The Influence of Neoplatonism on Michelangelo and His Works

Abstract

Neo-Platonism had an influence on many artists during the Renaissance. Michelangelo is one of the most perfect artists to inherit and develop his ideas. This paper will take Neo-Platonism and the influence of Neo-Platonism on Michelangelo's artistic creation as the theme, combining the ideas of Neo-Platonism and the presentation of Michelangelo's works. In exploring this connection, it is found that Michelangelo did not accept Neo-Platonism as some sort of convincing philosophical system, much less as the fashion of the age, but as a metaphysical release of his own. Therefore, Michelangelo had a more complex ideological development process than their contemporaries. Neo-Platonism laid a solid theoretical foundation for Michelangelo's artistic creation. Finally, this paper analyzes the ways in which Michelangelo's sculpture "Dying Slave" and painting "Genesis" are influenced by Neo-Platonism. Due to the strong religious connotation of Neo-Platonism, the works of Michelangelo and the contemporary masters with more simple humanistic thoughts have a stronger religious tragedy color.