1475-1564

Italian Artist and Architect

Michelangelo was born on March 6 in the Republic of Florence. His father was a minor government official who at the time of Michelangelo's birth was administrator of the small town of Caprese. When Michelangelo was still very young, the family returned to its permanent residence in Florence. Michelangelo's father wished for him to pursue a career in banking, a longstanding family tradition. Despite his father's initial objections, Michelangelo was eventually permitted, at the age of 13, to become an artist-apprentice. This first apprenticeship, under prominent Florence painter Domenico Ghirlandajo, lasted only one year. After devoting his short apprenticeship to copying the works of earlier Florentine artists, such as Giotto, Michelangelo declared himself fully studied.

Already regarded in Florence as a gifted artist, Michelangelo was shortly thereafter granted patronage by Lorenzo de Medici. The Medici family was...