The Two Michelangelos

Buonarroti had a very low opinion of painting, and Caravaggio contended that sculpture could never express the depth of feeling the paintings could. Caravaggio's life was certainly among the most adventurous ever led by the world's great artists; he lived his life to the fullest. Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio was born on September 29, 1571 in a small town Caravaggio in the vicinity of Milan. The son of an architect firmly ensconced in the noble household of the Marchese of Caravaggio, the boy enjoyed a double status, and here he forged first close friendship with Marchesa of Caravaggio, Costanza Colonna Sforza. At the age of 11 Michelangelo was apprenticed to a Milanese painter, Simone Peterzano, a Mannerist. In 1592, penniless, Caravaggio transferred to Rome. Breaking with the Renaissance tradition, preferring dramatic realism, Caravaggio is considered an innovator, especially in the use of a strong contrast between light and dark, known as tenebrism. His early work attracted the attention of the influential Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who became his first patron in Rome. At the age of 24, Caravaggio was commissioned the celebrated paintings on S. Matthew in the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi and many other works.

As models for his paintings, even for religious themes, Caravaggio used peasants and prostitutes. A nonconformist, a man of a passionate nature, he ran the gamut from provocation to murder. In one brawl in the midst of playing a game of racquets (royal tennis), he ended up stabbing his opponent, sustaining some injury himself in the process. Numerous documents testify to the fact that Caravaggio killed Ranuccio Tomassoni da Terni on the Campo di Marzo on May 6, 1606. Michelangelo had to flee Rome; he moved about in hiding and sought refuge in various places, including Malta, Sicily and Naples. In Naples he received several commissions, but his behavior kept getting worse, and he again committed a murder. In 1609 expecting a Papal pardon, Caravaggio attempted to set sail for Rome from Porto Ercole, but was arrested and thrown in jail where exhaustion and a fever all led to his death few days later.

Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475, son of a magistrate in Caprese (near Florence). At an early age Michelangelo Buonarroti was able to convince his father, who was not too enthused about his son’s artistic inclinations, to enroll him as an apprentice with the Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. A year later, in 1488, Michelangelo worked as a sculptor in an art academy sponsored by Medici family. At the age of 15 his talent caught the attention of Lorenzo de’ Medici, who took Michelangelo to live in the Medici Palace.

It is impossible in this brief article to refer to all the important works of this artist such as Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, Madonna with the dead Christ in Basilica of S. Peter in Rome, Statue of David, Mausoleum for Pope Julius II with statue of Moses…

If Caravaggio was a womanizer, it is impossible to know for certain whether Buonarroti had physical relationships at all, Condivi ascribed to him a "monk-like chastity". In his personal life, Michelangelo was abstemious; he was by nature a solitary and melancholy person. Michelangelo told his apprentice: "However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man." His work was his life.

In contrast to the great fame of the artist’s works, Buonarroti’s visual influence on later art is relatively limited. Artists such as Raphael were considered equally great but were used as sources to a much greater degree. The expression associated with Michelangelo, is of almost cosmic grandeur, perhaps even intimidating.