A Michelangelo Tour

0: Casa Buonarroti

The Casa Buonarotti (70, Via Ghibellina) is home to two early sculptures by Michelangelo).

The Madonna of the Stairs (c.1490)


Carved in "rilievo schiacciato", shallow relief, this is the earliest work by Michelangelo to have survived.

The Battle of the Centaurs (1492)


This relief also belongs to Michelangelo's youth and here we see him looking to classical sculpture for inspiration.

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1: Galleria dell'Accademia

In 1501 Michelangelo was commissioned to create the David by the Arte della Lana (Guild of the Wool Merchants), who were responsible for the upkeep and the decoration of the Cathedral in Florence.

2: Medici Chapel

In 1520, Michelangelo received the commission for the Chapel from Pope Leo X (1513-21), who was a member of the Medici family

The Pope wanted to combine the tombs of his younger brother, Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and his nephew, Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, with those of the "Magnifici", his father, Lorenzo, and his uncle, Giuliano, who had been murdered in 1478 (their tombs were in the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo).

3: Santo Spirito

Many art historians doubt whether this work is, in fact, the wooden cross mentioned by early writers as having been carved by the young Michelangelo for the Prior of Santo Spirito, in 1492.

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4: Laurentian Library

During the pontificate of the second Medici Pope Clement VII (1523-1534), Michelangelo was charged with the task of building a library to house the family's prestigious collection of books.

He never fully completed the commission, for, in 1534, he left Florence never to return.

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5: The Uffizi

The Doni Tondo is the only panel painting unanimously accepted to be the work of Michelangelo.

The meaning of this scene is both theologically and philosophically obscure, as is the significance of the naked young men in the background.

6: Museo dell'Opera del'Duomo

One of Michelangelo's last sculptures was this Pietà, possibly planned to decorate his tomb.

According to Vasari, the artist's wish was to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, at the feet of the Pietà on which he had worked between 1547 and 1553. Two years later he smashed it, because one leg had broken off and because the block of marble was defective.

The sculpture is now in the Cathedral Museum.
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7: The Bargello

The Bargello is home to several sculptures by Michelangelo, including the statue of Bacchus.

At the age of 21 Michelangelo went to Rome for the first time. We still possess two of the works he created during this period (Bacchus and Pietà); others must have been lost, for he spent five years there.

The Bacchus was commissioned by the banker, Jacopo Galli, for his garden and he wanted it fashioned in the style of a classical statue.

8: Palazzo Vecchio

Michelangelo's statue of 'Victory' in the Palazzo Vecchio is probably his least known sculpture in Florence.



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