It is hard to guess what Michelangelo Buonarroti would have made of such contemporary cultural stars as Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, or Lady Gaga. Although he was no stranger to dead bodies (for dissection purposes), provocative nudity, or fanciful costumes of his own invention — see the Sistine Ceiling — one suspects he would not have been a fan of that trio. Nonetheless, there are good grounds for arguing that Michelangelo — who turns 539 years old on Thursday — was the first true celebrity artist in the contemporary manner.
For one thing, he was one of the very first artists in history to become seriously rich. After he died — we have just passed the 450th anniversary of his death on February 18, 1564 — the chest in his bedroom was found to contain around 8,000 gold pieces. That amount was close to the sum for which the Palazzo Pitti in Florence had recently changed hands. Admittedly, the Pitti was later enlarged, but on the other hand the cash in that box was only a portion of the old man’s wealth. The remainder was cannily invested in property around Florence.
Michelangelo was worth enough to keep his family in comfortable idleness for the following three centuries. All this money was earned from his art, and then as now, big prices were the result of fame — and that renown needed to be nurtured.
There are signs that Michelangelo took a personal interest in his image. He may well be the first person in history to be the subject of two biographies, published in his lifetime — one in effect authorized, one unauthorized. The second came first, in 1550, as the culmination of the first edition of Vasari’s “Lives of the Artists.”
This was fulsome in its praise, but nonetheless there were certain points that the great man wanted emphasized, others glossed over. So, only three years later, in 1553, another biography appeared, written by one of his assistants — Ascanio Condivi— in which much of the text reads like a modern as-told-to celebrity life. Michelangelo was especially keen to stress that it was not his fault that the tomb of Pope Julius II had taken 40 years to complete — which even by the standards of major projects today was embarrassingly far behind schedule.
Michelangelo's Last Judgment (1537)
(DETAIL: Courtesy Sistine Chapel via Wikipaintings)
Many of his contemporaries admired Michelangelo to the point of hero-worship, but the artist also had his critics. When “The Last Judgement” was unveiled in 1541, it attracted not only praise but also that essential ingredient for modern cultural fame: controversy. Some hailed it as a great masterpiece, others were outraged that he had covered the altar wall of the papal chapel with muscle-bound nudes, many of them full-frontal. Just before Michelangelo died, the church took a decision to censor the picture. Consequently wisps of cloth and pieces of saintly underwear were painted over the fresco in strategic positions. It is perhaps a sign of Michelangelo’s continuing power to shock that four and a half centuries later many of those are still in place.
