Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti

There was a time period from 1400 C.E. to 1600 C.E., referred to as the Renaissance. The Renaissance was an age of discovery shown through , architecture, poetry, art, sculpture, and theater based on a Greco-Roman culture. Among the many Renaissance thinkers there was a man named Michelangelo Buonarroti. Michelangelo was an architect, sculptor, painter, poet, and an engineer. He preferred sculpting because he felt he was shaping mankind, which reflected the Renaissance era.

The Renaissance encouraged everyone to express their human potential and become a master of their universe. In contrast to the dark middle age ideas of a supernatural orientation to life, the Renaissance encouraged a more natural world and human life orientation. Michelangelo reflected the Renaissance ideals through his works of art; such as, the Sistine Chapel, many sculptures including David and the Pieta, and architecture including Capitoline Hill in Rome. In these forms of art, Michelangelo lived up to being the universal man, which meant developing yourself into an individual genious. Michelangelo reflected the Renaissance in the central panels on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. A particular piece of art showed how Adam and God became members of the same race of super beings, reflecting a mixture of Greek mythology and Christianity. The concept of combining pagan and Christianity is clearly shown in the central panel the Creation of Adam. God’s finger reaching out to Adam is transferring his godly powers to Adam .which depicts the Universal Man. Whereas Medieval art would consider placing man and God as equals to be wickedness, whereas the Renaissance ideal consider art depicting that men as gods was not evil. The Sistine Chapel showed that Michelangelo reflected the Renaissance, because he portrayed his paintings using shadows, boldness, depicting three dimensional objects.

Causing the characters on the ceiling to come alive. In contrast to the Medieval age, art consisted of dull, flat without shadow or dimension. The Renaissance created an era where artists could express themselves through lively art. Art during the pre-renaissance era, the Medieval age, was greatly influenced by the Catholic Church forbidding nudity and/or equality between God and man. Michelangelo challenged the church by depicting his work in the nude, yet idolizing God. During the...

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...hree dimensional, bold art that depicted man as real and as an god in his own right. . Michelangelo accomplished portraying the Renaissance era as a Greco-Roman culture of art along with the blessings of the Catholic church. The bleak formless Medieval art forms were gladly replaced by Michelangelo’s works of art.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kleiner, Tansey. Gardner’s Art Through The Ages Tenth Edition II Renaissance And Modern Art. Florida: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1996

Ventura, Piero. Michelangelo’s World. Canada: Milan 1989

Cumming, Robert. Great Artists The Lives of 50 Painters Explored Through Their Work. New York : DK Publishing, 1998

Britain Express. "Medieval Architecture and Art". 30 Dec. 2002

This Website is valid because the website states : Students researching articles in our History section have asked about the credentials of David Ross for citing purposes. Credentials include: BA in English History (Memorial University, 1979)

Author of "The Essntial Traveler's Companion to Medieval England" (1066 Publishing, 1996)

Kren, Emil. “Creation of Adam”. 12 Jan. 2003

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