---
node: michelangelo
type: person
slug: michelangelo
title: "Michelangelo"
lead: "Michelangelo was a Florentine sculptor, painter, and architect of the High Renaissance."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: michelangelo.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Michelangelo_Daniele_da_Volterra.jpg"
image_author: "Attributed to Daniele da Volterra"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## Who they were

Michelangelo was a Florentine sculptor, painter, and architect of the High Renaissance.

## What they did

He carved the David and the Pietà, painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and later its Last Judgment, and in old age served as architect of St. Peter's Basilica, designing its dome.

## Legacy

Regarded in his lifetime as divine — Il Divino — he set an enduring standard for Western art and shaped the course of sculpture, painting, and architecture.