Western Civilization I / Unit 13 WC1 1226 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Michelangelo: David, the Sistine Ceiling, and the Idea of Genius
Captions available
The idea
Michelangelo, fourteen seventy-five to fifteen sixty-four, carved David in fifteen oh four after Greek models and Donatello, painted the Sistine ceiling in four years quarreling with Julius II, and became the artist as genius rather than artisan.
In practice
The most celebrated artist of his own lifetime.
Where people slip
Genius is a Renaissance invention. Before it, artists were craftsmen.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it