What Michelangelo’s late-in-life works reveal about his genius – and his humanness

Michelangelo’s two most famous works, David (1501-04) and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-12), were completed when the exalted Italian Renaissance master was in his 20s and 30s. However, as this video from the British Museum explores, he lived to the ripe old age of 88, and continued to create until his very last days. Made to accompany the British Museum exhibition ‘Michelangelo: The Last Decades’, which covers works from 1534-64, this short video explores three of his drawings across his final 30 years. Bringing the context of Michelangelo’s life and times to the works, the exhibition curator Sarah Vowles details how he was ceaselessly inspired by a desire to please friends and himself, and to make sense of his world through creativity. In doing so, Vowles helps to humanise this near-mythical figure, and perhaps even provide viewers some inspiration for navigating the challenges of old age.