The Apotheosis of Michelangelo and Allegory of The Tiber and Arno. Bartolomeo Ammannati (Italian, 1511 - 1592) about 1564 The Apotheosis of Michelangelo brings together a lively gathering of forty-four figures all celebrating the great artist. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) is seen just left of the center, with the left hand on his chest and the other holding the square of the architects. In the middle is an altar with a burning flame and a Latin inscription. This inscription reads “NIL SINE MAGNO VITA LABORE” (“Nothing is gained in life without great effort”) and is an abbreviated versio

The Apotheosis of Michelangelo and Allegory of The Tiber and Arno. Bartolomeo Ammannati (Italian, 1511 - 1592) about 1564 The Apotheosis of Michelangelo brings together a lively gathering of forty-four figures all celebrating the great artist. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) is seen just left of the center, with the left hand on his chest and the other holding the square of the architects. In the middle is an altar with a burning flame and a Latin inscription. This inscription reads “NIL SINE MAGNO VITA LABORE” (“Nothing is gained in life without great effort”) and is an abbreviated version of a motto by the Roman lyric poet Horace (65–8 BCE) in his Satires (I, 9, 59). Many of the figures are depicted with such distinctive features that they suggest portraits. In the group at left, the female figure standing behind the kneeling man, with the left hand on her chest represents Laura Battiferri (1523–1589), a famous poetess and also the wife of Ammannati. In the group at right, in front of a female figure holding a map of St. Peter’s and another one holding a square, the kneeling figure resembles Raphael (1483–1520). At right, the three standing figures in the foreground hold respectively, from left to right, brushes, a square, and a chisel, attributes of the arts of painting, architecture, and sculpture. Behind them is an elderly bearded man showing an opened book, perhaps to personify poetry. These are the four arts Michelangelo mastered during his career. Allegory of The Tiber and Arno depicts the two gods personifying the rivers of Rome and Florence, the principal cities where Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) worked. Both river gods are reclining symmetrically, each on an overturned urn pouring water that flows under their bodies. At left is Tiber, the river of Rome, identified with the She-Wolf nurturing Romulus and Remus, who led to the founding of the city, according to Roman mythology; some antique ruins are visible in the background.

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