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Thread: Michelangelo (1475-1564) died on this day. He is considered one of the leading artists in history & a giant of the Italian Renaissance. Interest in him, his work & his relationships has grown continuously since his death. He was considered devine by some contemporaries. 
We know from records he eschewed luxuries, dressed slovenly & took little care over his appearance. He even exhibited a badly broken nose. Here’s a bust of him by Volterra (1564-6). He was deeply religious but also gay. He sublimated his urges in his art.
It is for his statue of David (1501-4) he is best known. Here he took the example of the warriors of Classical Greece, as portrayed in marble, & created an icon of the spirit of the city, Florence. Man as the centre of all things - humanism.
Another aspect of his character was perfectionism - he needed to do his work to the best of his ability. That was a high standard & could not be hurried so we have the marvellous result that we can see works in progress by him such as the Slaves.
We are discovering too, the importance of his sexuality to his work. A case in point is his statue of Victory (1532-4) where the head beneath the handsome man’s feet is a self-portrait & the warrior is believed to be an idealised image of his muse, Tommaso dei Cavalieri.
Despite his lack of interest in his own appearance he created some of the most elegant & lyrical artworks ever made - Pietà (1498-9). He was also obsessed with his age describing himself as an old man in his 30s - despite living until he was 88.
Here’s a thread I wrote on his life & work:
And that broken nose? Here’s the artist who inflicted it on him:
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