A Chronolgy of Michelangelo's Life |
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Source: "Michelangelo, life, letters, poetry",
George Bull, Oxford University Press,
2008, pp xx-xxiv
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1475 Born: Michelangelo (Michelangiolo di
March 6 Lodovico di Lionardo di Buonarroto
Simoni) born 6 March in Caprese,
near Arezzo (today, Caprese Michelangelo).
He was the second of five children.
His father was then podesta of Caprese
and Chiusi; his mother, Francesca di
Neri di Miniato de! Sera, died when
he was 6.
1488 April 1: Apprenticed to Domenico and Davide
Ghirlandaio for a period of three years.
1489-90 Continued his studies in the Medici garden
museum, near San Marco, under Bertoldo
di Giovanni, sculptor and pupil of
Donatello. Befriended by Lorenzo the
Magnificent.
1492 April 8: On the death of Lorenzo, Michelangelo
returned home but later was asked to
live in the Casa de' Medici and work for
Piero.
I494 Quit Florence for Venice and Bologna,
where he stayed with the Bolognese nobleman,
Gianfrancesco Aldo-vrandi.
I494 Nov 9: Expulsion of Piero de' Medici from
Florence.
1495 Michelangelo went back to Florence.
1496 June 25: Michelangelo arrived in Rome where he
stayed till 1501, enjoying the patronage
of Cardinal Raffaele Riario, Jacopo Galli,
and Cardinal Jean Bilheres de Lagraulas. · .11
1497- To Carrara for first time to quarry marble
1501 for the Pieta (the Madonna delta Febbre).
July: death of his step-mother, Lucrezia.
The main known works of this period were
the Madonna of the Steps; Battle of the
Centaurs; Hercules; wooden Crucifix for
Santo Spirito; three small marble statues
for the tomb of St Dominic; St John;
Sleeping Cupid; Bacchus; the Pieta.
1501 Michelangelo returned to Florence, now a
Republic under Soderini. Statues
commissioned for the Piccolomini altar
in Siena cathedral.
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1503 Election and death of Pius III. Election
of Julius II. Michelangelo commissioned to
make twelve statues of Apostles for
Santa Maria del Fiore.
15054-8 Michelangelo was summoned to Rome by Julius
and commissioned to build his tomb, and
fled to Bologna. Julius secured his
services in Bologna and then in Rome
where he was commissioned to paint the
vault of the Sistine chapel, after the
abandonment of the original project for
the tomb.
1512 The Medici came back to rule Florence.
Uncovering of the vault of the Sistine
chapel.
1513 February 20/21 : Death of Julius II.
Election of Leo X, second son of
Lorenzo the Magnificent. Michelangelo
signed a contract for the tomb with
the Della Rovere heirs of Julius.
1516 Second contract for the tomb of Julius II.
1518 Contract from Pope Leo for th; facade
of San Lorenzo in Florence, the Medici
family church, subsequently abandoned
for (probably) lack of funds.
1520 Plans for the Medici Chapel, the New
Sacristry of San Lorenzo.
1521 December 1st; death of Leo X.
1522-3 Election and death of Adrian VI.
Election 19 November 1523 of Clement VII,
Giulio de' Medici, grandson of Lorenzo
the Magnificent.
1524 Michelangelo worked on the Medici tombs,
the new Sacristry, and the Laurentian Library.
1527-9 May 6th: sack of Rome by mutinous Imperial
troops. The Medici were expelled from
Florence, Michelangelo elected to the
Nooe della Miliiizia (10 January 1529)
fled from and returned to Florence,
to resume his position as Governor for
the fortifications. His brother
Buonarroto died of the plague.
1530 August 12th: capitulation-and end-of
the Republic of Florence. Michelangelo
pardoned by Pope Clement VII.
1531 Michelangelo's father died.
May 1st: Alessandro de' Medici made
Duke of Florence.
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1532 New (third) contract for the tomb of
Julius II. Michelangelo's (probable)
first meeting with Tommaso Cavalieri.
1534 September 20th: after making brief visits
to Rome from 1532, Michelangelo went to
live there for good. Death of Clement VII.
These years, starting with the swift ascent
of Michelangelo to fame in Florence and
marked by political turmoil in Italy and
his agonizing over the tomb of Julius,
yielded chiefly: the giant marble statue
of David; the Doni Tondo; the Bruges Madonna;
the cartoon for the Battle of Cascina
(in competition with Leonardo da Vinci);
the Pitti Tondo and the Taddei Tondo; the
bronze statue of Julius II; the vault of
the Sistine chapel; the Moses, the two Slaves,
or Captives, the architectural frame, and
the Victory for the tomb of Julius II;
the Leda and the Swan; the Risen Christ
in marble; the four Florentine Slaves for
the tomb; the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo
and the Medici Tombs with uatucs of Lorenzo
and Giulano de' Medici, of Night and Day, Dawn
and Dusk; the Laurentian Library with its
projected vestibule staircase-not finished
for many years.
1534 October 13th: election of Paul III,
humanist and reformer and protagonist
of the Counter-Reformation. Michelangelo
to decorate the end walls of the Sistine
chapel, as already agreed with Clement VII.
1535 Michelangelo appointed chief sculptor,
painter, and architect to the Pope.
1536 Michelangelo started work on the Last
Judgement fresco in the Sistine Chapel.
About now, he met Vittoria Colonna,
widow of' the Marquis of Pescara, for
the first time. A Papal motu proprio
exempted him from the penalties for
not fulfilling the contract for the
tomb of Julius.
1537 Cosimo de' Medici became ruler of Florence.
1541 October 31st: Last Judgement uncovered and
(25 December) on show to the public.
1542-5 Work on the frescos of the Pauline chapel.
Last contract for the tomb of Julius II
(February 1545). Vittoria, and Michelangelo
\himself were seriously ill during these
years and his fondly admired young Cecchino
Bracci died.
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1546 Michelangelo made a Roman citizen. Death of
his close friend Luigi de! Riccio and of
the architect Antonio da Sangallo the
Younger.
1547 January 1st: Michelangelo was appointed
architect of St Peter's. Death of Vittoria
Colonna and of Sebastiano del Piombo.
1548 January 9th: death of Giovan Simone,
Michelangelo's brother.
1549 November 10: death of Paul III, shortly
after he had conferred on Michelangelo
the title of supreme architect of St Peter's
and viewed the nearly complete fresco
of the Martyrdom of St Peter in the
Pauline chapel.
During these fifteen years taking Michelangelo to
his midseventies and a serious illness from gall
stones, he chiefly: decorated Paul Ill's private
chapel with the two frescos of the Conversion of
St Paul and the Crucifixion of St Peter; worked on
the bust of Brutus; completed the Farnese Palace;
and began planning the Roman Capitol and St Peter's.
His friendship with Tommaso Cavalieri and his
acquaintance with Vittoria Colonna inspired
an outpouring of verse.
1550 February 8th: election of Julius III.
Publication of the first edition of
the Lives (culminating with the Life of
Michelangelo) by Giorgio Vasari.
1553 Michaelangelo's nephew Lionardo married
Cassandra di Donato Ridolfi. Ascanio
Condivi's Life of Michelangelo published
in July.
1554 Birth ofa son, Buonarroto, to Lionardo
and Cassandra.
1555 March 23: death of Julius III. Pope
Marcellus II reigned for about two weeks
and the rigorous, austere Paul IV was
elected on 23 May. Michelangelo was
affected by the death of his brother,
Sigismondo, and, very deeply, by that
of his friend and servant Urbino
(Francesco d' Amadore).
1559 August19th : death of Paul IV and
(25 December) election of a magnificent
patron of the arts, Pius IV.
1563 Michelangelo was elected an academician
(the second after the Duke) of the
Florentine Accademia del Disegno.
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1564 February 18th: death of Michelangelo
in his home at Macel de' Corvi. He was
88.
In his seventies, Michelangelo was chiefly engaged
in performing his duties as architect of St Peter's;
but his deepening versatility found expression also
in: architectural projects for the church of San
Giovanni dei Fiorentini and for the Cortile del
Belvedere; the Pieta of Santa Maria del Fiore;
the Rondanini Pieta, many strong drawings of
religious subjects; and, at the last (before the
final reworking of the Rondanini Pieta) plans
for rebuilding the gates of Rome and reconstructing
the Baths of Diocletian.
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