Michelangelo's Moses

Michelangelo was what some would consider a renaissance man. He traveled a lot between Florence and Rome.On one of these trips to Rome, he was commissioned by Pope Julius II, also referred to as Papa Terrible, to build his tomb. The tomb was to be three stories tall and full of sculptures. Because of the time restraints and the Pope having michelangelo do other works of art as well, Michelangelo was only able to complete three of the statues.

One of the statues that Michelangelo was able to complete was Moses. Michelangelo put great detail in the human form trying to make it as real as possible. Moses has great detail in his beard because the sculpture was originally supposed to be on the second floor with people looking up at it. Michelangelo said that to make his sculptures he envisions what he wants the sculpture to look like and then takes away the exterior to reveal his art.