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Bertoldo di Giovanni
(c.1420–1491) The custodian and curator of Lorenzo de' Medici's art collection, as well as de' Medici's close friend; Michelangelo's sculpture teacher.
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Donato Bramante
(1444–1514) The most renowned and accomplished architect of the High Renaissance before Michelangelo, famous for the Tempietto and the first designs for St. Peter's.
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Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
(1444–1530) Michelangelo's father, whom he supported for much of his later life.
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Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475–1564) the pre-eminent artist of the High Renaissance and the subject of this SparkNote.
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chiaroscuro
A painting technique invented by Leonardo da Vinci which employs degrees of light and dark shades juxtaposed to create the effect of three-dimensional modeling.
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Clement VII
One of the Medici Popes who Michelangelo grew up with; the reigning Pope during the Sack of Rome in 1527.
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Vittoria Colonna
(1490–1547) The marquess of Pescara; Michelangelo's close friend and the subject of many of his "love" poems.
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Ascanio Condivi
(c.1525-c.1574) A minor student of Michelangelo's and the author of the biography Life of Michelangelo in 1553.
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Council of Trent
The Catholic Church's committee meetings to discuss and organize the Counter- Reformation; first convened in 1545, the Council decided to prohibit the use of nudes in religious art in 1563.
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Counter-Reformation
The Catholic Church's attempt to reform in the wake of the Reformation and the rising popularity of Protestantism.
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Leonardo da Vinci
(1452–1519) The oldest member and father figure of the High Renaissance; a revolutionary thinker, scientist, inventor, and artist.
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Donatello
(1386–1466) Important mid-Renaissance sculptor; teacher of Bertoldo, who later taught Michelangelo.
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Marsilio Ficino
A member of the court of Lorenzo de'Medici; the principal philosopher and proponent of Neoplatonism.
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Domenico and David Ghirlandaio
(1449–1494) Two popular Florentine painters in whose studio Michelangelo briefly served as an apprentice.
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High Renaissance
The period from about 1495 to 1527; principally defined by the refined and extended brand of Renaissance humanist art practiced by Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Giorgione, and Titian.
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humanism
A Renaissance philosophical stance that held that the Classical age of Greece and Rome epitomized the highest standards of human cultural excellence and perfection; also emphasized the independence and sovereignty of the individual.
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Julius II
The Pope who commissioned Michelangelo for his tomb and the Sistine Ceiling, among other projects.
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Leo X
Another friend from Michelangelo's childhood; nephew of Lorenzo de' Medici.
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Martin Luther
The leader of the Protestant Reformation; sparked an uproar against the Catholic Church after posting his "Theses" in Wittenburg in 1517.
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Medici
The most affluent and influential family in Florence; great Renaissance patrons of the arts, they supported Michelangelo as rulers of Florence and as Popes
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Lorenzo de' Medici
The philosophy that reconciled Classicism and Christianity during the Renaissance; most actively argued by Marsilio Ficino.
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Paul III
The Pope who commissioned the Last Judgment and the Campidoglio, among other projects.
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pieta
A sculpture of the dead Christ being contemplated, by the Virgin Mary or other Biblical figures, after being taken down from the cross.
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Pius IV
The reigning Pope when Michelangelo died in 1564 and the Pope who ordered the repainting of the nudes in the Last Judgment.
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Raphael
(1483–1520) One of the foremost Italian painters of the High Renaissance
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Reformation
The religious movement that split the Catholic Church and led to the creation of Protestantism; started by Martin Luther in 1517 in Wittenburg, Germany, the Reformation quickly split Europe religiously and politically.
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Renaissance
A period that began in Italy and Northern Europe around 1400, marked by a dramatic resurgence of interest in the arts and sciences and triggered by a renewed emphasis on the ideas and art of Classical Greece and Rome.
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Giuliano da Sangallo
(c.1443–1516) Architect who worked on the design and construction of St. Peter's after Bramante and before Michelangelo.
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Girolamo Savonarola
Dominican friar who led a puritanical revolt against Neoplatonism and was burned at the stake for heresy; Michelangelo met him at the palace of Lorenzo de'Medici
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sfumato
A painting technique developed by Leonardo that involves a soft blending of colors to create the atmospheric effect of a mist or haze.
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Titian
(1488/or '90–1576) Venetian High Renaissance painter and admirer of the Last Judgment.
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Giorgio Vasari
(1511–1574) Painter and author of Lives of the Artists, published in 1550, which included a biography of Michelangelo.
