Jun
23
2010
Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on 6th March 1475 in Italy. When he was a baby his mother became Ill, so he was looked after by a Stonemason’s family. Later he often told people that this was why he was so good at Sculptures out of stone.
Michelangelo trained as a painter but he loved Sculpter best. He studied sculpture at Lorenzo de Medici’s fabulous palace in Florence.
In 1506 the Pope asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The huge, Curved ceiling is about the size of a tenis court and he had to work on scaffolding 15 metres high. He held his brushes above his head. It took him 4 years to finish the Ceiling and by the end his neck was so stiff that he could only read things by arching his head back.
Michelangelo used what the fresco technique when he painted walls and ceiling. Fresco means fresh in Italian. The artist paints directly onto the wet plaster. As the plaster dried, the paint bonds to it. He had to work quickly to get the right results. The main panels of the seiling show scenes from the book of Genesis. Also shown are portraits of prophets and Sibyls who foretold the coming of the messiah. There are also pictures showing Jesus’ ancestors and stories around are smaller figures of cherubs and nudes. Altogether there are more than 300 painted figures on the ceiling.
Amazing facts
- Michelangelo was left – handed.
- Michelangelo was a poet as well as an artist. He wrote one poem about how painful it was working on the Sistine Chapel.
- Michelangelo didn’t care about his appearance and wore cheap. boots without socks. While he worked on the Sistine Chapel he wore the same boots for months not even taking them off when he went to sleep!
Jun
17
2010
Leonardo Da Vinci was an Italian artist. He lived from 1452 -1519. He was born in Florence in Italy. He worked in Florence, Milan, Rome, Bologna and Venice.
He is famous for painting the Mona Lisa picture. He also painted The Last Supper on a wall in a monastery in Milan showing Jesus telling his followers that one of them will betray him (Judas).
Da Vinci desgined flying machines 400 years before the first powerd flight.
He also had a series of journals which he wrote nearly everyday. The writing was in mirror script. They were later published.
The Last Supper
image taken from Wikipedia
Jun
16
2010
John Paul ll became Pope in 1978. He died in April 2005. He was the first non-Italian to be Pope in 450 years.
Pope Benedict XVI was born as Jousph Alois Ratzinger on the 16 April 1927. He is head of the Catholic church and sovereign of the Vatican City. He was elected on 19 April 2005.
When they are choosing a pope they have black smoke and white smoke, the black smoke is when they have not choose a pope yet and the white is when they have choosen a pope.
Image grabbed as a screenshot from Google Earth
Jun
16
2010
Catherine De Medici’s family was powerful & ruthless and they ruled France.
Catherine was born on 13th april 1519 in Florence. Her mother & father were called Lorenzo de Medici & Madeline de la Tour d’Auvergne. They died when she was very young.
When she was 14 she married Henry II. They had 3 sons.. She died in 1589 (aged 69) She was reburied in 1610 at Saint-Denis.
This image is taken from Wikipedia
Jun
16
2010
Giovanni Bernadone was born in 1181 and died in 1226.
He was nicknamed Francesco. In 1205 he gave up his riches to become a monk. He looked after the poor and the sick. He also looked after animals.
This image is taken from Wikipedia
Jun
11
2010
Amerigo Vespucci was born on the 9th march 1454. Amerigo Vespucci died in febuary 22th 1512 aged 57.
He was born and brought up by his uncle in the republic of Florence in Italy.
He was an Italian explorer, navigator and map drawer.
He is said to have discovered America.
Jun
11
2010
Raphael was born in 1483 and died in 1520 (age 37). His real name was Raffello Sanzio Da Urbino.
His most famous portraits are a portrait of Elizibeth Gonzaga in 1504, a portrait of Pope Julius 2 in 1512, a portrait of aldassare Castiglione in 1515 and a portrait of Bindo Altoviti that is below and made in 1514.
Jun
11
2010
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. He died in 1506.
He was a explorer and he sailed the Atlantic Ocean.
His first voyage was to the Canary Islands. His second voyage was to Hispaniola. His third voyage was to Madeira, Trinadad, and Tobago and his fourth voyage was to Jamaica, Central America and Honduras.
He sailed in a ship called the Santa Maria.
Image taken from Wikipedia
Jun
11
2010
Garibaldi is a type of biscuit with squashed currents and people call it the “squashed flies” biscuit.
This image is taken from Wikipedia
It is named after Italian general called Giuseppe Garibaldi who was known as the hero of two worlds, because of his military expedition in South America and Europe. He is a national hero of italy.
Jun
08
2010
Dino zoff was a famous goalkeeper for Italy he was a good one too. he was born on the 28th febury 1942 he is the oldest player to win the world cup he was the 3rd best goalkeeper in the 20th century in the world. he was born in mariano del friuli italy.He used to play for juventus 1972.he won the world cup with italy in 1962 , 4 years before England won the world cup he was head coach for juventus from 1988 to 1990.And he also used to play for udinese,mantova and napoli
