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

I am a poor man, and I work for my bread.

Letter 1520

The best artist has no conceit.

Aphorism

Even a blind man can see that.

Witty remark

I am not a painter.

Letter 1508

This is the work of a man who knows nothing of art.

Comeback

My soul can find no staircase to approach Thee.

Poem 1540

Already at 16, the sky is old and the earth on which I tread no longer seems solid.

Poem 1491

The owl, for all his feathers, is an ill flier.

Aphorism

Patience is the mother of all virtues.

Aphorism

One paints with one's head, not one's hand.

Aphorism

The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, carry you away.

Aphorism

I feed myself on my own substance.

Poem

From such a sharp and waspish word as 'no' I have framed and fashioned my present state.

Poem

If we know what we should seek, the desire will cease.

Poem

The more the marble wastes, the more the statue grows.

Aphorism

To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching.

Aphorism

Critique is the life of the work of art.

Aphorism

I cannot live under pressures from patrons, let alone paint.

Letter 1542

I am here in great distress and with great physical strain, and I have no friends or help to give me any rest.

Letter 1547

The world cares nothing for the artist.

Aphorism