Michelangelo (or Michelagnolo) Buonarroti (1475-1564). Florentine architect, painter, poet, and sculptor. Born in Caprese, where his Florentine father was podestà, and died in Rome. His body was smuggled to Florence for burial, and when his casket was opened 25 days after his death there was no sign of corruption in his body, a traditional sign of saintliness in one who was often characterised as 'divine'.
His tomb in Santa Croce, Florence has the inscription:
Michaeli Angelo Bonarotio sculptori pictori et architecto tanto nomini nullum par elogium
He was considered, particularly by the Florentine Vasari, as the greatest artist of the renaissance, and of all time. Vasari on Michelangelo, like Reynolds's account of Michelangelo defines his greatness in terms of 'disegno', the understanding of form which was seen as the achievement of Florentine painting in the debate between the Florentine and Venetian schools, and what it from the 'colore' which characterised the work of the Venetian painters. Ruskin on Michelangelo in Modern Painters I appears to accept much of the traditional picture of the greatness of Michelangelo. He later made more of his doubts about the influence of Michelangelo, though sometimes stressing that his reservations need to be seen in the context of what he said about Michelangelo's greatness.