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Great Artists Of Florence

Artists Listed

Michelangelo
Michelangelo was born on March 6th 1475 in the small village of Caprese, Tuscany. He was the second of 5 brothers. In childhood, his mother grew tired of nursing him and was sick, so she gave him to a family of sculptors where they say he learned to use the hammer and chisel. After telling his father of his dreams to become an artist, he said they weren't useful and they were laborers. His mother died at a young age when Michelangelo was only 6. When Michelangelo turned 13 years of age he shocked and angered his father when he told him he was becoming an apprentice to the famous painter Domenico Ghirlandaio.

DAVID

One of the biggest acomplishments in Michelangelo's career was his 4.34x14.24 meter marble statue of David which he made between 1501 and 1504. At the time, Florence was in at a low point and he had used David to symbolize heroic courage. The statue paid off when a young man led an army to take over Israel's enemies using a sling.

Filippo Brunellchi
In 1401 he made a name for himself by winning the competition for the second door of Baptistery "ex aequo" with Lorenzo Ghiberti, who was commissioned to carry out the work. The panels of the Sacrifice of Isaac that both artists did can still be seen at the Bargello Museum. Brunelleschi spent the next 3 years in Rome studying sculpture and architecture with friend Donatello. In 1418, Filippo Brunellschi recieved a commision to build a dome to top the Santa Maria Del Fiore, which today still stands. Some people say that that was were the the first concept of the dome came from. The main structure was done by 1434 and then completed by the lantern in 1436 and the rest in 1438.

SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE

Lorenzo di Medici

The oldest son of Piero, Lorenzo was born in 1449 and was destined to a short but intense life that would surely be remembered in the city of Florence, Italy. Lorenzo the Magnificent is, without doubt, the most important member of the Medici family. He was one of the best Italian leaders of all time. He was a politician, a man of power and culture. Lorenzo began his public life very early and was successful when his father was not yet twenty-one. He went on to teach such greats as Leonardo then Michelangelo and many others such as Botticelli, Filippino Lippi and more turned to him for help. Lorenzo died peacefully in the night between April 8 and 9, 1492 in the Villa of Careggi and Florence was shaken by his death. Two years after Lorenzo's death his oldest son Piero, nicknamed the "unfortunate", was excommunicated from Florence for his political screw-ups and only after 18 years the Medici family could return to its home-town.

LORENZO

Michelangelo's Frescoes