Michelangelo di Lodovico Baonarroti Simoni was born March 6, 1475 in Capresse near Florence, Italy.  When Michelangelo was 5 years old his mom became very ill.  He went to live with his neighbor who was a stone cutter until his mother was better.  His mom never healed and died shortly after.  In 1488, at the age of 13, he became an apprentice to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio.  He studied the bones, muscles and other body parts of dead people to learn how bodies worked.  Michelangelo also learned how to paint, sculpt, design buildings and write poetry.  All of those talents went to very good use later in his life.  He was very religious and most of his paintings and sculptures have something to do with the Bible.  His most famous paintings and sculptures are The David, St. Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

The David stands nude and tall inside the Galleria dell’ Academia.  The statue, crafted by Michelangelo, was carved by a single piece of marble stone.  It is 17 feet tall and was meant to stand on top of a church which is the reason why his hands are large and you can see his veins clearly.  The David was built in 1501-1504, when Michelangelo was only 29 years old.

  Michelangelo also painted the ceiling along with the end wall in the Sistine Chapel.  The ceiling was painted in 1508 – 1512, by Michelangelo who was in his 30’s at the time.  He wanted to sculpt not paint but couldn’t say no to the pope.  A strip in the middle of the ceiling has nine different paintings each from the book of Genesis.  Five of the paintings are surrounded by shields and nudes.  The other four though, have no nudes and are larger.  There are three groups on the ceiling, too.  The first group is about God creating Earth and Adam.  Group number two is about the creation of man and woman.  Last but not least is group three; it is all about Noah right down to the story about his ark.  The Last Judgment is a fresco painting, painted by Michelangelo in 1537 – 1541.  He was in his 70’s and that made it harder for him to paint.  The painting is about where people go in the after life.  If they go to heaven the people go to the top of the painting.  If they go to hell they go strait to the bottom. 

  Michelangelo designed the dome in St. Peter’s Basilica at the age of 72.  He started designing it in 1546 and built it until his death in 1564.  It was actually finished by Giacamo della Porta in 1590.  The dome is 448.1 feet from the floor of the Basilica to the top of the external cross.  The Statue of Liberty can fit inside with plenty of room to spare.  On the inside of the dome are the words ‘To the glory of St. Peter, Pope Sixtus V’.  There are also blue skies spangled with stars.  The dome is covered with mosaic and stucco ornaments, but from the ground it looks like it’s just painted.