Michelangelo and the Painting of the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, is considered to be one of the greatest works of art ever created. A a tourist visiting the chapel can only imagine what it must have been like for the artist to lie supine on the huge scaffolding, toiling endlessly to paint each detail to fit into the larger-than-life scenes. While a modern painter might use interior scaffolding that is rolling scaffolding, in his day, the scaffolding was built to be immobile.
Starting in 1508, Michelangelo spent twenty months painting the ceiling. It is said that artists such as Raphael and Donato Bramante urged the Pope to select Michelangelo for this project, hoping that, as a sculptor trying to paint, he would fail. Michelangelo’s meteoric rise to success drove their envy.. Even though he knew Michelangelo was famous as a sculptor, the Pope felt that he had the ability to bring to life the Biblical visions. Michelangelo demurred because he lacked confidence in his ability to realistically render the foreshortening of the figures that would be required.
In a biography completed in 1553, Michelangelo’s protégé, Ascanio Condivi, had this to say about Michelangelo’s work. He finished this entire work in twenty months, without any help whatever, not even an assistant to grind his colors for him. It is true that I have heard him say that it is not finished as he would have desired, as he was hampered by the urgency of the Pope, who asked him one day when he would finish that ceiling, and when Michelangelo responded, ‘When I can,’ the pope, enraged, shot back, ‘You want me to have you flung from the scaffolding.’ Hearing this, Michelangelo said to himself, ‘You shall not have me thrown off,’ and he removed himself and had the scaffolding disassembled”, and on All Saints’ Day he revealed the work, which the pope, who went to the chapel that day, saw with characters depicted on this painting are all based on Biblical stories. The centerpiece, “The Creation of Adam,” is arguable one of the most widely recognized pieces of religious art. It is reproduced frequently and often parodied. This scene shows God giving life to the newly created Adam. Within the spandrels along the side are figures representing the ancestors of Christ. The spandrels are spaces between the right or left exterior curve of an arch and an enclosing right angle. In this ceiling, the spandrels are outlined by a molding. This molding is the only actual architectural aspect of the painting. All other architectural details are optical illusions. Between the Old and New Testament sections Michelangelo has depicted the prophets and sibyls in meditation.
A visitor viewing the full work can discern a difference between one end of the painting and the other. As Michelangelo began, he worked meticulously to include every detail. However, as time passed, and the impatience of the Pope increased, the level of detail had to be reduced. This difference does not detract from the glory of the work. As one of the great works of religious art, the Sistine Chapel is the highlight of a trip to Italy, and not to be missed.
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