Michelangelo is considered one of the Titans of the High Renaissance period, producing unrivalled works of archecture, sculpture, painting, poetry and engineering.  Michelangelo’s paintings decorate the walls and ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, including the Last Judgement, and his dome tops St Peter’s in Rome.

Michelangelo was born in Tuscany and spent much of his life at the mercy of the vagaries of Florentine politics, tying his allegiance to the ruling Medicis and leaving the city when they were overthrown, to return on their reinstatemet, until he finally turned against his patrons.

Michelangelo moved to Rome in 1496 to work under the patronage of Cardinal Riario, and, after a period in Florence, again in 1505 when he began work commissioned by the Pope leading in 1508 to his decoration of the Sistine Chapel.
In 1546 Michelangelo became the architect for St Paul’s Basilica in Rome. 

One of Michelangelo’s major works was the statue of David sculpted to represent Florence’s struggle against the tyranny of the Medicis.

He died in Rome at the age of 88 in 1564.