Michaelangelo

Question 0

Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs

Answer 0

1492, Florence. Marble relief. Casa Buonarotti
Centaurs got drunk, crashed the wedding attempting to steal the women. Wasn’t gory, strong focus on the male nude. High relief.
Neoplatonism- battle between man and man’s primal side
Looked to ancient sarcafagi for inspiration. Aimed to outdo a piece in Medici palace

Question 1

Madonna of the Stairs

Answer 1

1489-92, marble relief. Florence
Casa Buonarotti.
Felt close to the mother figure.
Left most prized works the least finished

Question 2

Pieta

Answer 2

Roman period. 1498-1500, St. Peter’s/Vatican
Done for the tomb chapel of French Cardinal, but he died before it was finished.
Most polished/finished piece of Michelangelo’s
Related to late gothic German pietas. Shrunk christ’s body down to better fit Mary’s lap.
Mary looks super young, said to be due to her purity and virginity/preserved her youth
Mary and Christ so idealized

Question 3

David

Answer 3

1501-05. Done for buttress of Cathedral of Florence. Set up in Palazzo Vecchio. 20 ft tall, marble.
Worked from a supposedly unworkable block.
Right time to make new David as Medici are exiled.
First completely nude David, looks more like a man than 16 year old adolescent. Set precedent for other figures. No Goliath head.
Michelangelo’s poem, “I with my bow, David with his sling.” Comparing their triumphs
Idealized figure mirrors inner strength and determination

Question 4

Doni Madonna

Answer 4

1506, panel. Uffizi, Florence. Patron Agnolo Doni after wedding. Round shape meant for domestic worship.
Crisp lines and contours, meant to resemble sculpture. Said to look better that way.
Bright/clashing colors. Innovative male nudes/homoerotic background. Embodied higher movement of love. (Sex in background, holy family in foreground)
Only finished panel by Michelangelo

Question 5

Saint Matthew

Answer 5

1506, Florence. Accademia.
Was to be part of 12 part series for Cathedral of Florence
Very unfinished, described by comparing the sculpture to a body emerging from water.

Question 6

Sistine Ceiling

Answer 6

1508-12, Rome/Vatican. Patron: Pope Julius ii
Blue starry sky base. Originally asked for the 12 apostles, Michelangelo said was boring. Then gave artist free reign.
Left side Old Testament, darkness to drunkeness of Noah. Center creation of Eve. Right side New Testament. Old Testament hints at new.
8 spandrels, 16 lunettes/ancestors of Christ
Neoplatonic, rising into the heavens/ascent

Question 7

Medici Chapel

Answer 7

Tombs of Dukes Lorenzo and Giuliano de’Medici.
Unfinished tombs of Lorenzo the magnificent and Giuliano w/ Medici Madonna
Marble, unfinished tomb = 4 stories compared to the other that’s only 3.
Came back to Florence in 1518 to design the facade of saint Lorenzo, instead the last of the Medici dies and designs these tombs
Lorenzo is contemplative/dawn and dusk
Giuliano is active/day and night.
Night inspired by Layta and the swan, lumpy breasts indicating possible lactation, older looking while Day is young
Larger theme of the tomb/destructive force of time

Question 8

Last Judgement

Answer 8

Sistine Chapel/Rome/Vatican
Fresco 1536-41
Paul iii Farnese

Question 9

Capitoline Hill

Answer 9

Oval/ellipse shaped. Masterpiece of urban design

1538-64 (majorly 61-64)

Question 10

Florence Pieta

Answer 10

Opera del Duomo, Florence 
Personal statement of Michelangelo
Wanted it outside his tomb
Nicodemus/slung leg theories
Part of the last embrace of Christ and Mary

Question 11

Rondanini Pieta

Answer 11

Last work of Michelangelo before his death
Barebones, nothing like his lifetime’s works
Essentially the skeleton of the last embrace