HUAS75024 - Michelangelo and his World: 1475-1564

Course Description

This two-day course focuses on Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). Sculptor, painter, and architect, he was called "Divine" during his lifetime and is arguably the most famous artist in the western tradition. The course explores Michelangelo's early Florentine and Roman years looking at sculpture including: the Vatican Pietà; and the David; his work in Rome for Pope Julius II including the pontiff’s tomb and the Sistine Ceiling; his Florentine projects for popes Leo X and Clement VII at San Lorenzo including the New Sacristy and Laurentian Library; the Sistine Chapel Last Judgment for Pope Paul III; his later sculptures; and his architectural works in Rome, especially, New St. Peter’s. Topics to be considered include Michelangelo’s friends and enemies including Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Sebastiano del Piombo; the patronage that enabled his extraordinary career; the place of drawings in his work; the Counter-Reformation; “non-finito;” and his volatile personality, characterized as “terribilita.”

Course Outline

Course Syllabus

Notes

Online registration deadline: Thurs, Aug 10, 5PM CT

No class Aug 19