Michelangelo was born in 1475 into a noble family. His father was a podesta (chief magistrate) in the small town of Caprese not far from Florence. After overcoming the opposition of his family, who regarded the work of an artist as no more than a coarse craft not worthy of a nobleman, Michelangelo was taken on as an apprentice in Florence at the court of Lorenzo de Medici and found himself in a milieu of the spiritual élite of his times. Michelangelo acquired his professional skills while working under the well-known sculptor, Bertoldo di Giovanni, when he was able at the same time to study
The finest examples of Italian sculpture and works of Classical sculpture from the collection of the Medici family.
Michelangelo's work can be seen as one of the high-points of European art in the Renaissance period. The work of the great Florentine is represented in the Museum by casts of the sculptor's most renowned creations enabling visitors to trace his creative path: the Roman Pietà, the figures from the tomb of Pope Julius II, the ensemble from the tomb of the Medici and the Entombment.
