Michelangelo Buonarroti: A Titan of the Renaissance Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, born in Caprese in 1475 and dying in Rome in 1564, remains one of the most profoundly influential figures in Western art history. More than simply a sculptor, painter, architect, or poet—he was, as his contemporaries declared, the greatest artist of his era, a true “divine” creator who redefined the boundaries of artistic expression. His ca…