Michael-Angelo Buonarotti

(-an'je-lo boo-on ah-rot'te,) one of the greatest of Italian artists-painter, sculptor, architect,-was B. of a noble family in Tuscany, 1474. He studied art under Ghirlandaio, and early acquired the favor and patronage of Lorenzo " the Magnificent "(see MEDICI). In 1505 he repaired to Rome at the invitation of Pope Julius II., and there designed the world - famous cathedral church of St. Peter, and decorated with frescoes the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Under Clement VII., M.-A. rebuilt the library and chapel of San Lorenzo, Florence, and in 1529 helped to fortify and shared in the defence of that city against a Papal army. In 1546 he was appointed architect for the completion of St. Peter's, Rome, begun in 1506, and erected the Farnese palace and others of the architectural glories of the Holy City. D. 1563. As a painter, M.-A.'s fame rests chiefly upon his Last Judgment, a fresco in the Sistine Chapel, which contains abt. 300 figures, and occupied the artist eight years. As a sculptor, his masterpiece is commonly deemed to be the statue of Moses in the church of San Pietro in Vinculo. [s. 598]