Analysis Of Michelangelo's Madonna Of The Stairs

Painter, sculptor, architect, and poet Michelangelo, one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance, was born Michelangelo di Ludovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475, in Caprese, Italy. Michelangelo was the second of five sons to his father, Ludovico Buonarroti, and mother, Francesca di Neri di Miniato del Serra. Due to his mother’s illness, Michelangelo was entrusted to a wet nurse in Settignano who belonged to a family of stonemasons. He later joked, “With my wet nurse’s milk, I sucked in the hammer and chisels I use for my statues.” According to Michelangelo’s biographer Ascanio Condivi, who wrote under the guidance of the artist himself, it was this fact, together with his birth under the favor of Mercury and Venus that caused

his precocious inclination of the art of sculpture. Michelangelo, who for his whole life continued to define himself as a “sculptor,” began his apprenticeship in the workshop of the painters Domenico and David del Ghirlandaio in 1487. It is believed that his grammar school friend introduced him to Domenico Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo’s father realized early on that his son had no interest in the family financial business, so agreed to apprentice him, at the age of thirteen, to the fashionable Florentine painter's workshop. There, Michelangelo was exposed to the technique of fresco. Michelangelo had spent only a year at the workshop when an extraordinary opportunity opened to him. At the recommendation of Ghirlandaio, he moved into the palace of Florentine ruler Lorenzo the Magnificent, of the powerful Medici family, to study classical sculpture in the Medici gardens. This was a fertile time for Michelangelo; his years with the Medici family, 1489 to 1492, permitted him access to the social elite of Florence—allowing him to study under the respected sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni and exposing him to prominent poets, scholars and learned Humanists. He also obtained special permission from the Catholic Church to study cadavers for insight into anatomy, though exposure to corpses had an adverse effect on his health. These combined influences laid the groundwork for what would become Michelangelo's distinctive style: a muscular precision and reality combined with an almost lyrical beauty (Ragionieri 19).

Madonna of the Stairs, 22x16 in, Battle of the Centaurs, 33x35 in,
1491/92, Casa Buonarroti 1492, Casa Buonarroti

Belonging to the period of time Michelangelo spent in the home of Lorenzo the Magnificent, are two reliefs in marble that today may be seen in the Casa Buonarroti.

Those two works are the Madonna of the Stairs and the Battle of the Centaurs. They are the earliest works that can be securely attributed to Michelangelo, at the age of sixteen. In them, he already displayed the stature of a mature artist. In Madonna of the Stairs, there is an explicit reference to Donatello; in Battle of the Centaurs, to classical sculpture. Their comparison, instead of leading to the conclusion that they are directly derived from these models, shows a deep assimilation and movement beyond them. We know that Michelangelo had lived for sometime with a stonecutter and his wife during his childhood. Perhaps his introduction into working with blocks of stone was far more intensive than we first imagined. Most artists have early work that can be used to chart the later development of their style, but the Madonna of the Stairs seems at first glance to be a fully mature piece of sculpture. The carving of the drapes half covering the infants head is indeed wonderfully executed. Perhaps Michelangelo did produce some inferior earlier work that has not survived or that he himself destroyed, whatever the reality may be, this stone masterpiece remains as a wonderfully realized, emotionally charged, piece of sculpture. The Battle of the Centaurs is a writhing mass of figures three-dimensionally carved into a marble block. The figures are layered in overlapping positions adding to the spacial depth of the work. We can see the artists interest in the massive bulk of the naked male form, a theme that would serve Michelangelo well in future commissions (Ragionieri

19-20).

David, 1504, Galleria dell’Accademia

Between 1501 and 1504, the middle of Michelangelo’s career, he created the statue of David, one of the greatest masterpieces ever created by mankind. “When all was finished, it cannot be denied that this work has carried off the palm from all other statues, modern or ancient, Greek or Latin; no other artwork is equal to it in any respect, with such just proportion, beauty and excellence did Michelangelo finish it” stated Giorgio Vasari describing David. When finished, the statue of David was placed in the Piazza della Signoria in 1504 as a symbol of civic virtues. Today it stands in the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence. David is a 14.0 ft marble statue depicting the Biblical hero David, represented as a standing male nude. Michelangelo was only twenty-six years old in 1501, but he was already the most famous and best paid artist in his days. He accepted the challenge with enthusiasm to sculpt a large scale David and worked constantly for over two years to create one of his most breathtaking masterpieces of gleaming white marble. The Vestry Board had established the religious subject for the statue, but nobody expected such a revolutionary interpretation of the biblical hero.Traditionally, David had been portrayed after his victory, triumphant over the slain Goliath. Florentine artists like Verrocchio, Ghiberti and Donatello all depicted their own version of David standing over Goliath’s severed head. Michelangelo instead, for the first time ever, chooses to depict David before the battle. David is tense: Michelangelo catches him at the apex of his concentration. He stands relaxed, but alert, resting on a classical pose known as contrapposto. The figure stands with one leg holding its full weight and the other leg forward, causing the figure’s hips and shoulders to rest at opposing angles, giving a slight s-curve to the entire torso. The slingshot he carries over his shoulder is almost invisible, emphasizing that David’s victory was one of cleverness, not sheer force. He transmits exceptional self-confidence and concentration, both values of the “thinking man,” considered perfection during the Renaissance. Thanks to its imposing perfection, the biblical figure of David became the symbol of liberty and freedom for the Republican ideals, showing Florence’s readiness to defend itself. It remained in front of Palazzo della Signoria until 1873, when it was moved into the Galleria dell’Accademia to protect it from damage and further weathering (Barkan 109-111).

Last Judgement, 48x44 ft, 1536-1541, Sistine Chapel

Towards the end of Michelangelo’s career, he created Last Judgement, a fresco which covers the wall behind the alter of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The work depicts the second coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgement by God of all humanity. The souls of humans rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ surrounded by prominent saints. Although Michelangelo is clearly inspired by the Bible, it is his own imaginative vision that prevails in this painting. The work took four years to complete and was done between 1536 and 1541. Prior to the wall, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. To complete the Last Judgement, he returned to work in the Sistine Chapel after almost forty years. During this time his art had lost the classical harmony that characterized his paintings for the ceiling, becoming, in this fresco, an apocalyptic vision in which no harmonious or rational laws exist, but where instead the whole surface, deprived of depth, is animated by the swirling movement of figures with robust bodies and controlled faces. Unfortunately, it was decided by the congregation of the Council of Trent that works of art in sacred places had to be modest and a pupil of Michelangelo, Daniele da Volterra, was commissioned to cover the obscene figures nakedness with loincloths and veils. This gesture showed the most complete misunderstanding not only for Michelangelo’s art but also for his intense spirituality (Ragionieri 30-35).

Michelangelo is a very well known artist. As shown in the pictures above, he was an extremely talented sculptor and painter. Though he was influenced by the artistic movements at the time, his own works and style in turn influenced later artistic movements. Michelangelo believed the ideal was more important than the real. He considered the human form to be the ideal in art, and his most well-known works are those depicting humans, often nudes. This fact drew much attention to him and his work. Michelangelo is noted not only for his skill in art, but for his style. Michelangelo preferred drawing humans in very complex, exaggerated poses. He also often idealized the human form, changing realistic or natural proportions to be more beautiful or perfect. Michelangelo practiced this skill in all of his works through out his life. The naked body, usually male, was portrayed in all of his artwork. The creativity and complexity of the work gradually got more intense and mature but the overall concept remained the same. My favorite work of Michelangelo is Last Judgment. It shows how creative and intensely spiritual Michelangelo was. He believed in his work and you could really tell in this masterpiece. I like this work of his the most because it is different. He created many sculptures, but never a fresco painting like this. This painting was on the wall and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, that is so unbelievable to me. I feel in that work, he established his credibility and showed his enormous talent.