Michelangelo was born in 1475 in Italy to a family who wanted him to be a merchant rather than an artist. He was apprenticed to a painter at age 12 and showed an early talent for sculpture. Michelangelo studied anatomy by secretly obtaining corpses, which made him ill. Some of his most famous works include the Pieta, David, and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which took him 4 years to complete. Later in life he was commissioned for other large projects including the tomb of Pope Julius II and the Last Judgment fresco. Michelangelo died in 1564 and was buried in Florence against his family's wishes.

1. Click to advance images. You will have time to read. Virgil

4. “ When I told my father that I wish to be an artist, he flew into a rage”: “Artists are laborers, no better than shoemakers.”

6. Michelangelo wanted to learn about anatomy by studying corpses. The Catholic Church forbade it. He made an agreement with the Church that he could study bodies in return for a carved wooden crucifix. Studying bodies made him ill many times.

7. Pieta at Saint Peter's Basilica.

8. David

9. Michelangelo did not want to paint. Pope Julius II insisted he paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It became Michelangelo’s greatest work. He painted scenes from the Old Testament.

10. The Sistine Chapel.

11. The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

12. God creates the Sun and Moon.

13. The Face of God.

14. Finger of God touching Adam’s finger.

15. God creates Eve.

16. Jacob and Joseph.

17. David and Goliath

18. Jeremiah.

19. Jonah.

20. Joel.

21. Isaiah.

22. Pope Julius II commissioned him to build a magnificent tomb. Michelangelo worked on it for years, but did not finish the 40 statues ordered.

23. Moses, the centerpiece of Pope Julius II’s tomb.

24. Michelangelo was commissioned to make the tombs for the Medici family.

25. Statues of the Medici brothers.

26. Pope Paul VII Farnese asked him to paint a fresco of the Last Judgment which would be the largest painting in the world at that time.

27. The Last Judgment.

28. Michelangelo’s last years were spent chiseling a last pieta. He wrote his best poetry near the end of his life. He was buried in Florence, Italy.

29. Michelangelo died and his body was put in a sarcophagus in Rome. His nephew sneaked his body out of Rome and buried it in Florence where he wanted to be buried.

31. The end!