Michelangelo Dies

Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the supreme artists of the Italian Renaissance, died in Rome in 1564 at nearly eighty-nine years of age. A sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, he worked for a succession of popes and patrons and dominated European art for much of the sixteenth century.

Among his sculptures are the youthful Bacchus, the Pieta in St Peter's, the colossal David in Florence, and the powerful Moses for the tomb of Pope Julius II. These works displayed an unrivaled command of the human form and helped define the High Renaissance ideal of heroic figures.

As a painter he created the vast frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, decorating its ceiling and later painting The Last Judgment on the altar wall. In his later years he also served as chief architect of St Peter's Basilica, designing its great dome and leaving an enduring imprint on Western art.