Timeline Description: Perhaps the greatest influence on Western art, this world famous person is known today as only Michelangelo. He was a sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer who also influenced the development of many other things besides art. He was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime and still considered so today.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 6, 1475 | Michelangelo is born in Italy. Michelangelo Buonarroti is born in Caprese, Italy that is near Tuscany. His father was a banker and a local administrator. After he was born, the family moved to Florence, Italy where he was raised. |
| 1481 | Michelangelo's mother dies. When he was just six years old, his mother died. Michelangelo moved in with a stonecutter and his family in a town where his father owned a marble quarry. |
| 1487 | Michelangelo goes to work. Became an apprentice to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo's father talked the painter into paying his son for being an apprentice, which was a rare thing to have happen. |
| 1490 | Michelangelo learns sculpting 1490-92. Worked in the Medici household and sculpted under a master sculptor named Giovanni. While there when he was 17 years old, Michelangelo was hit in the nose by another apprentice. This caused his nose to be distorted for the rest of his life. In 1492 Michelangelo's fortunes changed for the better. |
| 1493-1494 | Michelangelo creates first statue. He bought a large block of marble to create a life size statue of Hercules. This statue disappeared on its way to France and has never been found. Michelangelo would not let life get him down and so in 1494, he decided to apply for a commission of a snow statue for the heir of the wealthy and famous Medici family. |
| 1495 | Michelangelo works in smaller blocks of marble. Returned to Florence, carved St. John the Baptist and the Sleeping Cupid statues. |
| 1496 | Michelangelo experiences failure early in Rome. Michelangelo moved to Rome at the age of 21. Carved the statue of the Roman wine god Bacchus however when he finished it was rejected and so he never received any payment for his work. |
| November, 1497 | Michelangelo creates one of his most famous works. The French ambassador at the Holy See or the Vatican as we call it today, commissioned one of Michelangelo's most famous works, the Pieta. |
| 1501 | Michelangelo completes statue of David (1499-1501). Life was changing in Florence at this time and there was a great deal of political upheaval and intrigue. He was asked to start a statue of the very famous work of David. He also painted much during this time. |
| 1504 | Michelangelo finishes the statue of David. He completed the David and received a commission to paint the Battle of Cascina. He is now considered a master sculptor or great technical skill and working in his favorite place-Florence, Italy. |
| 1505 | Michelangelo is asked to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Michelangelo was called to Rome by Pope Julius II to create the tomb for the Pope. He spent eight months in the marble quarries of Carrara just to select the marble for the tomb. During this time, he also took on the job of painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. This took about four years to complete. It consists of at least 300 figures and has in the center of the ceiling, nine parts from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. |
| 1515 | Michelangelo works for the famous Medici family (1515-1534). Carved tombs for the Medici family, designed Medici Chapel in Florence. |
| 1524 | Michelangelo designs first building. Commissioned to design the Laurentian Library at San Lorenzo. This was a very successful project for the master artist as an architect. |
| 1536 | Michelangelo paints famous altar wall (1536-1541). Painted The Last Judgement on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. This was unveiled in 1541. The work is massive and covers a large area. It depicts the second coming of Christ. |
| 1545 | Michelangelo is getting older and work is hard (1545-1550). Worked on the Pauline Chapel consistently. As he grew older it became harder for him to labor with his sculpting and he hired others to help him. |
| 1564 | Michelangelo works on second Pieta. He worked on the Rondanini Pieta statue - now in Milan. This was his hardest job ever. |
| February, 18,1564 | Michelangelo's last days before his death. His friend,Daniele da Volterra watches him work all day on February 12 on a large sculpture. Two days later he comes down with a fever but goes for a walk in the cold night air, saying he just can't rest. The next day he spends sitting next to the fireplace but finally must crawl into bed. He dies on February 18. More than 100 artists attend his funeral. |