Sistine Chapel Ceiling: Creation of the Sun and Moon, 1508-12By Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564) was an extraordinary Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor who was also profoundly versed in architecture, poetry and engineering. Michelangelo was so intellectually diverse that he was in contention with Leonardo da Vinci for the title of Renaissance Man. Michelangelo possessed a mastery of human anatomy and movement which imparted his work with a strikingly lifelike quality. The pinnacles of his achievements were the sculptures, “Pietà” and “David,” which he completed before he was 30, and the magnificent Sistine Chapel ceiling, which took four years to finish and contained over 300 figures. Creating enduring masterpieces in numerous media, Michelangelo was the first artist to be the subject of two biographies in his lifetime.