Michelangelo buonarroti 1475-1564

championed as one of The Greatest artists To have ever lived, Michelangelo’s exquisite Masterpieces betrayed The artist’s inner Turmoil

When Michelangelo – then a sculptor who’d made his name on such works as David and Pietà – was offered the opportunity to paint inside the Sistine Chapel, little did he realise he’d been set up by a rival. Convinced that this sculptor who’d never before painted a fresco would fail, Bramante, bitter that Michelangelo had won work he believed was rightfully his, allegedly convinced Pope Julius

II to commission him. But Bramante underestimated his foe.

Instead, Michelangelo convinced the Pope to give him free rein over decorating the chapel’s ceiling.

Despite learning the new medium quickly, Michelangelo faced hurdle after hurdle; he had to pick up the art of fresco painting quickly.

Where seasons changed, mold grew on his work; and despite the sheer scale of the project, Michelangelo was determined to work alone.

In the end painting the Sistine Chapel proved almost more than Michelangelo could bear. Tucked away in the Last

Judgement scene on the altar wall, Michelangelo expressed his sickness of the project in the form of an expressive self-portrait – the hanging flesh clutched by a disdainful St Bartholomew close to the centre of the scene.

Many historians and researchers question whether the determined Michelangelo suffered from OCD or even Asperger’s syndrome.