Michelangelo’s Spiritual Awakening

Author: Chris Castaldo, PhD
October 30, 2025

While it’s a commonly recognized fact among historians, few non-scholars know that Michelangelo underwent a profound evangelical awakening in his later years. 

What historical factors were involved? In the sunshine of the Renaissance, an interest in the source of divine light gripped the hearts of many sixteenth-century people. Then, following the devastating Sack of Rome in 1527, this spiritual longing deepened into desperate hunger. Michelangelo lived through this upheaval, and it brought him to the end of himself.

In his searching, the great artist began attending a Bible study about Paul’s letter to the Romans and reading northern Reformers such as Martin Luther. Through these encounters with Scripture and Reformation theology, Michelangelo experienced a transformation that would reshape everything he created thereafter—his later frescoes, sculptures, and poetry all bear witness to this awakening. 

For more on Michelangelo’s remarkable spiritual journey, this article from the British Museum explores the story in depth. 

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Chris Castaldo is Lead Pastor of New Covenant Church in Naperville, Illinois.

Cover image: The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

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