Much has been said about how people mistakenly refer to Leonardo as “da Vinci,” since that’s not his name. Rather, it simply indicates his place of origin – or more precisely, the hometown of his father (“from Vinci”).
What about Michelangelo, though? He is sometimes known as Michelangelo Buonarroti, but he is also referred to as Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, which indicates his lineage. (His father was Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarotti di Simoni.) At the same time though, I’ve seen some articles refer to him and/or his family as “Buonarroti.”
What’s the scoop? Can one legitimately refer to him as “Buonarroti,” or would such a statement be made in ignorance? I’ve been unable to find any definitive word on this matter.
Yes, Buonarroti was Michelangelo’s surname, and that was indeed unusual for Renaissance Florentine artists–most of whom, like Leonardo and the majority of the population, didn’t have proper family names. If one needed to distinguish between two different guys both named, say, “Piero,” you’d add their place of origin or their parentage or both to that Christian name (in that way, Leonardo, as you point out, was known as “Leonardo da Vinci [Leonardo from the town of Vinci]” or, to avoid any possible confusion with other Leonardos from the same town, as “Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci [Leonardo, the son of Mr. Piero from the town of Vinci]).”
Only a few families of nobility actually carried a distinct family name that would be passed down through the generations. The Buonarroti family was one of these. In fact, Michelangelo’s father disapproved of his son’s artistic vocation, considering it (like all aristocrats would have) as beneath his social station. William Wallace (the art historian, not the medieval Scottish patriot ) has written a lot about Michelangelo, and the artist’s own interest in the Buonarroti family’s geneaology; I recently heard Wallace give a talk at the University of Memphis about this very topic.
As for calling him simply “Buonarroti,” Renaissance scholarship has usually followed Renaissance naming conventions, whereby an artist is typically known by his first name; one only adds modifiers, like place of origin or, in rare cases, a family name, if this first name could be associated with several different artists. To call Michelangelo “Buonarotti” would be like calling Dante “Alighieri”–not ignorant, and indeed accurate by today’s social conventions, but not in accordance with Renaissance scholarship or convention.
Incidentally, in eighteenth-century England, his name was usually rendered as “Michael Angelo” (see Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Discourses for examples), as though his last name were “Angelo” (“Michelangelo” is actually the Italian name for St. Michael the Archangel). Very quaint, but very wrong by either Renaissance conventions or by modern scholarship practices!
Okay, and thanks. One thing that confused me was his father’s name, which I’ve only seen listed as “Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti di Simoni.” While “Buonarroti” was in there, it didn’t appear to be rendered as a famikliy name. (Additionally, I’ve often seen Michelangelo’s full name as “Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni,” which further obscures his Buonarroti family name.)
The full surname was Buonarroti-Simoni. So, Michelangelo’s father, Ludovico, was the son of a Leonardo Buonarroti-Simoni. I’m not sure where the “Simoni” part of the name comes from–possibily another family line–but it’s not a reference to Leonardo Buonarroti’s father. In any case, it’s the “Buonarroti” line that Michelangelo seems to have been most proud of. A palazzo that he bought in Florence (among several properties he managed from a distance) is still called the “Casa Buonarroti”–Mich willed it to his favorite nephew, and eventually the house was turned into a museum (as it still functions, housing several of Michelangelo’s younger works and many drawings).
This is the best image I can get of Mike’s tomb. Based on the spellings, it could have been commissioned by Sir Joshua. I’m guessing it’s not of Ren origin.
Yes, the historical references to Casa Buonarroti are among the things that made me ask this question in the first place. Up until then, I assumed that “Buonarroti” was merely some type of clarifier, in much the same way that the term “Magdalene” means “from Magdala.” The Casa Buonarroti reference seemed to suggest an actual family name though, and so I thank you for providing a definitive answer.
Interesting, Annie. I’ve seen his tomb at Santa Croce, but never really noticed the typography. I know it was designed by Giorgio Vasari, one of Michelangelo’s students, who’s Late Renaissance in date (often regarded as Mannerist in style). In the Tuscan dialect (the basis for modern Italian), Vasari would have known the artist as “Michelangelo.”
From this, one can read the inscription as “Michaeli Angelo Bonarotio” (the next line includes the Simoni name, and a few lines below that, his dad Leonardo Buonarroti is mentioned). The language appears to be Latin, which is traditional for tomb inscriptions. I’m not very good with Latin, but I think “Michaeli Angelo” is the Latin form for “Michael the [Arch]Angel.” If so, that would explain the discrepancy.
I find that interesting, but not terribly surprising. As you probably know, if you pronounce his name correctly, it doesn’t sound like “Michael”. The Italians I heard pronouce his name said it kinda like “Meek-hell-AHN-jel-lo”.
) has written a lot about Michelangelo, and the artist’s own interest in the Buonarroti family’s geneaology; I recently heard Wallace give a talk at the University of Memphis about this very topic.