10 Magnificent Facts About Michelangelo

Michelangelo worked on large-scale projects, like painting the Sistine Chapel and hand carving ornamental bed knobs for Popes.

His first commission was from Pope Julius II, and the last Pope he worked for was Pius IV.

Michelangelo included himself in the Sistine Chapel painting.

Michelangelo has only ever signed one piece of artwork with his written signature.

This was on Pietà, his first sculptural masterpiece.

It was so good, and from such a young artist that people didn’t believe it was his work, so he engraved his name on Virgin Mary’s sash.

From this point on in his painting work, his signature became painting himself in the masterpiece.

The most famous self-portrait is in “The Last Judgment” fresco, which is on the wall of the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo’s self-portrait appears to be on his own shredded human skin, which St. Bartholomew holds in his grip.

Michelangelo was never married.

Little is known about Michelangelo’s love life, but one thing is for certain, he wrote love letters and sonnets.

It has been revealed that most of his passionate love poems were written to young men.

Tommaso dei Cavalieri received many romantic notes from Michelangelo, and it would appear he felt something for Cavalieri.

Later on in life, Michelangelo was found to be writing sonnets to Vittoria Colonna; a widow.

Colonna was also a poet, and it would appear that they developed a romantic friendship over the years, writing sonnets together.

He was the first living Western artist to publish a biography.

There were even two rival biographies about Michelangelo during his lifetime.

Painter and architect Giorgio Vasari was the first to publish a biography of Michelangelo.

The chapter on Michelangelo was part of a series of biographies based on artist’s lives around 1550.

Michelangelo was the only artist in the book to still be alive when it was published.

Michelangelo wasn’t impressed by the chapter about himself; therefore, he got his assistant Ascanio Condivi to write a separate book.

This short biography was written in 1553 and is assumed to have been written how Michelangelo wanted to be portrayed.

Michelangelo lived like a poor man.

Despite his hard work and being one of the world’s most known artists and sculptors, he lived like a poor man.

He once told his apprentice Condivi, “However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man.”

Michelangelo said he ate because he had to, and he didn’t find joy in food or drink.

His biographer Paolo Giovio once said, “His nature was so rough and uncouth that his domestic habits were incredibly squalid and deprived posterity of any pupils who might have followed him.”

It is said that Michelangelo would sleep in his clothes and shoes sometimes.

This behavior shows that although he earned well and had the opportunity to live a grand life, he chose not to.

He worked up until the week he died.

Michelangelo was a hard worker and was passionate about his artwork.

This meant that even when he became too weak to paint on-site, he would still manage and oversee projects that were in his name.

To no surprise, following his hard work, he died a wealthy man.

His biography suggests that he was content with living a simple life and kept working from home until he died.

He was born on March 6, 1475, and died on February 18, 1564, at age 88, which was very old for the time.

As a result, when Michelangelo died, his estate was worth 50,000 Florins at the time. Today that is worth the equivalent of around $35 million.

The Statue of David was carved from a discarded piece of stone.

Michelangelo is renowned for his beautiful marble sculptures and his selective habits.

He was careful to pick each piece of marble selectively for a sculpture to ensure its durability.

However, the world-famous David statue was carved from a discarded piece of marble.