Michelangelo for Kids by Simonetta Carr

Author:Simonetta Carr
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

1. Reread Michelangelo’s description of the giant, at left.

2. Draw a picture of a barbershop.

3. Draw a giant on the shop’s roof. You can follow Michelangelo’s directions, including the belfry or dovecote, or come up with your own ideas for how to “improve” the statue. If you like, you can add color to accentuate the details.

4. Compare your drawing with friends’ or classmates’ pictures. Who came up with the silliest addition to their statues?

He often wrote poetry on the spot, surrounded by the noise of oxcarts coming and going, workers shouting orders, and the beating of hammers. Sometimes, he simply jotted down quick thoughts and truncated verses.

His papers reveal his patient and humorous relations with his pupils. While most workers at San Lorenzo were skilled professionals, there were also some apprentices who worked in exchange for art lessons. Some papers show skillful drawings next to incompetent copies—most likely Michelangelo’s samples next to his pupils’ renditions.

The papers were passed back and forth from teacher to student and were often filled with the type of amusing and monstrous drawings that were popular in the Renaissance. They also included Michelangelo’s comments to his students: “Andrea [Italian name for Andrew], be patient,” and “Draw, Antonio, draw, and don’t waste time.”

Around 1526, more than 100 workers were employed at San Lorenzo. Most of them came from Settignano and commuted daily by foot or on market carts. The overseers and the best marble carvers stayed in a house the artist had rented in Florence. As his biographer William Wallace tells us, nearly half of his crew had nicknames, including “the Stick, the Basket, the Little Liar, the Dolt, Oddball, Fats, Thorny, Knobby, Lefty, Stumpy, and Gloomy.”

At times, the workers tested Michelangelo’s patience, especially if he felt exploited or cheated. Most of the time, however, he had good relations with them and was ready to put up with their shortcomings.

“Topolino” (“Little Mouse”), for example, was a faithful and hardworking quarry supervisor from Carrara, who was convinced he had sufficient talent to be a sculptor. With every shipment of marble, he added a few small sculptures of his own, that invariably “made Michelangelo nearly die of laughter.”

“You are a fool, Topolino, to want to make statues,” Michelangelo said once, pointing out that a statue’s lower legs were one-third of the proper size. Undeterred, Topolino extended the legs by adding a pair of boots, which caused Michelangelo to laugh even harder.

The crew labored six days a week from sunrise to sundown, taking care of the architectural blocks and ornaments. Usually, Michelangelo visited the work site around noon, stayed as long as necessary to oversee the project and give instructions, then went back to his workshop where he worked well into the night with one or two assistants, focusing on the statues. He spent a large amount of money on candles because he preferred those made of pure goat’s tallow—a steadier source of light.

In this period, one of the busiest of his life, he usually slept with his clothes on and—following his father’s advice—never bathed.

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