The artist as God
Excerpt from the book 'Michelangelo. Complete Works'
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Michelangelo's physique is vividly described by Condivi: "Michelangelo is of sound constitution; his body is sinewy and bony rather than fat and fleshy; it is healthy above all by nature and from physical exercise as well as his continence regarding sexual intercourse, as well as food; though in childhood he was very indisposed and sickly, and as a man he has had two serious illnesses." The extent to which Michelangelo agreed with this description is revealed by some recently published notes in the margin of Condivi's 1553 text: these notes can be traced back to Michelangelo himself and state, for example, that he considered sexual abstinence to be useful and the prerequisite of a long life.
Vasari, the painter and artist biographer who originated from Arezzo, also describes Michelangelo's austere way of life: "For example, as a young man he would be so intent on his work that he used to make do with a little bread and wine, and he was still doing the same when he grew old, until the time he painted the Last Judgement in the [Sistine] chapel, when he used to take his refreshment in the evening after the day's work was finished, but always very frugally. Although he became rich he lived like a poor man, and he rarely if ever invited his friends to eat at his table; nor would he ever accept gifts from anyone, because he feared that this would place him under some kind of permanent obligation. This sober way of life kept him very alert and in want of very little sleep, and very often, being unable to rest, he would get up at night and set to work with his chisel, wearing a hat made of thick paper with a candle burning over the middle of his head so that he could see what he was doing and have his hands free."Within this description, Vasari's mention of Michelangelo's candle-holding hat may be a little fanciful, but from an analysis of his bank account and from what we know about his household, the artist's frugal lifestyle is not difficult to reconstruct.
As is well known, Michelangelo's "trademark" was his squashed nose, the story of which is told by the Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571) in his celebrated autobiography. Cellini relates how fellow sculptor Pietro Torrigiani (1472–1528)—unlike Cellini, a declared opponent of Michelangelo—broke his rival's nose in a fight in the Florentine church of S. Maria del Carmine. Cellini repeats Torrigiani's version of events as follows: "This Buonarroti and I used to go along together when we were boys to study in Masaccio's chapel in the Church of the Carmine. Buonarroti had the habit of making fun of anyone else who was drawing there, and one day he provoked me so much that I lost my temper more than usual, and, clenching my fist, gave him such a punch on the nose that I felt the bone and cartilage crush like a biscuit. So that fellow will carry my signature till he dies."
Page [1] [2] [3]
Page [1] [2] [3]
Michelangelo's physique is vividly described by Condivi: "Michelangelo is of sound constitution; his body is sinewy and bony rather than fat and fleshy; it is healthy above all by nature and from physical exercise as well as his continence regarding sexual intercourse, as well as food; though in childhood he was very indisposed and sickly, and as a man he has had two serious illnesses." The extent to which Michelangelo agreed with this description is revealed by some recently published notes in the margin of Condivi's 1553 text: these notes can be traced back to Michelangelo himself and state, for example, that he considered sexual abstinence to be useful and the prerequisite of a long life.
Vasari, the painter and artist biographer who originated from Arezzo, also describes Michelangelo's austere way of life: "For example, as a young man he would be so intent on his work that he used to make do with a little bread and wine, and he was still doing the same when he grew old, until the time he painted the Last Judgement in the [Sistine] chapel, when he used to take his refreshment in the evening after the day's work was finished, but always very frugally. Although he became rich he lived like a poor man, and he rarely if ever invited his friends to eat at his table; nor would he ever accept gifts from anyone, because he feared that this would place him under some kind of permanent obligation. This sober way of life kept him very alert and in want of very little sleep, and very often, being unable to rest, he would get up at night and set to work with his chisel, wearing a hat made of thick paper with a candle burning over the middle of his head so that he could see what he was doing and have his hands free."Within this description, Vasari's mention of Michelangelo's candle-holding hat may be a little fanciful, but from an analysis of his bank account and from what we know about his household, the artist's frugal lifestyle is not difficult to reconstruct.
As is well known, Michelangelo's "trademark" was his squashed nose, the story of which is told by the Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571) in his celebrated autobiography. Cellini relates how fellow sculptor Pietro Torrigiani (1472–1528)—unlike Cellini, a declared opponent of Michelangelo—broke his rival's nose in a fight in the Florentine church of S. Maria del Carmine. Cellini repeats Torrigiani's version of events as follows: "This Buonarroti and I used to go along together when we were boys to study in Masaccio's chapel in the Church of the Carmine. Buonarroti had the habit of making fun of anyone else who was drawing there, and one day he provoked me so much that I lost my temper more than usual, and, clenching my fist, gave him such a punch on the nose that I felt the bone and cartilage crush like a biscuit. So that fellow will carry my signature till he dies."
Page [1] [2] [3]
Michelangelo, Complete Work
Hardcover, 29 x 44 cm (11.4 x 17.3 in.), 768 pages
$ 200.00
$ 200.00
Michelangelo's complete work — sculpture, painting, architecture, drawings
Giuliano de' Medici (detail), c. 1526-1534. (c) Aurelio Amendola, Pistoia