Today is the birthday of Michelangelo Buonarroti, though you probably know him better as simply Michelangelo. He's the prolific, profoundly talented renaissance artist whose works in religious art and architecture are unrivaled. He's been called one of the greatest artists of all time. Buonarroti was such a prodigy that not only would he become known by his first name alone, but would often be called Il Divino, meaning 'the divine one'. Here are eight of his greatest works in pictures.
1. The Doni Tondo (The Holy Family)
The Doni Tondo is a colourful imagination of an infant Jesus being raised with his mother Mary and father Joseph. It is Michelangaelo's only surviving panel painting.
2. The Creation of Adam
The legacy of this work, part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, cannot be overestimated. Its iconic depiction of the meeting of God and man is a defintive part of the western religious landscape.
3. Moses
Michelangelo was commissioned with a sculpted depiction of Moses, and this was the result. Its standout feature, apart from its elegance, is the fact that Moses has horns. This isn't just a classical embellishment, but is actually based on an earlier Latin translation of the Hebrew in Exodus 34. Most biblical scholars would now say that Moses probably didn't have horns, but Moses is still magnificent.
4. The Last Judgement
This famous, fiery fresco depicts the the second coming of Christ and God's judgement on humankind.
5. Pietà
In this sorrowful but profound scene, the dead body of Christ lies in the lap of his mother Mary.
6. St Peter's Basilica.
Not content to master painting and sculpting, he also was a sublime architect. St Peter's Basilica, the centerpiece of the Catholic church, in the Vatican – is largely his work.
7. David
The legendary figure of BIblical hero David was a favourite of renaissance artists. Michelangelo's marble depiction gives us David imagined as the archetypal renaissance man, with his eyes gazing toward Rome.
8. The Sistine Chapel
The ceiling of Sistine Chapel has to be seen to be believed, but even then, it's impossible to take it all in. This vast work, spanning various Bible stories and Catholic doctrines, reminds one why Michelangelo is regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time.
