Written by Jaivir Dhingra, a grade 5 student.

If you travel to Italy you cannot miss seeing the famous paintings and sculptors present there. Do you know the man behind some of these famous sculptures and paintings?

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known best as simply Michelangelo, was a renowned Italian sculptor, painter, and architect of the Renaissance period (Renaissance means “re-birth”). It was a period when European art, culture, economy, and politics bloomed.

Here is his story:

Michelangelo was born on the  6^th of March, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. When he was just six years old his mother, Francesca Neri passed away. He was raised in a family of a stonecutter and grew up with the noises of chisels and hammers.

Do you know he was not very interested in studies? In fact, he used to skip school to watch painters paint the nearby churches. His father soon realized his passion for art, so, at the age of 13, his father sent him to do his training with a well-known` painter. There he learnt the art of fresco painting ( painting on wet lime plaster).

He was so passionate about his art that it made him study human anatomy on dead bodies. This helped him to depict detailed muscles in his paintings and sculptures. All this knowledge helped him in making incredible paintings and sculptures.  Some of his famous sculptures are La Pietà and David. His famous paintings include The Last Judgement and paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Interestingly, Michelangelo did not like to be referred to as a painter, but, instead, a sculptor. If someone called him a painter he used to feel offended. In fact, when he used to sign off his letters he would write, “Michelangelo, Sculptor in Rome!”

Now he rests in Florence, at his chosen place of burial. Today, many people travel to Italy to see the magnificent artwork of Michelangelo. He is referred to as “Father and master of all the arts”.

Written by Jaivir Dhingra, a grade 5 student.

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