Sculptor, architect, painter, and poet – Michelangelo is considered one of the true geniuses and heroes of the High Renaissance. Starting from middle class beginnings, when it was noted that he did not have an aptitude for the family business (banking), he was sent to an apprenticeship, and from there was chosen to attend academy. His work was noticed and he began to garner attention, a reputation, and commission work. While he was extremely famous, especially with Popes, Cardinals, and the ruling class, he died with a fortune in tact since he lived very frugally.
“However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.”.
Michelangelo on wealth and success
Michelangelo had bitter rivalries with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael – the below are excerpts from this page:
Renaissance masters Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo are both highly recognized and admired in their own right. However, during their career they were intense rivals and fiercely competitive with each other. The rivalry between the two great masters began in the early sixteenth century, when both Leonardo and Michelangelo were hired to paint vast battle scenes on the same wall of the Council Hall in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. The two artists were in direct competition as they each completed their commission. At the time of the commission, in 1503, Leonardo was in his early 50s, and was well known throughout Europe. He was commissioned to paint a huge wall painting of The Battle of Anghiari, a scene from the recent wars between Florence and Milan. Then, just a year later, Michelangelo, aged only twenty-nine and something of a prodigy, was commissioned to paint The Battle of Cascina, a fourteenth century conflict between Florence and Pisa, on the same wall. This commission came months after Michelangelo’s David, arguably still the world’s most recognizable sculpture, was unveiled in Florence. Despite his fame, Leonardo now had a rival. Renaissance biographer of the artists, Giorgio Vasari, was explicit that this was a contest, writing that Michelangelo was commissioned “in competition with Leonardo”; with competition came hatred and paranoia. Both artists made their disdain for their rival clear, criticising their work heavily. There was a great deal at stake in this commission. It was to be a celebration of the newly formed Florentine Republic after the expulsion of the Medici in 1494, and so required patriotic masterpieces that celebrated the city’s freedom. Unfortunately, neither one finished his painting. Leonardo was already well known as a non-finisher, and this commission began a trend for leaving works unfinished.
Another artistic Renaissance rivalry existed between Michelangelo and Raphael. When young artist Raphael emerged onto the Renaissance art scene in Italy in 1504, he had an intricate style that was influenced by his predecessors, including Leonardo and Michelangelo, he certainly ruffled a few feathers. In 1508, at the young age of twenty-six, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint a fresco in the Pope’s private library in the Vatican Palace. He beat out competitors Michelangelo and Leonardo to win the commission, and his work was very highly reviewed. Even Vasari, who thought incredibly highly of Michelangelo and regularly praised his work, noted that Raphael gave the master a run for his money. He wrote, ‘Raphael of Urbino had risen into great credit as a painter, and his friends and adherents maintained that his works were more strictly in accordance with the rules of art than Michelangelo, affirming that they were graceful in colouring, of beautiful invention, admirable in expression, and of characteristic design… For these reasons, Raphael was judged… to be fully equal, if not superior, to Michelangelo in painting generally, and… decidedly superior to him regarding colouring in particular.’ Michelangelo, who was used to earning this kind of praise himself, unsurprisingly did not react well to his skill being called into question by a newcomer, and Raphael played into their rivalry by including a portrait of Michelangelo in the figure of Heraclitus in his Stanza della Segnatura. Heraclitus is known as ‘the weeping philosopher,’ and Raphael portrayed Michelangelo looking suitably grumpy and lonely, in what was undoubtedly a dig at the older artist. At a time when Michelangelo should have been gaining recognition for his commissions such as the Sistine Chapel, it seemed that his fame and glory was being usurped by a younger artist.
- Read more about Michelangelo’s life and see his works HERE and HERE
- Check out 9 interesting facts you probably don’t know about Michelangelo HERE
A Gallery of Michelangelo’s Work
Madonna of the Stairs 
David 
Pieta 
Moses 
Battle of Cascina 
Madonna of Bruges 
Creation of Adam
Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel
One of Michelangelo’s most famous works is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and it may not exist except for a set up. The architect in charge of rebuilding St. Peter’s Basilica, Bramante convinced the Pope that Michelangelo was the man for the job. Bramante was notoriously consumed by envy, and knowing that Michelangelo was better known for his sculptures rather than paintings, he was certain that his rival would fail and fall out of popular favor. Michelangelo reluctantly accepted the commission and would work on it for the next four years. The result was his genius work illustrating stories from the Old Testament including the Creation of the World and Noah and the Flood. In a twist of fate, it has become one of the most famous and instantly recognizable masterpieces of Western Art.
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