5 Lessons to learn from the Great Master Michelangelo’s life
By: Kayathri K
Tags: Sistine Chapel, Artist, Michelangelo, Rome, Florence

Portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra

Michelangelo has engrossed my thoughts ever since I visited Sistine Chapel in 2016. I have been wanting to read about him and his works. His painting in the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling and altar are masterpieces. In the limited time you get to spend inside the Chapel, it is humanly not possible to understand the depth of the painting. During the museum tour, when the guide explained about all the challenges faced by Michelangelo during his time in the Vatican, my curiosity about him hyped.

I looked for books and articles about him. Searched and studied his paintings, and sculptures for hours. Started reading ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ by Irving Stone. It took quite a long time to complete, as the book was nearly 800 pages, and also my favorite 8-year old kindle decided to end its life (a different mournful story!) while I was half-way through the novel.

So, finally, I am here, pleased, knowing many important events surrounding Michelangelo’s life and works. Have you ever felt after reading a book that you could comprehend more about the culture and the country of the protagonist? I feel the same way. I have added visiting Italy, again to my Bucket list (fingers crossed!)

Here are five beautiful lessons for anyone to learn from Michelangelo’s life (I call him ‘the Master’ in most places).

Never give up your passion for anyone

Right from 13 years, Michelangelo Buonarroti knew that he wanted to be a sculptor. Although there was no one in Florence at that time to teach sculpting, his mind was all into marbles.

His father who was a failed-banker was totally against sculpting. He was apprehensive of Michelangelo spoiling the family’s name choosing to work with ‘his hands’. Perhaps Michelangelo was adamant in following his passion, but he never once raised his voice against his father. He convinced his father by securing a regular stipend from the painter Ghirlandaio under whom he worked as an apprentice. It is usually the other way around — apprentices have to pay the fees!

He worked under nine different Catholic Pontiffs and, almost all of them kept obstructing him from sculpting and commissioned him to do a different form of art (Painting or Architecture). Many times, he had to wait for the funds to be released to purchase the marbles he was commissioned for.

Pope Leo X (an old friend from the Medici family) Commissioned him to build the Medici Chapel in Florence which Michelangelo happily agreed. But he posed a different challenge by ordering the master to get his marbles from Pietrasanta quarry in Mount Altissimo instead of the famous Carrara quarries. He had to build a new road to get the marbles from unexplored Pietrasanta amidst a lot of toils.

After he managed to get the marbles down to the shore to be transported to Florence, the commission was abruptly canceled, due to lack of finance, by his patrons. The master was very much depressed. Later after many years, he resumed the work under the reign of another Medici pope Clement VII. This Medici chapel is yet another masterpiece.

Many wars were fought in and around Italy, and many beautiful works of art were destroyed. But nothing stopped Michelangelo from working. Although he has done so many beautiful sculptures in his lifetime, he always felt deficient. Especially after 60 years of age, he was commissioned to do many artworks, and 24 hours in a day were never enough. He sculpted until a few hours before his death. His passion guided him like a fire in the tunnel.

Give yourself unconditionally to whatever you do

Michelangelo was first apprenticed to a painter since there was no sculptor to train him in Florence. Only after working for 2 years under the famous painter Domenico Ghirlandaio, he got apprenticed to Bertoldo di Giovanni who was a disciple of the famous Donatello. Even though his love was for sculptures, he never compromised on his painting skills.

When Pope Julius II commissioned him to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling he resisted it with all his might. But since he couldn’t disobey a Pope (Papacy had more powers during those days), he agreed to paint. Ever since the day he agreed, he gave his hundred percent effort to the painting. He worked for nearly 18 hours a day without proper rest and food.

To paint the ceiling, he had to stand atop the scaffolding, stretching his neck upwards, and remain in that position for a long time. Sometimes he used to lie down on the scaffold on his back and nearly lost his eyesight with paint dripping in his eyes. He worked like that for not one or two months, but four years!

In the early 1500’s Pope Julius II decided to rebuild St.Peters Basilica as the grandest building in Christendom. He held a competition for its design, and Donato Bramante won it with his simple and grand design. The construction started in 1506 but until 1547, under many architects and Papacies, the building did not even raise from the foundations.

Again Michelangelo was sought to rescue St.Peters. Pope Paul III forced him to undertake the construction when the master was in his 70’s. Michelangelo was not pleased, so, he wrote

“I undertake this only for the love of God and in honor of the Apostle.”

But once he started to do the plans, he completely entangled himself in the work. He considered it his life’s goal to complete the construction of St.Peters. Even though he died before the completion of the dome, he completed all the plans and instructed his assistants Jacopo Vignola and Giorgio Vasari to complete it according to his plans.

The interesting fact is that he refused to charge even a single ducat for his labor on St.Peters, and he worked for nearly 20 years until his death in 1564 at the age of 90. Most of St.Peters, as it stands majestically today at the Vatican, is because of Michelangelo.

Photo by Alberico Bartoccini on Unsplash

Apologize and forgive whenever necessary

There is no doubt that Michelangelo is one of the best artists who ever lived. But he also made many enemies in his profession. The first and foremost of them was Lionardo da Vinci (yes! the same Da Vinci of Mona Lisa), one of his famous compatriots in Florence.

He envied the charm of Lionardo, who was much elder than him. The fact that Lionardo was handsome than him, and was the favorite of the papal, made Michelangelo diffident.

Lionardo being a famous painter of his time, regarded ‘sculpture’ as a lower trade and spoke ill of it in many gatherings. This made Michelangelo even more frustrated, and he started to hate Lionardo and his frescoes. He felt insecure in the presence of Lionardo and insulted him on many occasions.

Lionardo was commissioned to fresco a complete wall of Palazzo Vecchio of Florence, which he completed skillfully. This made Michelangelo restless and approach the Governor of Florence to appoint himself to paint the opposite wall of Palazzo Vecchio. After much reluctance, the Governor agreed. He completed the sketches for the painting with great effort but before he could start working on the fresco, he was called to the Vatican by Pope Julius II.

Unfortunately, Lionardo’s painting was destroyed due to the new combination of paint used by him, which caused the mural’s oils to run. Later when Michelangelo came to know about this, he was deeply worried. Without a second thought, he went to Lionardo and apologized for all his insults and misbehaviors.

His next encounter was with Raphael, another great painter of his time, much younger than Michelangelo. Raphael was the favorite of Pope Julius II and others, mainly because of his fun-loving nature — while Michelangelo’s self-imposed sultry attitude made others to disregard him. Although they hated each other, both artists admired each other’s works.

When Michelangelo was painting the Sistine ceiling, Raphael sneaked every night into the chapel with the help of the St.Peters’ architect Bramante to understand the techniques used by Michelangelo. When the master came to know about this, he condemned both of them and took the keys away from Bramante.

After the Sistine ceiling was opened to the public, Raphael visited it and was very much impressed by its magnificence. He went straight to Michelangelo and apologized for his behavior. The master remembered his similar encounter with Leonardo, many years ago and forgave him.

Maintain friendships and relationships till the end

Michelangelo's mother died soon after he was born, and he was in the care of his wet-nurse who belonged to the stonemasons family in Settignano. Until his 6 years, he used to grow up with the stonemason family. Later, even though his own family moved to the city, he was close to his foster family. They would be the first to know all the good and bad happenings in his life. Whenever he felt down, he used to visit them in Settignano, and silently start cutting the Pietra Serena stones (Gray sandstone) until he felt normal again. He held all the family members close to his heart.

He later quoted to Vasari, “If there is some good in me, it is because I was born in the subtle atmosphere of your country of Arezzo. Along with the milk of my nurse, I received the knack of handling chisel and hammer, with which I make my figures”.

He was distressed when the news of the death of his foster mother reached him when he was in Rome.

Michelangelo’s father was too frugal and extremely manipulative towards him in case of money. The master was as bad at managing money as he was bad at making it. In the early days of his life, he was forced to give all his commissioned money to his father who wanted to build the assets for his family. If not for his brother Buonarroto, who saved some money for him, Michelangelo would have suffered much. Michelangelo continued to support his father and other brothers being the only earning member of the family. After his favorite brother Buonarroto’s death, he supported his brother’s family as well.

He had many close friends who remained with him until the end. The prominent of them was Francesco Granacci. He was the one who brought him to Ghirlandaio as an apprentice. Michelangelo was fortunate with friendships; wherever he went he found reliable friends, despite being an introvert.

At the age of 15, he and Granacci joined as apprentices in the Medici garden under Bertoldo di Giovanni who was the disciple of the great artist, Donatello. Lorenzo de Medici, known as ‘The Magnificient’ (the unofficial leader of Florence), identified Michelangelo’s talent and asked him to live in his palace. Under the patronage of Lorenzo, many artists, philosophers and poets flourished. This made Florence a culturally rich city.

Lorenzo treated Michelangelo as his own son and made him learn under the ‘Plato four’ (an academy founded by the Medici to spread the ideas of Plato). The prominent philosophers in the academy influenced Michelangelo in his work and thoughts. This was where he learned to read and write poetry which later made him excel as a notable poet.

Michelangelo was always proud of his formative years in the Medici Palace and his connection with Plato four, although it lasted only for two years. He held all of the Medici family in high esteem. The philosophers, artists, architects, officers, and other prominent people he met at the Medici palace, helped him later at various occasions in his life.

Love Life

He had deep feelings for two ladies in his life but neither of them successful. His first love was with Contessina, daughter of ‘The Magnificent’ Lorenzo di Medici. Although knowing that his love wouldn’t succeed, they both had mutual feelings. When all the Medici family members were condemned to enter Florence by the Republican government, he was the only one who visited Contessina’s family for moral support.

His last love was Vittoria Colonna (marchioness of Pescara), a noblewoman and an established Renaissance poet. She was the wife of Marquis of Pescara and was widowed at a young age. She became a nun and took refuge in a convent in Rome. She influenced Michelangelo spiritually and remained his close friend until her death in 1547. Michelangelo admired her for her individuality and courage.

Another person who impressed Michelangelo was Tommaso dei Cavalieri, a handsome Italian nobleman from a well-respected family. 57-year-old master met Tommaso who was then 23. He was utterly smitten by the masculine beauty of Tommao (as he affectionately called him), and they both remained close until Michelangelo’s death. In fact, Tommao was the only person reported to have been present when the master died. Michelangelo never realized himself as homosexual before this relationship, and sure it kindled many criticisms in a place of extreme Christendom.

Tommao was an aspiring artist. Michelangelo’s sketches were the foundation of his training, and later the master trained him to become an architect. Tommaso remained a trustable friend till the end.

Be Brave and Stand-up for what is right

Though Michelangelo was very well known as an introvert and a self-isolated person, he never failed to stand up for what is right. He was brave enough to point out the faults even to the unchallenged Pontiffs, and high ranking officials like Governor. He had always been outspoken with his thoughts.

Photo by Kevia Tan on Unsplash (David by Michelangelo)

After completing his magnificent David statue in Florence, his fame spread through all over Italy, and a lot of commissions poured in. Soon after, he was called by Pope Julius to build a tomb for himself in an extravagant manner. Although Michelangelo was against building tombs, after some reluctance, he started working on the plan. His original plan consisted of — 40 more than life-size statues placed within a 3 storey building.

But Pope Julius II was more preferential towards artist Raphael and the architect Bramante providing them most of the funds for their projects. In great agony at the neglect, he returned to Florence without informing anyone and started working on his uncompleted projects there. Julius sent his soldiers twice and threatened Michelangelo to return to Rome. He never bulged.

The governor of Florence was afraid that the Pope might wage war against Florence if Michelangelo refused to return to Rome. Finally, beseeched by the Governor and other officials, Michelangelo agreed to meet the Pope in Bologna when he conquered it. Any other person disobeying a Pontiff would have been hanged immediately on those days. But guess what — the Pope was actually impressed by the stubbornness of Michelangelo and he ‘indirectly’ apologized to the Master for his negligence.

This has never happened before in the history of Rome. The pope immediately commissioned the master to do a Bronze statue of Julius II in Bologna to mark his victory. Michelangelo’s daring attitude impressed many young artists and his friends. They idolized him.

Later, while painting the Sistine ceiling, he had worked day-and-night without rest to complete almost 70% of the painting. This already took 4 years to complete and the Pope insisted on finishing it as soon as possible as he wanted to open it to the public and conduct the mass in Sistine Chapel before his demise. The master was adamant to finish the paintings to perfection and won’t give any timeline for the completion.

One day the 70-year old Pope climbed the high scaffolding to see the progress. Awestruck by the resplendent work, he ordered Michelangelo to wrap-up the work before All Hallows’ Eve. When he refused, the Pope struck the master with his cane, like any dad would beat his disobedient son. The 37-year old Michelangelo was abashed at the event. He climbed down the scaffolding forever and didn’t even attend the grand public opening of the Sistine Chapel.

His reputation rose after the Sistine painting and he was recognized as the greatest artist of his time. But his self-esteem wouldn’t allow him to meet Pope Julius II until his death next year.

The plan to rebuild St.Peter’s basilica started in 1505 with the plan of Bramante. Michelangelo was initially impressed by Bramante’s plan to build the grand Cathedral. But he was apprehensive in Bramante’s way of construction. He found that the proportion of cement to sand was completely wrong. He grumbled to Pope Julius II, and because the pope showed favoritism towards Bramante, he never listened to him seriously. Proving Michelangelo’s fears, the pillars of the building gave in very soon. When Raphael succeeded Bramante and did the same mistake as his teacher, Michelangelo complained again to the then Pope Leo X, and once more he was ignored. The corruption went unnoticed by the Papacy and a huge sum of money went down the drain.

Eventually, Michelangelo became the architect of the building in 1547, and within a few years, the progress of the Cathedral was immense. He built it according to Bramante’s original plan with few changes of his own. His only regret while on his death bed was not being able to view the completion of St.Peters Basilica. He died in 1564 finishing up to the drum of the dome, but the entire basilica was completed only in 1590.

It stills stands majestically as the architectural masterpiece of the great master who once lived and ruled the world of art.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is majorly based on the novel by Irving Stone ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy’ with some references from Wikipedia and other such sources. If you find any misleading information here, kindly accept my apologies and comment below. I will correct myself. Thanks for reading!