Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane the Younger (baptized 4 November 1568 – 11 January 1646) was a Florentine poet,

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

and

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...

, known as "the Younger" to distinguish him from his granduncle,

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Education

From 1588 to 1591 he studied mathematics at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

, where he became friends with

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

and Maffeo Barberini, the future

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

Career

Buonarroti was elected to the Accademia Fiorentina in 1585 and the

Accademia della Crusca The (; ), generally abbreviated as La Crusca, is a Florence-based society of scholars of Italian linguistics and philology. It is one of the most important research institutions of the Italian language, as well as the oldest Academy#Linguisti ...

in 1589, and was one of the editors of first Italian dictionary, ''

Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca The ''Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca'' was the first dictionary of the Italian language, published in 1612 by the Accademia della Crusca. It was also only the second dictionary of a modern European language, being just one year later ...

'' (1612). After the wedding of

Marie de' Medici Marie de' Medici (; ; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV. Marie served as regent of France between 1610 and 1617 during the minority of her son Louis XIII. Her mandate as rege ...

and

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

in 1600, Buonarroti published a ''Description'' of the banquet and was soon commissioned to write court entertainments: ''Il natal d'Ercole'' (1605), ''Il giudizio di Paride'' (for the wedding of Cosimo II and Maria Maddalena, 1608, music by

Jacopo Peri Jacopo Peri (20 August 156112 August 1633) was an Italian composer, singer and instrumentalist of the late Renaissance music, Renaissance and early Baroque music, Baroque periods. He wrote what is considered the first opera, the mostly lost ''D ...

), ''La Tancia'' (1611) and ''Balletto della Cortesia'' (1614). In 1612, Buonarroti began construction of a gallery (now the

Casa Buonarroti Casa Buonarroti is a museum in Florence, Italy that is situated on property owned by the sculptor Michelangelo that he left to his nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti. The complex of buildings was converted into a museum dedicated to the artist by his gre ...

) on the Via Ghibellino dedicated to his famous relative and commissioned numerous artists to paint murals, including

Artemisia Gentileschi Artemisia Lomi Gentileschi ( ; ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished 17th century, 17th-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional ...

(WP Commons gallery). During this period his name became linked with Francesca Caccini, who composed the music for ''La Tancia'', the ''Balletto'' and ''La Fiera.'' Buonarroti's career as a courtier took a turn for the worse when the Grand Duchess Christina of Lorraine took offense at salacious language in ''Fiera'' (1619). In 1623 he dedicated the publication of verse by the Elder Michelangelo to his friend Maffeo Barberini, newly installed as

, and sought patronage from other members of the

Barberini family The House of Barberini is a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in the 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII. Their urban pa ...

. The last of his theatre pieces was ''La Siringa'', performed at the

Palazzo Vecchio The ( "Old Palace") is the town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the , which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi. Originally called the ''Palazzo della Signoria'', a ...

in 1634. In 1640 he lost his fortune in a bank failure at a time when the

Wars of Castro The Wars of Castro were a series of conflicts during the mid-17th century revolving around the ancient city of Castro (located in present-day Lazio, Italy), which eventually resulted in the city's destruction on 2 September 1649. The conflict ...

(in which Rome and Florence took opposite sides) complicated relations with the Barberinis. His final years were spent writing the ''Satires''. He is buried in Santa Croce.

Legacy

Buonarroti's lyrics are found among many 17-century composers' '' musiche'' as well as in

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (3 February 1904 – 19 February 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d'Istria (at the time part of Austria-Hungary, current Pazin, Croati ...

's ''Sei Cori di Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane'' (1933).

Bibliography

*Janie Cole: ''A Muse of Music in Early Baroque Florence: The Poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane.'' Fondazione Carlo Marchi 33. Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 2007 . *Janie Cole: ''Cultural Brokerage and Music-Theatre in Early Modern Italy: Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane'' 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buonarroti, Michelangelo the Younger Michelangelo 1568 births 1646 deaths Italian poets 17th-century Italian writers 17th-century Italian male writers Burials at Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence University of Pisa alumni Poets from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Italian opera librettists

Education

Career

Legacy

Bibliography

See also

References