Peter’s Basilica and arduously painted the revered frescoes in the Sistine Chapel (including the iconic Creation of Adam, 1508–12), Michelangelo considered himself first and foremost a sculptor.
While Leonardo argued for the superiority of painting in both his artwork and writing, the younger virtuoso Michelangelo (born Michelangelo Buonarroti) claimed that sculpture was the supreme art. Their rivalry was part of the ongoing Renaissance debate of paragone, which asked what the ultimate form of art was: painting or sculpture. Like Leonardo, Michelangelo was a polymath, an exceptional talent in many fields. Yet although he redesigned the architecture of St. Peter’s Basilica and arduously painted the revered frescoes in the Sistine Chapel (including the iconic Creation of Adam, 1508–12), Michelangelo considered himself first and foremost a sculptor.