Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, famously known as Michelangelo, is a towering figure in art history. He profoundly impacted the Renaissance as a sculptor, painter, architect, and poet.
But he wasn’t always famous. One story tells us how Michelangelo made a Roman antiquity forgery so good that it propelled him to fame.
A young struggling artist
Before he became Michelangelo, he was a struggling young artist with passion and talent, but without a name. Also, this was when people had just rediscovered Roman and Greek culture, and most avid collectors and art enthusiasts wanted classical sculptures that were being unearthed.
Additionally, his father, a government administrator, wasn’t very enthusiastic about his artistic pursuits. He hoped that his son would follow a more conventional path. So when Michelangelo insisted on pursuing art, their relationship became strained.
He apprenticed under painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and curator Bertoldo di Giovanni. As a young man, he was a gifted artist and sculptor in his own right and had impressed nobles such as Lorenzo de Medici. However, by 1496, things weren’t looking up for him, and his patron Medici died.
How Michelangelo sold a fake Roman antiquity
As mentioned, the only sought artworks were either classical sculptures (Roman and Greek) or those from established artists. So Michelangelo and an art dealer, Baldassari del Milanese, hatched a plan; they would forge an antique.
He made a Roman antiquity sculpture, the Sleeping Cupid, and they aged it artificially by burying it in a vineyard. Another version says that Baldassari buried the sculpture without Michelangelo’s knowledge.
Whichever the case, their ploy worked, and they sold the ancient Roman fake to Italian cardinal Raffaele Riario, a collector. However, Riario soon discovered he had been duped. Luckily, he only demanded repayment from Baldassari, but recognized Michelangelo’s talent and invited him to Rome.
A blossoming career
During Michelangelo’s time, artists were often praised for copying their master’s work to perfection, not for originality. Copying other artists’ works was done as a tribute or for practice. And if you were an apprentice, you would do your artwork in your master’s style, and the teacher was allowed to sell it as theirs.
Modern scholars believe that’s why Michelangelo wasn’t chastised. His skillful adaptation of antiquity sculptures was seen as proof of his extraordinary talent.
In 1498, he was commissioned to create a sculpture by Cardinal Jean Bilheres de Lagraulas. This sculpture, informally known as La Pietà, depicts Mary sorrowfully contemplating while holding Jesus’ dead body on her lap. The sculpture now resides in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and is the only one with Michelangelo’s signature.
Three years later, he began his next masterpiece, David. He completed it in 1504, and the 17-foot marble figure symbolized the Renaissance and the city of Florence.
Painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Thanks to his newfound fame, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to do a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1508. The pope wanted to create a grand setting for ceremonies and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church.
The overall theme of the Sistine Chapel fresco is the intricate relationship between God and humans. This painting is fascinating because of its intricate detail and the physical effort that Michelangelo put into its creation. He painted the entire ceiling while lying on a scaffolding — a grueling task that required endurance and precision.
The Last Judgment, painted between 1536 and 1541, was his last painting. However, he worked on a marble sculpture, Rondanini Pietà, from 1552 until his final days.
What happened to Michelangelo’s forgery
When Riario demanded his money back from Milanese, he returned the Sleeping Cupid. It was bought by a collector named d’Este in Mantua. It later changed hands to Charles I of England, but it was tragically lost in the great fire of the Palace of Whitehall in 1689.
Some historians speculate that Michelangelo had created more forgeries before becoming a renowned artist. There may be as many of his fakes as there are Modigliani’s.
Was Michelangelo a fraud?
The alleged forgery of the Sleeping Cupid sheds light on the thin line between imitation and authenticity in art. The story is intriguing, but it doesn’t tarnish Michelangelo’s contribution to art and architecture.
As we look at Michelangelo’s work, we are reminded that his genius wasn’t confined to a single moment or medium. His masterpieces have transcended time, continuing to inspire generation after generation.
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