Masters of the MasterThe Influential Forces Behind Michelangelo

Erin WilcoxProfessor H. Zakin

ART 350 – Italian Renaissance Art11/24/07

Table of Contents

Pg. 1 – Cover Page

Pg. 2 – Table of Contents

Pg. 3 - 6 – Thesis Statement and Paper Outline

Pg. 6 – 15 – Masters of the Master: The Influences of Michelangelo

Pg. 16 – 19 – Annotated Bibliography

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Thesis Statement

Michelangelo Bounarroti has always been known as one of the most famous

Renaissance painters because of his artistic virtuosity and wide variety of paintings and

sculpture. But just what factors played a part in giving Michelangelo the inspiration he

needed to make such renowned masterpieces? What figures and artistic styles had the

most drastic effect on his paintings and sculptures?

Introduction

a) Discussion of some of Michelangelo’s still famous works of art, including

the paintings upon the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, as well as his

numerous sculptures and other painted works.

b) His peculiarities as an artist will also be discussed in this part of the essay,

to show what it was about Michelangelo that separated him from the other

artists of the Renaissance and why he is thought to be superior to most of

the others, by both modern day scholars and his contemporaries.

II. Body

a) I will give a brief history of how he came to start painting, and what his

first works were and why he painted these subject matters to begin with.

This will lead into the influences that came to him later on in life, when he

had already evolved into a famous artist.

i. I will see if perhaps Michelangelo was first influenced by a family

member; many times during the Renaissance, artistry was a

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hereditary and familial practice, so this may have been the cause of

his creativity and immense skill.

b) I will discuss how he could have potentially been influenced by other

artists who were painting during his prime, including the equally famous

Leonardo DiVinci. Though during these times art was a competitive

occupation (as it is in modern times as well,) artists often had a dramatic

effect upon one another whether they were aware of it or not. I will

analyze how he could have potentially been influenced by Leonardo’s

experimental works of art, as well as art pieces done by other artists that

were Michelangelo’s contemporaries.

i. Vasari’s interest in Michelangelo’s works could provide some

insight into what he saw in Michelangelo’s attitude and artworks

since he was alive during Michelangelo’s time, and was a large

supporter of the artist himself.

c) I will look closely at the amount of religious themes that Michelangelo

chose for his countless Christian pieces of artwork, and theorize why it is

he may have painted certain figures and events taking place, and whether

they were of his own choice or the vision of patrons that he was

attempting to appease with his works.

i. I will look into who his primary patrons were, who idolized his

artwork and how they may have had a role in what he painted and

sculpted during his lifetime.

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ii. I will also research into what his lifestyle was like, and if religion

was an important aspect in Michelangelo’s every life and how it

might have had a powerful effect upon him and his creations.

d) It has also been theorized that Michelangelo was influenced by subjects

that weren’t religious at all, but instead were secular and of more

commonplace figures. I will analyze why it is he may have shifted to these

alternate subjects, and what he was attempting to accomplish by painting

and sculpting them.

i. I will also do a comparison of Michelangelo’s artwork to the

artwork of other artists during his time period that created the same

subject matter, and why Michelangelo’s piece might have gained

more fame than the other.

III. Conclusion

In the conclusion I will take some time to sum up everything that I

have argued in my essay about the primary influences that had some

bearing over Michelangelo’s artwork, and how they helped form the

famous pieces that exist today. I will call into evidence everything

that I have analyzed by both comparing artworks and reading the

writings of both modern time and from during Michelangelo’s

contemporaries as well.

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Michelangelo is one of the most famous artists of all time, with many

masterpieces attributed to him such as the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which remains

one of his most well-known projects. Michelangelo, however, like all other artists did not

create his artwork simply from spontaneous inspiration or invention. He was influenced

by many different factors such as religion and other philosophies that were actively

practiced in society. His art and even his writings show these influences and can be

noticed thanks to certain aspects of his works.

One major influence on Michelangelo’s artwork was the writings of Dante, who

was among the other philosophers that he studied in his youth. Robert Liebert describes

its strong hold over him well: “In addition to all this, Michelangelo was familiar, from his

youthful days among the Neoplatonic philosophers at the Medici Gardens, with Pico

della Mirandola’s attempt to reconcile the Christian and pagan worlds…” (Liebert, 352)

It is very evident from this passage that Michelangelo spent a lot of time contemplating

the different viewpoints and ideas of the different philosophers of this era. It is expressed

in numerous works that Michelangelo took many of their ideas to heart and used them in

his written works of art, implementing these ideas in his poetry. Dante’s writings, such as

the Divine Comedy and the most famous part of it which is called The Inferno, were

centralized around religious themes, and Christianity was also a primary subject of

Michelangelo’s artwork. Though Dante was more highly thought of as a prevalent poet as

opposed to a philosopher, the Christian symbolism in his works appear to have had a

profound effect on Michelangelo nonetheless.

Liebert takes a particular interest in Michelangelo’s emphasis in his religious

paintings. For instance, he places importance on a lesser known religious figure in his

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piece, The Last Judgment. Saint Bartholomew is featured as a prominent person in this

artwork even though in Christianity he was thought of as a less important figure

compared to the other saints. This choice on the part of Michelangelo indicates that

perhaps Michelangelo had some fascination with the lesser known Biblical figures who

were not commonly represented. (Liebert, 343 - 344)

Among Michelangelo’s influences as a writer were Petrarch and St. Augustine,

who played a major role in Michelangelo’s own development as a writer. “Of

Michelangelo’s major sources it is Petrarch who most influences him in his critique of

neoplatonism as well as of the schematic idealism of the scholastics.” (Mussio, 347)

Mussio describes how these two different authors caused conflicts in Michelangelo’s

beliefs because of their very different writings. Michelangelo was obviously very

interested in the beliefs of the neoplatonic followers of the age. He developed a strong

interest in Petrarch’s writings since they were so heavily focused on this philosophical

belief. But there was also conflict within Michelangelo’s own life that was caused by his

reading of St. Augustine’s works. In some ways, Michelangelo was able to relate to some

of the saint’s own struggles with Christianity because of his own, at times, troubled life

and past: “Michelangelo’s repeated expression of doubt and hesitation concerning

conversion recalls Augustine’s own resistance to grace in Book VIII of Confessions when

he struggles against insidious voices within his memory that inhibit him from turning

fully to God.” (Mussio, 353) In this passage, Mussio makes a striking argument that

Michelangelo was an individual who struggled with deep-rooted conflicts, but he found

solace while reading St. Augustine’s works, and realizing that even such a holy man

struggled with coming to terms with the divine power that ruled over him. Mussio

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supports his argument that within Michelangelo was a sense of religious warfare by

examining his writings thoroughly. Michelangelo’s works suggest that perhaps

Michelangelo was convinced that God was either absent from the world, or was for the

most part gone and had just left portions of Himself behind in the world He had created.

(Mussio, 353) Mussio’s arguments shed some light on the internal considerations of the

artist himself, since Michelangelo’s many religious paintings suggest to the viewer that

Michelangelo had a strong Christian faith, while he was actually influenced by other

philosophies at the same time and was combating his own doubts about the strength of

Christianity.

Michelangelo’s rendition of The Last Judgment, however, has been a topic of

debate, thanks to the ambiguous symbolism within the piece itself. There have been

theories that all of the aspects of the piece aren’t strictly Christian in nature. The Last

Judgment is a prominent portion of Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine chapel, and

according to Valorie Shrimplin-Evangelidis’s essay, Michelangelo as well as other artists

were highly influenced by the heliocentric view of the universe which had been

introduced by Copernicus: “In assessing sixteenth-century attitudes toward the

heliocentric view, the traditional, Christian, symbolic attitude toward the Sun must be

taken into account.” (Shrimplin-Evangelidis, 624) She uses a diagram in her essay to

demonstrate how this scientific principle played a prominent role in the organization of

Michelangelo’s pieces. Using straight lines that all extend outwards from the figure of

Christ, it becomes very obvious that Michelangelo made Christ the centric figure in his

artwork. All the figures and events taking place around him create a frame around him

since he is the judge of those who are gathered around him.

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Though the subject itself is frequently depicted in Renaissance Christian artwork,

Michelangelo seems more interested than other artists in relating the developing

principles of science to the beliefs of Christianity where they parallel one another. For

instance, much of the Bible concentrates on the instruction that followers of Christianity

make themselves humble and put forth much of their energy towards God and Jesus

Christ, since they are the true force that guides universe, instead of placing their faith and

energy entirely on themselves. Copernicus, however, first revealed that the Earth is the

one revolving around the Sun, not the other way around. This made all of the egocentric

theories, both those related to religion and to humanity itself, suddenly humbled when the

scientists and clergy of this time period suddenly realized that the earth was no different

than any other celestial body, and was dependent upon a distant star, the sun.

Michelangelo gives attention to the fact that humans are more dependent upon the

graces and power of the higher authorities in Christianity, specifically Jesus Christ in his

Last Judgment painting, instead of attempting to explain Man’s existence and prosperity

through any purely scientific means. Michelangelo’s portrayal of Hell illustrates the

consequences of those who believed that humans were self-sustaining. If they turned

away from the saving power of Jesus in order to embrace more self-centered practices

and beliefs, they were sentenced to eternal damnation. Michelangelo’s choice of

dedicating so much time to show this parallel in his work is a fascinating revelation,

because of his own research into the different religious and secular writings of his time

period and how he was influenced by them both, and how both aspects of his research

came to fruition in this piece of his.

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It is arguable that Michelangelo perhaps was attempting to come to terms with his

own beliefs and what he truly dedicated himself to in this work, as well as others by him,

that contain characteristics of both science and religion. Perhaps he was trying to

experiment with how they could conflict and coincide with one another and was

attempting to find a certain middle ground for himself among all of the conflicting

religious, philosophical and scientific beliefs that he had come to embrace throughout

time. Michelangelo’s Last Judgment supports this notion because of his choice to frame

Christ in a circular fashion by the figures around him, which is similar in appearance to

Copernicus’s sketches of the Earth and planets revolving around the sun.

Michelangelo’s works were also influenced by the works of other artists who

were his contemporaries, as well as themes in art that were common in this era such as

copying some of the styles developed by the Romans. Nicholas Wadley notes these

telling characteristics in his observations of one of Michelangelo’s sculptures titled

Madonna of the Stairs: “There is also an echo of Donatello in the way the playful, fat

children intensify by contrast to the solemnity of the Virgin.” (Wadley, 38) Wadley

indicates in this passage that Michelangelo’s arrangement of this particular piece was

very similar to the way the sculptor Donatello organized his pieces with regard to placing

a strong emphasis on the contrast of the subjects. This particular piece by Michelangelo is

also unique in the fact that, unlike the countless other pieces focused around the Virgin

Mary, Michelangelo depicts her breast-feeding the Christ child as she looks upon the

cherubim-like figures on the stairs. He appears to have done this in order to show her

strength as a motherly figure towards Christ instead of just emphasizing her religious

significance through her massive size. He wasn’t the first to portray Mary in such a way;

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other artists had conveyed Mary breast-feeding the Christ child, but during

Michelangelo’s time portraits of her were usually of her enthroned and majestic, not

acting as a normal human mother. In this way his portrayal of her in this piece was an

interesting choice on his part.

And of course, Michelangelo’s obvious Roman influences can very easily be

detected in his other sculptures, such as the famous David. Like many Roman sculptures

there is distinct attention paid to make the boy’s physique perfect, as well as the

contrapposto pose that is common in Roman art. This observation can also be said,

however, about many of Michelangelo’s pieces. He seems fascinated with anatomy and

created many paintings and sculptures where the figures are either completely nude or

hardly clothed at all, and there is a large amount of attention given to the perfection of

their bodies. The Romans were also obsessed with portraying an element of perfection in

their sculptures, and their influence was strong in many other Renaissance painters other

than Michelangelo.

Michelangelo’s upbringing, however, much be taken into account as well. There’s

no doubt he met with a steady tide of resistance from his father, Lodovico, who did not

want Michelangelo to become an artist. Because Lodovico’s eldest son Lionardo was

leaning towards becoming a part of the clergy, Lodovico was relying on Michelangelo to

assume the role of the head of the household when he passed on, and he was not able to

see Michelangelo as capable of doing so as an artist. (Morgan, 28) Charles Morgan

summarizes Lodovico’s dilemma rather nicely in his book covering Michelangelo’s life

and works: “A Florentine artist was a craftsman who worked for hire with his hands, a

scandalous trade for any member of the house of Buonarroti-Simoni…More and more it

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was bore in on fretful Lodovico that independent Michelangelo must one day assume the

headship of the family; and for him to do so as an artist was quite unthinkable.” (Morgan,

28) Morgan’s observation makes it painfully clear that Michelangelo’s natural talent was

not welcomed in his family, since his father had other visions for his future. Lodovico’s

insistance for Michelangelo to assume his role as head of the family, however, did not

come to pass though it was his wish and the wish of Michelangelo’s uncles. Though he

believed Michelangelo’s pursuit of becoming a renowned artist was foolish, Lodovico’s

resistance against Michelangelo’s desire to become an artist were short-lived, and when

Michelangelo turned thirteen, Lodovico begrudgedly handed Michelangelo over to the

artist Ghirlandaio to train under him. (Morgan, 29) Though Lodovico was very much

against Michelangelo’s choice of profession, in the end he was the one who allowed him

to become the apprentice of a master artist, and so he played a large role in

Michelangelo’s raise to artistic virtuosity.

Michelangelo was also known to make sculptures and painting of religious

subjects, but not necessary Biblical ones. An exmaple is his acclaimed piece, Pieta, which

is a sculpture that portrays a large figure of Mary seated and holding the lax, dead body

of her Son Jesus Christ. Michelangelo wasn’t the only one to create something on this

subject, but it proves that Michelangelo may have been in support of the Gospel

surrounding the figure of Mary that was incredibly prevalent in the Renaissance, or at the

very least was interested in the obsession many artists had with her. It is just as possible

that he was exposed to many portraits of Mary when he was young, and it became a

fixation of his when he grew into an artist. Even though Mary wasn’t a prominent figure

in the Bible itself, she had become a focus of many Renaissance paintings that

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Michelangelo would have been exposed to throughout his life, and this obviously played

a role in some of the choices that he made in his religious paintings. Hirst and Dunkerton

describe Michelangelo’s undertaking of this sculpture in their examination of the piece:

“Michelangelo’s group constitutes a kind of monumental summation of this long-

standing tradition in the treatment of a subject that is not a narrative, exceptionally

appropriate for the art of the sculptor.” (Hirst and Dunkerton, 52) Michelangelo may have

been interested in subjects that revolved around the figure of Mary, which is why in this

piece he made her such a massive figure. This implication of Mary’s importance also is

supported by the fact that the dead body of Christ is significantly smaller than his

mother’s, even though he is a grown man and she would have been an aging woman by

this time in the Biblical chronology. But instead, Michelangelo portrays Mary as being a

beautiful and calm young woman who is cradling a dead son who looks older than she is.

Of course, Michelangelo may have created this image in this way because of the

patron’s specific request, or because it was so common to make Mary the most important

figure in the hierarchical scale of religious paintings and sculptures. As to why he placed

so much emphasis on her in some of his pieces will perhaps remain a mystery; it is not

clearly evident if it was simple a religious motif he wanted to continue, or a religious

belief that he wanted top represent artistically. It cannot be said which was the prominent

factor, or if it could have been both that influenced him. All that can be derived is that

either way he had a distinct fascination with Mary’s eminence and religious role in the

life of Christ, otherwise other religious figures would probably have been more common

in his works.

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One last comparison must be made between Michelangelo’s works, and that of

another very famous Renaissance painter: Leonardo da Vinci, who was known as the

“Renaissance Man” because of his overwhelming talents in numerous fields, including

art, sketches, plans for inventions, and so forth. Michelangelo and Leonardo were

contemporaries in the early sixteenth century, and because of this were exposed to the art

of each another. Both artists created a wide variety and large amount of artistic sketches

of figures that were just musings of their own, or sometimes were sketches of

commissioned works that they were attempting to plan. Both seemed interested in

drawing out their ideas long before they put their ideas onto a canvas. Leonardo and

Michelangelo also created paintings of very similar themes as well: Leonardo da Vinci

created a work entitled The Virgin and the Child with Saint Anne, a piece that portrays

the Christ child holding onto a lamb for support when his mother loses her grip on him.

Louis Waldman describes Leonardo’s painting in a way that can then be compared to a

work Michelangelo created around the same time of Leonardo’s piece: “And these

figures are life-size, but they are in a small cartoon, because they are either seated or

bending over, and one is placed somewhat in front of another as they move from left to

right.” (Waldman, 33) Waldman points out that Leonardo composed his piece so that the

viewer’s eye would have to make a particular movement across the canvas from one

figure to the next, and Michelangelo’s piece of a similar scene utilizes this same kind of

dimension but in a slightly different way. Michelangelo’s piece was called The Holy

Family. His painting technique was vastly different from Leonardo’s trademark sfumato,

which he used to create a smoky effect in his paintings. But the figures in the painting are

still arranged in a pattern so that the eyes of the viewer will move in a designated way

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from one figure to the next. Michelangelo uses a similar system except in a triangular

order. The viewer observes Mary first, who is positioned the most forward in the

painting, and her arms lead the viewer to see the young Christ child, who is seated up

upon her shoulder. Christ’s small arms then lead the viewer to look to Joseph, who is

positioned behind them both and seems to act as a physical support for both the figures of

Mary and Christ. Both Michelangelo and Leonardo took an interest in making their

paintings balanced and arranged in an order so that their work could literally take control

of the gaze of the viewer.

Michelangelo’s works will always remain ambiguous to those who observe and

study them, thanks in part to the countless different figures, writings, and other artistic

works that influenced him during his lifetime. Although it may be impossible to identify

each and every single factor that brought life into his paintings and sculptures, these

examples in the essay above are some of the ideas and inspirations that Michelangelo

would have been exposed to and could have easily played a role in his artistic choices and

contemplations.

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Annotated Bibliography

Franklin, David, ed. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and the Renaissance in Florence.

Ottawa: Yale University Press, 2005.

This composition is made up of three large essays each composed by a different author

(David Franklin, Louis Waldman, and Andrew Butterfield.) This book will discuss

Michelangelo more within the context of the Italian Renaissance in general and alongside

some of his fellow famous artists of that era. Instead of directly speaking about

Michelangelo and his life, it places him within the artistic movement he was famous

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within and through time until today, and this will reveal what was going on during his

time period that might have influenced some of his art pieces.

Hirst, Michael and Jill Dunkerton. Making and Meaning: The Young Michelangelo.

Great Britain: National Gallery Publications Limited, 1994.

This book was made to accompany an art exhibition, which was originally held in late

1994-early 1995 at The National Gallery in London. This book focuses largely on

Michelangelo’s sculptures and religious artwork, including many of the pieces that are

centered on Jesus Christ (both his life, death and resurrection.) This book is an excellent

source to look more into how religious influenced Michelangelo’s artwork and will tell

the reader more about the kinds of people who commissioned his work during the

Renaissance. The book is very detailed and even gives photographs of different angles of

certain pieces so they can be analyzed closely.

Liebert, Robert S. Michelangelo – A Psychoanalytical Study of his Life and Images. New

Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1983.

Liebert’s psychoanalytical insight into the workings of Michelangelo will help me to

understand perhaps why some things inspired him and what they were, as well as

identifying where these influences were derived from. The book will hopefully aid the

reader in seeing what Michelangelo’s mindset might have been like around this era, with

everything that he was exposed to and taught. Liebert’s book also delves into some

interesting subjects, including analysis of his relationship with his family members and

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with other artists of his time, which could further give me some ideas as to who and what

gave him inspiration throughout his lifetime.

Michelangelo. The Creation of Adam. Available

http://www.case.edu/med/reprobiol/images/michelangelo-creation-adam-.jpg [Accessed

24 November 2007.] [Cover Page Image].

Michelangelo. Pieta – Detailed Shot. Available

http://www.abcgallery.com/M/michelangelo/michelangelo6.html [Accessed 24

November 2007.] [Cover Page Image].

Morgan, Charles. Life of Michelangelo. United States of America: Reynal & Company,

Inc. 1960.

This book captured my interest because of the way that the author arranged the individual

chapters of the book; he divides the sections beginning from Michelangelo’s birth and

then moving through the different stages of his life (Youth, Early Manhood, Middle

Years, and Later years) and also gives special attention to some of the larger projects that

Michelangelo accomplished in his lifetime. The book discusses artwork that was

commissioned by religious groups as well as powerful patrons of the art such as the

Medici family. Since the book also talks about the different political movements that

moved through Florence during Michelangelo’s life, it could also potentially show how

his artworks may have been influenced by political preferences and trends.

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Mussio, Thomas E. “The Augustinian Conflict in the Lyrics of Michelangelo:

Michelangelo Reading Petrarch.” Italica, Vol. 74, No. 3 (Autumn, 1997), pp. 339-359.

Accessed on JSTOR: 08 October 2007. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-

3020%28199723%2974%3A3%3C339%3ATACITL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-7

Mussio takes a new approach in analyzing the influence of Petrarch’s ideas on

Michelangelo, and how the writings of St. Augustine could have had a strong bearing

over Michelangelo’s artworks. This essay helps support the ties between Michelangelo’s

art pieces and religion, through more careful analysis than simply looking at the themes

of the artwork. It delves more into the religious exposure that Michelangelo engaged in

during his lifetime and where his religious influences may have come from, and who his

primary sources of inspiration were. Mussio’s essay makes an interesting tie between

writings done during this era and Michelangelo’s famous pieces, which is not commonly

found in other texts with such detail.

Shrimplin-Evangelidis, Valerie. “Sun-Symbolism and Cosmology in Michelangelo’s Last

Judgment.” Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter 1990), pp. 607-644.

Accessed on JSTOR: 08 October 2007. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org.sici?sici=0361-

0160%28199024%2921%3A4%3C607%3ASACIML%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4

This essay takes a fresh approach towards Michelangelo’s artwork by analyzing “The

Last Judgment” and comparing it to the scientific developments of Copernicus. The essay

edges away from discussing Michelangelo’s pieces in a fully religious way and takes a

closer look at what he may have been contemplating when he created this piece, and what

secular influences may have been present when he was in an inspired state of mind.

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Shrimplin-Evangelidis closely analyzes writings and evidence that perhaps

Michelangelo’s painting had more of a Classical influence and is more comparable to the

Greek deities than Christianity, a sharp contrast to the seemingly obvious Christian

themes of Michelangelo’s paintings, sculptures, and other art pieces.

Wadley, Nicholas. Michelangelo. Czechoslovakia: Spring Books. 1967.

Wadley’s composition about Michelangelo has given me some interesting insight about

Michelangelo by giving me some examples of what others thought of Michelangelo’s

work. Wadley has compiled some excerpts of writings by Michelangelo’s

contemporaries, and what they saw within his work. Wadley’s book also illustrates a vast

variety of different artworks created by Michelangelo, from some of his early sketches to

his more massive and famous pieces. There are even a few writings by Michelangelo

speaking about himself, which might allow me to understand more of what he thought of

himself and his artistry.

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