Michelangelo has been hailed as the world's greatest artist, and here are few thumbnail facts about his interesting life.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6, 1475 in the village of Caprice in Tuscany Italy, to a family of bankers. He was the son of Ludovico di Leonardo di Buonarotto Simoni and Francesca Neri, and was one of five brothers. Sadly, he lost his mother at an early age.

From 1527 to 1529, he took a break from his work as an artist to join the military in order to fight for the Republic of Florence.

Michelangelo was a man of many talents, and as well as being a painter, he was a sculptor, architect and poet as well. After attending grammar school, Michelangelo was apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, the most respected painter in Florence.

Michelangelo did not get married and had no offspring, but was rumoured to have love affairs with Tommaso dei Cavalieri, (a handsome nobleman), and the poet Vittoria Colonna.

The period of art that Michelangelo is associated with is the Italian Renaissance period, and he is particularly famous for his large scale frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City. One of the frescos in the chapel he called 'The creation of Adam,' and has been widely reproduced all over the world. The ceiling took 16 years to paint and is without doubt, an extraordinary undertaking. But he produced other notable works as well.

His two best known sculptures are the Pietà and David and Bacchus. Other works include, 'Madonna of the Steps', 'Battle of the Centaurs' and the wooden sculpture, 'Crucifix', which he gave to a church.

As a poet he wrote over 300 poems, a number dedicated to the nobleman Tommaso dei Cavalieri.

But as an artist, it is thought that he exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art.

Michelangelo died in Rome in 1564 at the age of 89.

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/michelangelo

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