Michelangelo, The Greatest Artis of the Renaissance Era

Michelangelo was the greatest artist of the Renaissance era. He was one of

the most diverse sculptors, architects and painters of his era. His painting in the

Sistine Chapel, his sculptor of David and his design of St Peters Basilica are some of

the greatest works in the world. These works identify him as the greatest of his

time. The techniques that Michelangelo used in The Sistine Chapel, The David and in

the design of St. Peters Basilica make him the greatest artist of his time.

Michelangelo was born in Caprese, Italy on March 6, 1475 and spent most of

his childhood growing up in Florence. His family was very wealthy as his dead

worked for the government and his relatives were bankers. However, Michelangelo

did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps. Instead, he was attracted to the

artistic world. Michelangelo soon became an apprentice to Domenico Ghirlandaio,

who was the best fresco wall painter in Florence. Michelangelo’s first teacher was

Domenico Ghirlandaio. Ghirlandaio was a master in fresco and Michelangelo learned

St. Peters Basilica was one of the greatest architectural designs of the High

Renaissance era. The Basilica is spaced in two sections both surrounded by tall

colonnades, a row of columns supporting the roof. The faced, which is a space in

front of the building, is covered with a huge order of columns that stretches across

the end of St. Peters Square. The Basilica is cruciform in shape (meaning cross

shaped) with an extended nave. The central space of the Basilica is Michelangelo’s

design of the dome, and is located on top of the church. It is the biggest dome in the

world. The dome stands at 136.57 meters (448.1 feet) in height and 41.47 meters

(136.1feet) in di...

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...oulders to rest at different angles giving a little bit of a curve to the entire upper

body. The detail Michelangelo gives the body of David is unmatched by any other

detail in a sculpture. His muscles react with how his body is posed; he has his left

foot almost off the ground as if he is going to take a step forward at his fallen

opponent showing how he is moving. David’s massive size was something that

really impressed Michelangelo’s fellow artists and sculptors like Donatello and

Leonardo Di Vinci. Donatello’s statue of David only stood 158 cm tall (5 feet) that’s

twelve feet smaller than the massive seventeen foot tall David of Michelangelo’s. It

looked as if Michelangelo had brought back life into a dead heroic classical figure

with this incredible sized sculpture. His seventeen-foot tall sculpture surpassed any

other sculptures of his time.