Famous Paintings by Michelangelo
Posted by Susan Benford
Think "Michelangelo" and "famous artwork", and one likely envisions his Sistine Chapel ceiling and statues, like his Pieta in the Vatican and David in Florence. Comparatively unknown, though, are four famous paintings by Michelangelo. One of these, The Torment of Saint Anthony, was purchased May 13, 2009, by the Kimbell Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas. It now has the distinct honor of being the sole Michelangelo painting to enter an American collection, and of being one of the most famous paintings in any U.S.art museum.
This famous artwork, which measures 18 1/2" by 13 1/4", was created in 1487 - 1488, when Michelangelo was merely 12 or 13 years old. Ascanio Condivi, Michelangelo's student and subsequent biographer, recounts that Michelangleo encountered an engraving by Martin Schongauer, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, in Domenico Ghirlandaio's workshop. Prompted to experiment with painting, Michelangelo visited a fish market to study fish scales, details lacking in Schongauer's engraving. According to Condivi, even Ghirlandaio was stunned at the mastery attained by this child genius.
Roughly a decade later, Michelangelo began The Madonna and Child with St. John and Angels, also known as The Manchester Madonna.
In this unfinished work of art, Christ is pointing out a passage in a book cradled by the Virgin Mary, while a pair of angels studies the scroll. The contents of the book and scroll, an attribute of St. John, likely foretell Christ's future life and sacrifice. On the left are a pair of angels blocked in with the green paint typically used to create flesh tones.
The circular painting, or tondo, was fashionable in Renaissance paintings of Florence. Michelangelo's Holy Family, or Doni Tondo, was believed to have been painted to celebrate the marriage of Agnolo
Doni and Maddalena Strozzi. In this famous artwork, it's not clear whether the Virgin is taking the Infant from St. Joseph, or instead handing Jesus to him. Behind the wall is a young St. John, who will ultimately announce the coming of Christ. While the meaning of this tondo isn't certain, the presence of St. John suggests biblical passages alluding to Christ's birth and baptism.
The last of the easel paintings generally attributed to Michelangelo is titled Entombment, made in 1507; like Manchester Madonna, is in the National Gallery, London. A preparatory sketch in the Louvre shows a figure resembling the kneeling woman on the left, lending credence to its attribution to Michelangelo. It is believed this work was for a free-standing tomb he was designing for his patron, Julius II. Neither the tomb nor this painting were finished, contributing to
disagreement over the identities of those carrying the dead Son of God toward his tomb. Saint John the Evangelist is usually shown in red with long hair, and may be the figure on the left carrying Christ. The others are probably Nicodemus, and Saint Joseph of Arimathaea, who gave up his tomb for Jesus. The kneeling figure to the left is probably Mary Magdalene.
As the National Gallery notes in its art analysis of Entombment, one easily forgets how closely related the visual arts are -- painting, sculpture, and architecture were especially linked in Renaissance artwork, and especially in the genius of Michelangelo. His talent as both sculptor and fresco painter make him one of the most indisputably famous artists in art history.
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