Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known simply as Michelangelo, was a child prodigy who became one of the most revered artists in history. He apprenticed in the court of the Medici dynasty of bankers and art patrons in Florence, Italy, where he studied classical antiquities and was surrounded by poets, philosophers, and artists. Like his High Renaissance contemporary (and rival) Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo was known for intense, evocative works of physical realism. Among his masterpieces is the ceiling of the Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel; its renowned centerpiece, The Creation of Adam, illustrates the “divine breath of life.”