Michelangelo, whose full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, was born in 1475 and died in 1564. He was an Italian artist who is perhaps best known for his sculpture of David and his painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with scenes depicting the Biblical book of Genesis. Michelangelo was known as the greatest artist of his time, and some hail him as the greatest artist who ever lived. He was an architect and poet, in addition to being a prolific sculptor and painter. Known for its incredible detail and beauty, his work has been described as technically perfect, richly detailed and both artistically inspired and inspiring.

The term Michelangeloesque can be broken down into its parts: Michelangelo and esque. The suffix “esque” means “like,” or “resembling.” To say something is Michelangeoloesque means, therefore, that it resembles the work of Michelangelo. Depending on the context, it could mean that it is amazingly realistic, technically perfect, awe-inspiring, or encompassing all of these characteristics.

In considering the art produced by Michelangelo, critics and the public alike for hundreds of years have used the same types of descriptions. Michelangelo's work is marked by painstaking detail, incredible acccuracy in depicting the human form, and filled with intense portrayals of emotion and action. His works are dramatic and large-scale, but very personal and presented in a manner that draws the viewer into intimate involvement with the scene being displayed. "One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur..

When a critic uses the adjective "Michelangeloesque" to describe a contemporary work of art, the critic is saying that the work has these same characteristics.