, artist, poet, architect and engineer. Along the way, I learned the skills of project management and politics.GLOSSARYMagistrate – a chief officer of the government, and one who may have the power to administer the law.Commissioned – (especially a work of art) produced specially to order.Sonnets – a sonnet is a poem with 14 lines that has a particular structure.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul><li>Michelangelo lived during the Renaissance, the period from the 14th-16th centuries when European art and literature came under the influence of classical models. He is recognised as a true master of Renaissance art and is the first artist to be acknowledged as a genius during his lifetime.</li><li>Michelangelo is one of a small group of the most exalted artists, including Shakespeare and Ludwig van Beethoven, who are felt to have expressed the tragic experience of humanity with the greatest depth and universal scope.</li><li>Michelangelo not only influenced the artists that studied under him, but he is an icon in the world of art today. People still find awe and inspiration through his work.</li><li>In addition to painting and sculpting, he was also a renowned architect and a prolific writer and poet. He wrote hundreds of letters and poems, more than 300 of which still exist today.</li><li>Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was still alive, and his life and work have been the subject of several films, TV shows, and radio programmes.</li><li>There are buildings, places, a ship, streets, a language institute and even an asteroid, named after Michelangelo.</li><li>Although he was quite rich, Michelangelo lived a simple life. Upon his death, his estate was estimated to be worth 50,000 florins, which is equivalent to $50 million today.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITS<o:p></o:p>The Pietà, Michelangelo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons<o:p></o:p>The Creation of Adam,&nbsp;Michelangelo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)<o:p></o:p>Portrait of Michelangelo, Marcello Venusti, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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