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Another Michelangelo masterpiece located within the Sistine Chapel, The Last Judgment appears on the altar wall of the church and was executed some 25 years after the artist had painted his awe-inspiring ceiling fresco. Often cited as one of Michelangelo’s most complex pieces, the magnificent work portrays God’s final judgment of mankind and was initially quite controversial in its depiction of nudity; in fact, the Council of Trent condemned the fresco in 1564 and ordered Mannerist painted Daniele da Volterra to cover up certain parts considered obscene.

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The Torment of Saint Anthony is first known painting by Michelangelo - believed to have been produced when the artist was just 12 or 13 years old and based on an engraving by 15th-century German painter and printmaker Martin Schongauer. Created under the tutelage of his older friend Francesco Granacci, The Torment of Saint Anthony has been cited by 16th-century artists and writers Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi – Michelangelo’s earliest biographers – as a particularly accomplished piece that creatively embellished upon Schongauer’s original engraving and achieved widespread recognition from peers.

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Madonna of Bruges was the only Michelangelo sculpture to make its way out of Italy during the artist’s lifetime; it was donated to its current home, Bruges’ Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady), in 1514 after the Mouscrons– the Belgian cloth merchant family – purchased the work sometime in the early 16th century. On two occasions, the sculpture has been removed from the church, first during the French Revolutionary Wars, after which it was returned in 1815, only to be looted again by Nazi soldiers during World War II – an episode dramatized in the 2014 film The Monuments Men, directed by and starring George Clooney.

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Quite possibly the world’s most famous sculpture, Michelangelo’s David was sculpted over the course of three years, beginning when the artist was just 26 years old. Unlike many earlier depictions of the biblical hero which portray David triumphant after his battle with Goliath, Michelangelo was the first artist to show him in a tense, alert position prior to his legendary fight. Originally positioned at Florence’s Piazza della Signoria in 1504, the 14-foot sculpture was moved to Galleria dell’Accademia in 1873 where it remains today, displayed under a skylight specially designed for the work by 19th-century Italian architect Emilio de Fabris.

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The Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Mention Michelangelo and one work that instantly comes to mind is the artist’s stunning fresco painted on the ceiling of the Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel. It was created between 1508 and 1512, the work – which depicts nine stories from the Book of Genesis – is considered one of the greatest works of the High Renaissance. Michelangelo himself was apparently reluctant to take on the project, as he saw himself as a more accomplished sculptor than painter, but the work nevertheless continues to enthrall today with around five million people flocking to the Sistine Chapel every year to see his masterpiece.