Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect, was born on this day in 1475 in Caprese, Italy (d. February 18 1564). While he is known most famously for his works of art, he was also an author of several poems.

TO THE SUPREME BEING

The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed,
If Thou the spirit give by which I pray:
My unassisted heart is barren clay,
Which of its native self can nothing feed:
Of good and pious works Thou art the seed,
Which quickens only where Thou say’st it may;
Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way,
No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead.
Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind
By which such virtue may in me be bred
That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread;
The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind,
That I may have the power to sing of Thee,
And sound Thy praises everlastingly.

Translated by William Wordsworth

ON THE BRINK OF DEATH

How hath my life across a stormy sea
Like a frail bark reached that wide port where all
Are bidden, ere the final reckoning fall
Of good and evil for eternity.
Now know I well how that fond phantasy
Which made my soul the worshiper and thrall
Of earthly art, is vain; how criminal
Is that which all men seek unwillingly.
Those amorous thoughts which were so lightly dressed,
What are they when the double death is nigh?
The one I know for sure, the other dread.
Painting nor sculpture now can lull to rest
My soul that turns to His great love on high,
Whose arms to clasp us on the cross were spread.

Translated by John Addington Symonds

And a few classics.

Note: interactive images

The Creation of Adam

Moses

David

The Holy Family

Christ the Redeemer

Pieta

The Conversion of Saint Paul

For a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel go to the Vatican Museum