Daniele da Volterra

Daniele da Volterra (1509-1566)
Sculpture of the head of Michelangelo (1564)
Fused from Michelangelo's death mask
Castello sforzesco, Milan.

Daniele Ricciarelli (c. 1509 - April 4, 1566), better known as Daniele da Volterra, was an Italian mannerist painter and sculptor.

He was born in Volterra

As a boy, he initially studied with the Sienese artists Il Sodoma and Baldassare Peruzzi, but left.

In Rome he started working in the circle of Michelangelo and befriended him. It was this association which was the most influential on his life and on his artistic style.

Daniele is infamous for having covered over many of the genitals and backsides in Michelangelo's The Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel. It earned Daniele the nickname "Il Braghettone" (the trouser maker).