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In the following sentence why is omitting "who was" correct?

Michelangelo, who was a sculptor, an architect, a painter, and a poet had a great influence on the world of art.

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Michelangelo, a sculptor, an architect, a painter, and a poet had a great influence on the world of art.

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    Notice that you're also deleting something else besides who? And what got deleted in an architect, a painter, and a poet? Maybe the same things?
    – John Lawler
    Apr 28, 2015 at 20:24
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    Soroush, in both versions you badly need a comma after "poet". But having four items makes it a little hard to read correctly in any case. The construction "comma + (omitted relative) + list + comma + main clause" usually has fewer. I would prefer "As a blah-blah-blah, Michaelangelo had...."
    – David Pugh
    Apr 28, 2015 at 21:03

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It is because in removing "who was" you have converted a subordinate clause into an extended appositive, in which no verb is necessary or appropriate.

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