Michelangelo Buonarroti

Visual Arts Italian 1475 – 1564 54 quotes

A towering figure of the High Renaissance, he was a sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, celebrated for his 'David' sculpture and the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes.

Quotes by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.

Aphorism

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

Aphorism

Genius is eternal patience.

Aphorism

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.

Aphorism

I am still learning.

Last words 1564

If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all.

Aphorism

The marble not yet carved can hold the most perfect of statues.

Aphorism

Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.

Aphorism

Many strokes, though with a little axe, hew down and fell the hardest-timbered oak.

Aphorism

Good painting is the kind that looks like it might not be, and bad painting is the kind that looks like it is.

Aphorism

It is necessary that the first stroke be given to the hardest part.

Aphorism

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.

Aphorism

Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.

Prayer

I hope that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.

Aphorism

What am I to do? Everything is ugly and base in my sight.

Letter 1549

I live in sin, committed every day, God forgive me.

Poem

The reason why the world is ugly is that men have not yet been educated enough to see that beauty.

Aphorism

Drawing is the true test of art.

Aphorism

Painting, sculpture, and architecture are the three great arts.

Aphorism

I have too high a mind to be a mere hireling.

Letter 1506