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Painter and sculptor, 1475 to 1564

Michelangelo

Michelangelo came to Rome at twenty-one and died there at eighty-eight. Nowhere else can you see so much of what he did, and most of it is still in the place he made it for.

Born
1475, Caprese, Italy
Died
1564, Rome, Italy
Movement
High Renaissance
In Rome
5 works in 4 museums

Where to see Michelangelo in Rome

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Vatican Museums2 works

  1. The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, on the Sistine Chapel ceiling: the hands of God and Adam almost touching.

    The Sistine Chapel ceiling

    1508 to 1512

    Nine scenes from Genesis, the Creation of Adam among them, with prophets, sibyls and the ancestors of Christ around them, painted standing on a scaffold of his own design. The chapel is the last room of the museums.

  2. The Last Judgment by Michelangelo: Christ at the centre of a wall of rising and falling figures against a blue sky.

    The Last Judgment

    1536 to 1541

    The whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel: Christ in judgment, the saved rising on his right and the damned falling on his left. He painted it a quarter of a century after the ceiling, in a darker time.

St Peter's Basilica1 work

  1. Michelangelo's Pietà in St Peter's Basilica: Mary holding the dead Christ across her lap, in white marble.

    Pietà

    1498 to 1499

    Mary with the dead Christ across her knees, in the first chapel on the right. It is the only work he signed, on the band across her chest.

San Pietro in Vincoli1 work

  1. Michelangelo's Moses in San Pietro in Vincoli: the seated prophet with the tablets under his arm and a long beard.

    Moses

    about 1513 to 1515

    The seated prophet at the centre of the tomb of Pope Julius II, a monument planned for forty figures and finished with far fewer. The church is ten minutes' walk from the Colosseum and free to enter.

Santa Maria sopra Minerva1 work

  1. The Risen Christ

    1519 to 1521

    A standing marble Christ holding the cross, to the left of the high altar of the church behind the Pantheon.

The life of Michelangelo

Michelangelo was born in Tuscany in 1475 and came to Rome in 1496. Within three years he had carved the Pietà. Pope Julius II called him back in 1505 to make his tomb, then set him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel instead, which he did, protesting that he was a sculptor, between 1508 and 1512.

He settled in Rome for good in 1534. He painted the Last Judgment, laid out the square of the Capitol, and at seventy-one became architect of St Peter's, whose dome he designed and did not live to see finished. He died in Rome on 18 February 1564, a few weeks before his eighty-ninth birthday.

What to know

  • Painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512
  • Carved the Pietà in St Peter's before he was twenty-five
  • Designed the dome of St Peter's and the square of the Capitol
Born
6 March 1475, Caprese, Italy
Died
18 February 1564, Rome, Italy

Michelangelo: common questions

Where can you see Michelangelo in Rome?
At the Vatican Museums: The Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment. At St Peter's Basilica: Pietà. At San Pietro in Vincoli: Moses. At Santa Maria sopra Minerva: The Risen Christ. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Michelangelo's most famous work in Rome?
The Sistine Chapel ceiling, of 1508 to 1512, at the Vatican Museums. Nine scenes from Genesis, the Creation of Adam among them, with prophets, sibyls and the ancestors of Christ around them, painted standing on a scaffold of his own design. The chapel is the last room of the museums.
When and where was Michelangelo born?
On 6 March 1475, at Caprese, Italy. Michelangelo died on 18 February 1564, at Rome, Italy, aged about 89.
What is Michelangelo known for?
Painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512. Carved the Pietà in St Peter's before he was twenty-five. Designed the dome of St Peter's and the square of the Capitol. Michelangelo was an Italian painter and sculptor, of the High Renaissance.

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