Michelangelo

Timeline

1. 1475–1505Florence · TuscanyBorn in Caprese in the Republic of Florence, he trained as a child under the painter Ghirlandaio, then entered Lorenzo de' Medici's art academy, studying sculpture under Bertoldo di Giovanni; by fifteen he enjoyed Medici patronage. He went to Rome in 1496, completing the Pietà (1499) to great acclaim, returned to Florence in 1501 and over two years carved David (1504), a symbol of republican spirit.
2. 1505–1531Rome · LazioPope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel vault, a four-year undertaking (1508–1512) producing an epochal work of over a thousand square meters with 343 figures including scenes from Genesis. He was then tasked with sculptures for the Medici Chapel at San Lorenzo (begun 1520); the Sack of Rome in 1527 disrupted his work, and political turmoil forced him to move between Florence and Rome.
3. 1531–1541Rome · LazioBetween 1531 and 1534 Michelangelo completed the principal sculptures of the Medici Chapel at San Lorenzo in Florence, including the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici and four allegorical figures of Night, Day, Dusk and Dawn. After the Medici regained Florence in 1534 he settled permanently in Rome. Popes Clement VII and his successor Paul III commissioned The Last Judgment for the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, a six-year work (1535–1541) whose grand, tense composition stunned his contemporaries and became a landmark of Mannerist art.
4. 1541–1564Rome · LazioFrom 1546 Michelangelo was charged with the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica, designing its iconic giant dome; though he did not live to see it finished, he laid the foundation of its final form. In later years he devoted himself to religious poetry, some three hundred surviving sonnets and other poems exploring faith, beauty, love and death. He died in Rome on 18 February 1564, aged eighty-eight; his body was returned to Florence and buried in Santa Croce.