Michelangelo: Pietà, marble, 1.74×1.95 m, 1497–1500 (Rome, St Peter’s); photo © Stanislav Traykov / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

Michelangelo: Bruges Madonna, marble, 1503 (Bruges, Onze Lieve Vrouwe); photo © Francesco Gasparetti / Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 3.0

Michelangelo: Moses, figure for the tomb of Julius II, marble, h. 2.35 m, c. 1513–15 (Rome, S Pietro in Vincoli); photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Rebellious Captive, figure for the tomb of Julius II, marble, h. 2.10 m, c. 1513–6 (Paris, Musée du Louvre); photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Dying Captive, figure for the tomb of Julius II, marble, h. 2.29 m, c. 1514 (Paris, Musée du Louvre); photo © Frank Kovalchek / Wikimedia / CC BY 2.0

Michelangelo: tomb of Lorenzo de’ Medici (1519–33), marble, New Sacristy, S Lorenzo, Florence; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Rondanini Pietà, marble, h. 1.61 m, 1559–64 (Milan, Castello Sforzesco); photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Holy Family (Doni Tondo), oil on panel, c. 1503–7 (Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi); photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: ceiling frescoes (1508–12), Sistine Chapel, Vatican; photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Creation of Eve, (1508–10), fresco, Rome, Sistine Chapel, Vatican; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Creation of Adam (1511–12), fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome

Michelangelo: Fall and Expulsion, (1508–10), fresco, Rome, Sistine Chapel, Vatican; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Libyan Sibyl (1511–2), fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Andrea Quaratesi, black chalk, 410×290 mm, c. 1532 (London, British Museum); photo © The British Museum

Michelangelo: Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, red chalk, 11-3/8 x 8-7/16 in. (28.9 x 21.4 cm), 1508-12 (New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1924, Accession ID:24.197.2); photo © The Metropolitan Museum of Art http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/90004538

Michelangelo: vestibule of the Biblioteca Laurenziana, Florence, 1524–62; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Piazza del Campidoglio, Capitoline Hill, Rome, showing (right) the façade of the Palazzo dei Conservatori (after 1561), with (left) the Palazzo Nuovo (built 1603–60 to the same design) and (centre) the staircase to the Palazzo Senatorio (1544–52); from an etching by Etienne Dupérac, 1569 (Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina); photo credit: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: view of the facade and dome of St Peter’s, Rome; 1546–64; dome completed by Giacomo della Porta, 1590; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: David, marble, h. 4.34 m (incl. base), 1501–4 (Florence, Galleria dell’Accademia); photo © Jörg Bittner Unna / Wikimedia / CC BY 3.0

Michelangelo: Last Judgement (1536–41), fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican

Michelangelo: Creation of the Sun and Moon, (1511–12) fresco, 2.8×5.7 m, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome; photo credit: Scala/Art Resource, NY

Michelangelo: Fall of Phaëthon, black chalk, 312×215 mm, 1533 (London, British Museum); photo © The British Museum

Filippo Brunelleschi: interior of the Old Sacristy (1419–28), S Lorenzo, Florence; photo © Francesco Gasparetti / Wikimedia / CC BY 3.0

Florence Cathedral, c. 1294, dome by Filippo Brunelleschi, 1420–36; photo © Dr. Norbert Heidenbluth / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0