Note to Readers W hat if someone wanted to write a biography about you without ever talk ing to you Maybe they have some of your e-mails have seen you a few times and can read what you post on social media They might even be able talk to someone who knows you Do you think their biography will be accurate It might come very close to the truth but it will always be incomplete Writing a biography with insufficient information represents a great challenge for an author This is always the case in varying degrees when authors write about someone who is now dead especially if this person lived many cen turies ago Authors read letters written by or to the person direct correspondence or about the person indirect correspondence and look for any other documents they can find birth marriage and death certificates wills bank statements and even shopping lists They also read about the times and loca tions in which their subject lived and study biographies of other people who lived in simi lar historical and socioeconomic conditions Then they try to put all the pieces of the puzzle together Of course authors base much of their work on the writings of other biographers especially those who lived at the same time or just after their subject They look at how other biogra phers interpreted the same information and compare their conclusions keeping in mind that biographies become less reliable as we go back in time because fairness and accuracy have not always been as important as they are today The same challenges face those who want to study Michelangelo’s life His early life was not well documented even though two of his biographies were written while he was still alive something extremely unusual at that time One of these biographies was authored vi
by his friend and fellow artist Giorgio Vasari and the other by his pupil Ascanio Condivi Condivi’s biography was practically dictated by Michelangelo Since these works were written by men who knew him well modern biographers may ini tially think they are reliable sources In reality later research has discovered many inaccura cies in these writings Michelangelo himself covered up modified or embellished some facts for different reasons While these biog raphies remain the starting point for any seri ous study of the artist they need to be taken with a grain of salt You can keep this in mind when you see them quoted in this book The great variety of opinions and interpre tations of Michelangelo’s life art and poetry is however far from discouraging And this exciting field of discovery is enriched by the unusually large number of letters and docu ments by to and about Michelangelo This is probably why so many have tried to discover the true Michelangelo and why the search is still open even to you vii
Time Line 1487 He works as an apprentice to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio 1475 Michelangelo Buonarroti is born in Caprese Italy on March 6 1481 Michelangelo’s mother Francesca dies 1485 circa Michelangelo attends school 1490 92 circa He works and lives in the Medici household 1494 95 He leaves Florence and lives in Bologna with a new patron for nine months 1495 He returns to Florence where he carves a statue of a cupid and sells it as an antique 1496 His deception is discovered so he moves to Rome and wins the trust of a new patron 1498 99 He carves his first and most famous Pietà which is immediately recognized as a masterpiece 1501 He returns to Florence where he receives the commission to carve the David 1504 He completes the David gaining international acclaim 1505 Pope Julius II summons Michelangelo to Rome to create his papal tomb Michelangelo spends eight months in the quarries of Carrara selecting marble 1505 08 After an argument with Julius II Michelangelo asks for his pardon Julius keeps him in Bologna for two years to carve a bronze statue 1508 Michelangelo returns to Florence until Julius II asks him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel 1508 12 Michelangelo works in the Sistine Chapel viii
1515 34 Michelangelo works mostly for the Medici family in Florence designing the San Lorenzo facade then designing and working on the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library 1534 Michelangelo leaves Florence for political reasons and moves permanently to Rome 1536 41 Pope Paul III hires Michelangelo to paint The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel the painting gains both acclaim and criticism 1538 Michelangelo begins working on the Capitoline Hill 1542 At Paul III’s request Michelangelo paints two frescoes in the Pauline Chapel 1545 The tomb of Julius II is completed 1547 Michelangelo is appointed chief architect at both St Peter’s and the Farnese Palace 1547 55 He works on a statue known as Florentine Pietà intended for his own tomb but he nearly destroys it before completing it 1556 He begins to work on his final statue known as Rondanini Pietà 1561 Pope Pius IV commissions Michelangelo to design Porta Pia a city gate 1563 Michelangelo designs the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli inside a portion of the ancient Diocletian baths 1564 Michelangelo dies on February 18 at his home in Rome surrounded by friends his nephew arranges for his body to be secretly taken to Florence and buried with great honors ix
