Skip to main content

Primary sourcePainting1546

Portrait of Michelangelo at 72

Giulio Bonasone · 1546

An engraved portrait of Michelangelo made in 1546, during his lifetime, showing him in old age at 72.

This engraving depicts Michelangelo himself at age 72, made during his own lifetime.

Ask Michelangelo Buonarroti about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Engraved print in profile of an older bearded man with curly hair inside a circular frame, set in an ornate border. Below is a Latin inscription naming Michael Angelus Bonarotus and the date MDXLVI (1546).
Giulio Bonasone, Portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti at 72, 1546.

About this source

What it is

This is an engraved print made in 1546 by the printmaker Giulio Bonasone. It shows Michelangelo in profile within a circular frame, identified by a Latin inscription giving his name and the date. Michelangelo was 72 years old when it was made.

Why it matters

Because it was created while Michelangelo was still alive, this print counts as a primary image of him, unlike later idealised portraits made after his death. It shows how an artist's face and fame were circulated in print during the Renaissance.

Look closer

  • What details in the engraving suggest the sitter's age and status?
  • Why might Bonasone have chosen a circular, medal-like format for the portrait?
  • What can and can't a profile portrait tell you about a person's character?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Michelangelo Buonarroti on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Michelangelo Buonarroti sources

Meet the AI Michelangelo Buonarroti →
Full-length white marble statue of a nude young male figure standing in contrapposto, one hand raised to his shoulder, the other at his side, set on a rough base within a domed, pale-walled room.Sculpture

Primary source

David

Michelangelo · 1501-1504

A printed plate, numbered 106, in a bound album showing an engraved elevation of a wall tomb with architectural niches, statues, reclining figures, a central arched niche with a seated figure, and a circular medallion at top. Handwritten German caption below reads Entwurf für ein medicäisches Doppelgrab (Orig. in d. Albertina).Artifact

Primary source

Elevation of a Planned Double Tomb for the Magnifici, Medici Chapel

unbestimmt

Wide view of the painted Sistine Chapel ceiling: a grid of framed panels with figures, nude and draped, with pendentives and lunettes in the corners, painted in warm earthy tones.Painting

Primary source

Sistine Chapel ceiling

Michelangelo · 1508-1512

Michelangelo's fresco The Last Judgment on a wall. Christ sits at center in a blue halo surrounded by nude figures. Angels blow trumpets above, the dead rise from the ground, and figures fall into a boat and down toward hell at the bottom.Painting

Secondary source

The Last Judgment

Michelangelo · 1536-1541

Engraved reproduction plate, page numbered 25, of Michelangelo's seated marble statue of Moses in an ornate architectural niche. Moses has a long flowing beard and horns, holds his beard with one hand, and rests on a pedestal inscribed with Latin text. Pencil caption at lower left reads S. Pietro in Vincoli.Photograph

Secondary source

Statue of Moses by Michelangelo, San Pietro in Vincoli

unbestimmt

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Michelangelo Buonarroti now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions