Michelangelo

"By 13 he had decided that he wanted to be an artist." Famous artists: Michelangelo pg.6 


At an early age Michelangelo decided that he wanted to be an artist and even though his father opposed him and beat him for wanting to do that at first he learned to accept it. I think that had a lot to do with why he chose to make a sculpture of David. Michelangelo started to work on art at a very young age and he was really good at it too. He was also an architect and a poet. He was also noticed by Lorenzo the magnificent who invited him to be educated in sculpting along with his son and his nephew. He was also given a purple cloak to wear which means that since purple is a color that represents royalty he was really good at his artwork and was appreciated by Lorenzo. Michelangelo was known for his attention to detail and his facial expressions in his sculptures. He made each and every detail like the fold of skin in someone's arm to the expressions of someone's face to show their emotions in a sculpture.


The work of art that I chose was David which was a sculpture started by Michelangelo in 1501 and finished in 1504. On page 11 of Famous artists: Michelangelo it says that the facial expressions that were put onto his face and the way he stood made him look relaxed yet ready for action. It took a lot of different carving tools to make the detail in his sculpture look so real and lifelike. Unlike the 1473 David by Verrocchio Michelangelo's sculpture is of a young man and not of the boy David.


My interpretation of David by Michelango is that the reason that he chose to make this piece of art was because he could relate to David. In the story David as a young person kills a giant called Goliath who is favored to destroy David in a fight, but instead David kills Goliath with his slingshot. I think that Michelangelo felt like he was David starting out so young and already doing great things and being put in such a high place that he didn't have anyone who was like him so he gravitated to David because he felt like they were really the same. I think that it shows that even if you are young you can do great things and there is no age limit to when you can be great.