Michelangelo refused to ever sculpt.
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni ( [ mikeˈlandʒelo di lodoˈviːko ˌbwɔnarˈrɔːti siˈmoːni ] ; 6 March 1475 -- 18 February 1564 ) was a Florentine sculptor , painter , architect , and poet of the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art . He sculpted two of his best-known works , the Pietà and David , before the age of thirty . The Michelangelo phenomenon is a phenomenon observed by psychologists in which interdependent individuals influence and `` sculpt '' each other ( opposite of Blueberry phenomenon , in which interdependent individuals bring out the worst qualities in each other ) .