Ascanio condivi biography of michelangelo paintings

Ascanio Condivi

Italian painter and writer (–)

Ascanio Condivi

Born
Ripatransone, Marche
Died10 December () (aged&#;48–49)
Menocchia
OccupationPainter and writer
Relatives
  • Latino Condivi (father)
  • Vitangela de' Ricci (mother)

Ascanio Condivi ( &#; 10 December ) was an Italian painter and writer.

Generally regarded as a mediocre artist, he is primarily remembered as the biographer of Michelangelo.

Biography

The son of Latino Condivi and Vitangela de' Ricci, Ascanio Condivi was a nobleman born in the town of Ripatransone in the Marche.

Biography of donatello As a consequence the text is composite and layered, revealing the inputs of author, subject and editor, at the least. Around , at the age of about 25, he came to Rome and became aquainted with Michelangelo, who favoured him with a large design for an altar piece, the Epifania British Museum that Condivi realised as a painting. The strategy adopted by Condivi is to praise the work in a curtailed way, on the grounds that it is well- known through prints, and to defend its prudence, a Opposite: St Lawrence, from the Last Judgement, Condivi was later to marry the niece of Annibale Caro, a leading intellectual figure in the Rome at the time, and it seems very probable that it was Caro who was actually behind the project.

He moved to Rome in c.&#;, where he became an acquaintance of Michelangelo. In he published Vita di Michelagnolo [sic] Buonarroti,[1] an authorised account of Michelangelo's life over which his subject had complete control. The Vita was partly a rebuttal of hostile rumours that were being perpetuated about the artist, namely that he was arrogant, avaricious, jealous of other artists, and reluctant to take on pupils.

It also served to correct inaccuracies Michelangelo found in the fawning biography of him in Giorgio Vasari's Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori ("Lives of the most excellent painters, sculptors and architects"), which was later revised considerably by Vasari in the wake of Condivi's biography.

Ascanio condivi biography of michelangelo paintings But, although Vasari knew Michelangelo well, the sculptor never confided in him to the extent that he did in Condivi, making this the indispensable source for the life of Michelangelo. Probably commissioned by Michelangelo himself from his fellow painter Ascanio Condivi, this biography presents an unprecedently intimate view of the life and career of the most influential artist in the history of Western art. The Physical Object Pagination xxiii, p. Here Michel- angelo, via Condivi, was trying, understandably, to give what he would have considered the authentic version.

Condivi's Vita denies that Michelangelo was indebted to any other artist and claims that he was self-taught (he was in fact a pupil of Domenico Ghirlandaio). Also, much is made of his supposed descent from the Counts of Canossa, although this belief of Michelangelo's was utterly unfounded. Due to its literary qualities some scholars believe that the poet Annibale Caro had a hand in the writing of the Vita.

After the publication of the Vita Condivi returned to Ripatransone, where he undertook civic duties, married, and devoted himself to painting religious subjects.

Ascanio condivi biography of michelangelo paintings for sale The Physical Object Pagination xxiii, p. December 16, The orig- inal is a handsome little book, printed in elegant roman type on good quality paper, with pretty wood block ini- tials and wide margins. For example, Condivi writes that Michelangelo was expert in anatomy, but he gave up dissection because it turned his stomach so that he could neither eat nor drink with benefit.

One of these paintings, the unfinished and ambiguously themed Holy Family and other figures (now in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence), relied completely for its composition on a cartoon provided by Michelangelo. The cartoon, known as the Epifania as it was once erroneously believed to depict the Epiphany, is now housed in the British Museum, London.

Condivi died on 10 December , because of a sudden flood while fording the torrentMenocchia&#;[it], down the valley north of his birth town.

References

  1. ^Chilvers, [edited by] Ian ().

    Ascanio condivi biography of michelangelo paintings images This narrative of genius and its struggles in the treacherous world of Papal politics and Italian wars remains one of the most fascinating and influential texts in art history. An undistinguished painter from the Marche region of eastern Italy, he would be quite unknown if it were not for this Life of Michelangelo. As a consequence the text is composite and layered, revealing the inputs of author, subject and editor, at the least. Translation of Vita di Michelagnolo Buonarroti.

    The Oxford dictionary of art and artists (4th&#;ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

External links

Michelangelo

Sculptures

Florence, c.&#;–
Bologna, –
Rome, –
Florence, –
Tomb of Julius II, –
Florence, –
Rome, –