The Genius of Michelangelo

📚 Course Lectures

1. Who Was Michelangelo? – Myth versus reality of the artist (31 min)

2. Artist and Aristocrat—Michelangelo’s World – Places, people, and genealogy (29 min)

3. An Unconventional Beginning – Early influences and Medici connections (31 min)

4. Michelangelo’s Youth and Early Training – First works and Medici environment (30 min)

5. Florence and Bologna in the Early 1490s – Anatomy studies and early commissions (31 min)

6. First Visit to Rome and Early Patrons – Exposure to Classical art and first commissions (32 min)

7. The “Bacchus” and the “Pietà” – Pagan antiquity and Christian faith in sculpture (28 min)

8. The Return to Florence and the “David” – Creating the monumental marble statue (31 min)

9. The “David” and “St. Matthew” – Relocation of David and apostle commissions (32 min)

10. For the Republic—The “Battle of Cascina” – Unfinished fresco and the Bruges Madonna (31 min)

11. The “Taddei Tondo” and the “Pitti Tondo” – Ambitious marble and painted tondos (30 min)

12. The “Doni Tondo” – Michelangelo’s only tempera painting (30 min)

13. Rome and the Tomb of Julius II – The lifelong troubled papal project (31 min)

14. Bologna and the Return to Rome – Bronze statue of Julius II and conflicts (30 min)

15. The Sistine Chapel – The creation of a masterpiece (30 min)

16. The Sistine Chapel, Part 2 – Prophets, Sibyls, and central narratives (29 min)

17. The Sistine Chapel, Part 3 – Ignudi, lunettes, and the ceiling as a whole (28 min)

18. A Story of Marble – San Lorenzo façade and quarrying challenges (30 min)

19. The Medici Chapel Sculpture – Large-scale Medici commissions (30 min)

20. The Medici Chapel Sculpture, Part 2 – Combining architecture, painting, and sculpture (29 min)

21. The Medici Chapel Sculpture, Part 3 – Challenges of carving at eye level (28 min)

22. The Laurentian Library – Design and staircase innovation (31 min)

23. Florence—A Republic under Siege, 1527–34 – Military science and postwar works (28 min)

24. Inventing a New Aesthetic—The “Non-Finito” – The power of unfinished works (30 min)

25. Michelangelo’s Drawings, 1520–40 – Intimate drawings and the Last Judgment (31 min)

26. The “Last Judgment” – Monumental fresco for Pope Paul III (30 min)

27. The “Last Judgment,” Part 2 – Controversies and meanings (26 min)

28. The Pauline Chapel – Conversion of Saul and Crucifixion of Peter (32 min)

29. The Completion of the Julius Tomb; Poetry – Finalization and Vittoria Colonna (28 min)

30. The Capitoline Hill Projects; the “Brutus” – Architectural innovations and last sculptures (31 min)

31. The New St. Peter’s Basilica – Designing Christendom’s greatest monument (30 min)

32. Michelangelo’s Roman Architecture – Farnese Palace and unbuilt projects (30 min)

33. Michelangelo’s Roman Architecture, Part 2 – Porta Pia and Santa Maria Maggiore (30 min)

34. Piety and Pity—The “Florentine Pietà” – Michelangelo’s personal grave marker (30 min)

35. The “Rondanini Pietà” and the Late Poetry – Final works and spiritual preparation (28 min)

36. Death of Michelangelo—The Master’s Legacy – Final days and enduring influence (31 min)