Ep. 159: Michelangelo – Top 5 Paintings

October 13, 2024 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

I’m Jans your Mnemonic Man and today's episode will be on one of the greatest artists of all time, the Renaissance man himself, Michelangelo.

Born in Caprese, Italy in 1475 Michelangelo made his mark primarily in painting and sculpture but was also proficient in architecture and poetry.

He was an apprentice to painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and over time caught the attention of the powerful Medici family in Florence.

Michelangelo is best known for his fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican, which was completed between 1508 and 1512. This, along with his iconic sculptures firstly David, a 17-foot marble statue representing the spirit of the city of Florence, and Pieta a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the dead Jesus.

But his talent didn’t stop there, later in life overseeing the building of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome which was eventually completed after his death. He lived to the remarkable age of 88 and along with Leonardi da Vinci became one of the most influential figures of the High Renaissance.

Today’s mnemonic will be on Michelangelo’s top 5 paintings (I will have to do his top 5 sculptors sometime in the future.)

So, with that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo_Daniele_da_Volterra_(dettaglio).jpg

Wikipedia Summary

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (Italian: [mikeˈlandʒelo di lodoˈviːko ˌbwɔnarˈrɔːti siˈmoːni]; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo (English: /ˌmaɪkəlˈændʒəloʊ, ˌmɪk-/[1]), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect,[2] and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci.[3]

Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era.[4][5]

Michelangelo achieved fame early. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before the age of 30. Although he did not consider himself a painter, Michelangelo created two of the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and The Last Judgment on its altar wall.

His design of the Laurentian Library pioneered Mannerist architecture.[6] At the age of 71, he succeeded Antonio da Sangallo the Younger as the architect of St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the Western end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification, after his death.

Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive.[3] Three biographies were published during his lifetime. One of them, by Giorgio Vasari, proposed that Michelangelo's work transcended that of any artist living or dead, and was "supreme in not one art alone but in all three."[7]

In his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called Il Divino ("the divine one").[8] His contemporaries admired his terribilità—his ability to instill a sense of awe in viewers of his art. Attempts by subsequent artists to imitate[9] the expressive physicality of Michelangelo's style contributed to the rise of Mannerism, a short-lived movement in Western art between the High Renaissance and the Baroque.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Creation_of_Adam,_Michelangelo_(1475%E2%80%931564),_circa_1511.jpg

Mnemonic

Michelangelo – Top 5 Paintings Mnemonic – CCaTTT

(Picture Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel with his trusty fat cat always by his side)

1. The Creation of Adam

2. Creation of Eve

3. The Last Judgment

4. The Crucifixion of St. Peter

5. The Great Flood

Five Fun Facts

1. Michelangelo started his career in art fraud. Yes, that’s right art fraud! In 1496, he made a sleeping cupid figure and treated it with acidic earth to have the piece appear aged. He then sold it to a dealer, Baldassare del Milanese, who in turn sold it to Cardinal Riario of San Giorgio. Riario ended up finding out about the scam through rumours but was so impressed with Michelangelo’s skill that he invited him to Rome for a meeting. Several years later he won the commission to carve the Pieta, which made his name as an artist.

2. Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, two of the biggest names and geniuses of Western art did not like each other. Both their competitive nature and artistic disagreements drove a wedge between them. Though underneath this deep hatred was a mutual respect and understanding of the others genius which drove the other along with their peers to greater heights.

3. Michelangelo was just 26 years old when he carved his most famous piece the statue of “David” between 1501 and 1504. Remarkably he was not the first to be commissioned for the project. Agostino di Duccio was commissioned firstly in 1464, who was then followed by Antonio Rossellino in 1475. Both artists in the end rejected the huge block of marble believing there were too many imperfections, which may have also threatened the stability of the statue. So, 25 years later Michelangelo took the same piece and after a further four years achieved his masterpiece the statue of “David.”

4. If you look very carefully at Michelangelo’s famous painting “The Last Judgement” you will see a self-portrait of Michelangelo. This unusually appears on the skin of St Bartholomew which is supposed to reference some of the heinous ways martyrs were slayed.

5. Another interesting fact about Michelangelo which illustrates his vengeful side is when he was working on his masterpiece “The Last Judgement.” Pope Paul III would often visit with his entourage of prelates. Among these prelates was Biagio da Cesena who was the pope’s Master of Ceremonies who would strongly protest against the volume of naked figures and affirmed that a fresco of that kind didn't deserve anything more than the wall of a bar.
Michelangelo’s response was to paint him in hell, as Minos, judge of souls, with two huge ass’s ears and a serpent intent on nibbling his genitals. When he complained to the pope, the pope responded that his jurisdiction did not cover hell! True story

Now, to another true story which happened when Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. So apparently one day, he was up there on the scaffolding painting the ceiling when he noticed an old lady kneeling on the pew, praying.

So, he thought he would have a bit of fun as the lady couldn’t see him and he called out “I am Jesus, hear me!”

Anyway, the woman doesn’t look up and continues to pray.

So, he said it even louder “I am Jesus, hear me!”

But again, the woman doesn’t look up and continues to pray.

So, Michelangelo shouts at the top of his lungs “I am Jesus, hear my word!”

So, the woman finally turned around, looked up, and she pointed to her rosary beads, and said “Shut up! I’m talking to your mother!”

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo,_David.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Where in Italy was Michelangelo born?

Q.2. Which pope commissioned Michelangelo to paint “The Sisteen Chapel Ceiling?”

Q.3. What century was Michelangelo born? And what century did he die?

Bonus Q. What was the only work that Michelangelo ever signed? Options are “Pieta,” “The Last Judgement,” or “The Creation of Adam”

Mnemonic Recap

Michelangelo – Top 5 Paintings Mnemonic – CCaTTT

(Picture Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel with his trusty fat cat always by his side)

1. The Creation of Adam

2. Creation of Eve

3. The Last Judgment

4. The Crucifixion of St. Peter

5. The Great Flood

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. Where in Italy was Michelangelo born?

A. Caprese (next to Florence) or Florence

Q.2. Which pope commissioned Michelangelo to paint “The Sisteen Chapel Ceiling?”

A. Pope Julius II in 1508. Apparently, he forced him to accept the commission

Q.3. What century was Michelangelo born? And what century did he die?

A. Born in the 15th century and died in the 16th century (1475 to 1564)

Bonus Q. What was the only work that Michelangelo ever signed? Options are “Pieta,” “The Last Judgement,” or “The Creation of Adam”

A. “Pieta” Apparently, he signed it when he overheard someone remark that it was the work of another artist. He regretted this outburst of pride and swore never again to sign another of his works

Word of the Week

assiduously

[ uh-sij-oo-uhs-lee ]

adverb

with careful and consistent effort; diligently

Example

Michelangelo worked away assiduously over his long career to produce approximately 42 sculptures, 48 paintings, and more than 300 poems.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

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