Michelangelo

Michelangelo’s Painting of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling

The Sistine Chapel is one of the most famous painted interior spaces in the world, and virtually all of this fame comes from the breathtaking painting of its ceiling from about 1508-1512. The chapel was built in 1479 under the direction of Pope Sixtus IV, who gave it his name (“Sistine” derives from “Sixtus”). The location of the building is very close to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Belvedere Courtyard in the Vatican. One of the functions of the space was to serve as the gathering place for cardinals of the Catholic Church to gather in order to elect a new pope. Even today, it is used for this purpose, including in the recent election of Pope Francis in March 2013.

Sistine Chapel as it appeared before Michelangelo's ceiling fresco — Sistine Chapel as it appeared before Michelangelo’s ceiling fresco

Originally, the Sistine Chapel’s vaulted ceiling was painted blue and covered with golden stars. The walls were adorned with frescoes by different artists, such as Pietro Perugino, who painted Christ delivering the keys to St. Peter there in 1482.

In 1508, Pope Julius II (reigned 1503-1513) hired Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the chapel, rather than leaving it appear as it had. Before this time, Michelangelo had gained fame through his work as a sculptor, working on such great works as the Pieta and David. He was not, however, highly esteemed for his work with the brush. According to Vasari, the reason why Julius gave such a lofty task to Michelangelo was because of the instigation of two artistic rivals of his, the painter Raphael and the architect Bramante. Vasari says that the two hoped that Michelangelo would fall flat, since he was less accustomed to painting than he was to sculpting, or alternatively he would grow so aggravated with the Julius that he would want to depart from Rome altogether.

Rather than falling on his face, however, Michelangelo rose to the task to create one of the masterpieces of Western art. The ceiling program, which was probably formulated with the help of a theologian from the Vatican, is centered around several scenes from the Old Testament beginning with the Creation of the World and ending at the story of Noah and the Flood. The paintings are oriented so that to view them right-side-up, the viewer must be facing the altar on the far side of the altar wall. The sequence begins with Creation, above the altar, and progresses toward the entrance-side of the chapel on the other side of the room.

Michelangelo began painting in 1508 and he continued until 1512. He started out by painting the Noah fresco (entrance side of chapel), but once he completed this scene he removed the scaffolding and took in what he had completed. Realizing that the figures were too small to serve their purpose on the ceiling, he decided to adopt larger figures in his subsequent frescoed scenes. Thus, as the paintings moved toward the altar side of the chapel, the figures are larger as well as more expressive of movement. Two of the most important scenes on the ceiling are his frescoes of the Creation of Adam and the Fall of Adam and Eve/Expulsion from the Garden.

In order to frame the central Old Testament scenes, Michelangelo painted a fictive architectural molding and supporting statues down the length of the chapel. These were painted in grisaille (greyish/monochromatic coloring), which gave them the appearance of concrete fixtures.

Beneath the fictive architecture are more key sets of figures painted as part of the ceiling program. These figures are located in the triangles above the arched windows, the the larger seated figures between the triangles. The first group include Old Testament people such as David, Josiah, and Jesse – all of whom were believed to be part of Christ’s human ancestry. They complemented the portraits of the popes that were painted further down on the walls, since the popes served as the Vicar of Christ. Thus, connections to Christ – both before and after – are embodied in these paintings which begin on the ceiling and continue to the walls.

The figures between the triangles include two different types of figures – Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls. Humanists of the Renaissance would have been familiar with the role of sibyls in the ancient world, who foretold the coming of a savior. For Christians of the sixteenth century, this pagan prophesy was interpreted as being fulfilled in the arrival of Christ on earth. Both prophets from the Old Testament and classical culture therefore prophesied the same coming Messiah and are depicted here. One of these sibyls, the Libyan Sibyl, is particularly notable for her sculpturesque form. She sits on a garment placed atop a seat and twists her body to close the book. Her weight is placed on her toes and she looks over her shoulder to below her, toward the direction of the altar in the chapel. Michelangelo has made the sibyl respond to the environment in which she was placed.

It has been said that when Michelangelo painted, he was essentially painting sculpture on his surfaces. This is clearly the case in the Sistine Chapel ceiling, where he painted monumental figures that embody both strength and beauty.

Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam

High Renaissance, Painting

michelangelo-creation-of-adam — Michelangelo, Creation of Adam, from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Rome, 1508-1512, fresco

The most famous section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling is Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. This scene is located next to the Creation of Eve, which is the panel at the center of the room, and the Congregation of the Waters, which is closer to the altar.

The Creation of Adam differs from typical Creation scenes painted up until that time. Here, two figures dominate the scene: God on the right, and Adam on the left. God is shown inside a floating nebulous form made up of drapery and other figures. The form is supported on angels who fly without wings, but whose flight is made clear by the drapery which whips out from underneath them. God is depicted as an elderly, yet muscular, man with grey hair and a long beard which react to the forward movement of flight. This is a far cry from imperial images of God that had otherwise been created in the West dating back to the time of late antiquity. Rather than wearing royal garments and depicted as an all-powerful ruler, he wears only a light tunic which leaves much of his arms and legs exposed. One might say this is a much more intimate portrait of God because he is shown in a state that is not untouchable and remote from Man, but one which is accessible to him.

Unlike the figure of God, who is outstretched and aloft, Adam is depicted as a lounging figure who rather lackadaisically responds to God’s imminent touch. This touch will not only give life to Adam, but will give life to all mankind. It is, therefore, the birth of the human race. Adam’s body forms a concave shape which echoes the form of God’s body, which is in a convex posture inside the nebulous, floating form. This correspondence of one form to the other seems to underscore the larger idea of Man corresponding to God; that is, it seems to reflect the idea that Man has been created in the image and likeness of God – an idea with which Michelangelo had to have been familiar.

One of the questions that has been raised about this scene is the identity of the figures next to God. Given her privileged placement under the arm of God, the female figure is presumably an important one. Traditionally, she has been thought to be Eve, the future wife of Adam, who waits to the side until she is created out of Adam’s rib. More recently, however, a theory has been floated that this is actually the Virgin Mary, who takes this place of honor next to God and the child next to her, who would therefore be the Christ Child. This view is supported by the placement of God’s fingers on the child – the same fingers that the priest would use to raise the Eucharist during the Mass. Since Catholic theology holds that the Eucharist is the Body of Christ, this theological understanding would be embodied in this painting. If this latter interpretation is correct, the Creation of Adam would be intrinsically linked to the future coming of Christ, who comes to reconcile man after the sin of Adam.

In all, the painting shows several hallmarks of Michelangelo’s painting style: the lounging position of both Adam and God, the use of bodies which are both muscular and twisting, and the painting of figures who come across as works of sculpture. It is good to remember that Michelangelo was, after all, a sculptor. Painting was not his primary area.

The Creation of Adam is one of the great jewels of Western art, though it and the rest of the Sistine Chapel ceiling suffered the ill effects of centuries of smoke that had caused the ceiling to darken considerably. It was not until 1977 that the cleaning of the ceiling was begun. The result of the cleaning was astonishing after its completion in 1989; what was once dark and drab became vivid. The change from pre-cleaning to post-cleaning was so great that some initially refused to believe that this is the way Michelangelo actually painted. Today, we have a much better understanding of Michelangelo’s palette and the world he painted, beautifully captured across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo’s Pieta

High Renaissance, Sculpture

Michelangelo-pieta — Michelangelo, Pieta, c. 1498-1500, marble

Michelangelo carved a number of works in Florence during his time with the Medici, but in the 1490s he left Florence and briefly went to Venice, Bologna, and then to Rome, where he lived from 1496-1501. In 1497, a cardinal named Jean de Billheres commissioned Michelangelo to create a work of sculpture to go into a side chapel at Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The resulting work – the Pieta – would be so successful that it helped launch Michelangelo’s career unlike any previous work he had done.

Michelangelo claimed that the block of Carrara marble he used to work on this was the most “perfect” block he ever used, and he would go on to polish and refine this work more than any other statue he created.

The scene of the Pieta shows the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ after his crucifixion, death, and removal from the cross, but before he was placed in the tomb. This is one of the key events from the life of the Virgin, known as the Seven Sorrows of Mary, which were the subject of Catholic devotional prayers. The subject matter was one which would have probably been known by many people, but in the late fifteenth century it was depicted in artworks more commonly in France and Germany than in Italy.

This was a special work of art even in the Renaissance because at the time, multi-figured sculptures were rare. These two figures are carved so as to appear in a unified composition which forms the shape of a pyramid, something that other Renaissance artists (e.g. Leonardo) also favored.

An examination of each figure reveals that their proportions are not entirely natural in relation to the other. Although their heads are proportional, the Virgin’s body is larger than Christ’s body. She appears so large that if she stood up, she would likely tower over her son. The reason Michelangelo did this was probably because it was necessary so that the Virgin could support her son on her lap; had her body been smaller, it might have been very difficult or awkward for her to have held an adult male as gracefully as she does. To assist in this matter, Michelangelo has amassed the garments on her lap into a sea of folded drapery to make her look larger. While this drapery serves this practical purpose, it also allowed Michelangelo to display his virtuosity and superb technique when using a drill to cut deeply into the marble. After his work on the marble was complete, the marble looked less like stone and more like actual cloth because of its multiplicity of natural-looking folds, curves, and deep recesses.

In her utter sadness and devastation, she seems resigned to what has happened, and becomes enveloped in graceful acceptance. Michelangelo’s talent in carving drapery is matched by his handling of the human forms in the Christ and the Virgin, both of whom retain a sweet tenderness despite the very tragic nature of this scene. This is, of course, the moment when the Virgin is confronted with the reality of the death of her son. In her utter sadness and devastation, she seems resigned to what has happened, and becomes enveloped in graceful acceptance. Christ, too, is depicted almost as if he is in a peaceful slumber, and not one who has been bloodied and bruised after hours of torture and suffering. In supporting Christ, the Virgin’s right hand does not come into direct contact with his flesh, but instead it is covered with a cloth which then touches Christ’s side. This signifies the sacredness of Christ’s body. Overall, these two figures are beautiful and idealized, despite their suffering. This reflects the High Renaissance belief in Neo-Platonic ideals in that beauty on earth reflected God’s beauty, so these beautiful figures were echoing the beauty of the divine.

Around the time the work was finished, there was a complaint against Michelangelo because of the way he depicted the Virgin. She appears rather young – so young, in fact, that she could scarcely be the mother of a thirty-three-year-old son. Michelangelo’s answer to this criticism was simply that women who are chaste retain their beauty longer, which meant that the Virgin would not have aged like other women usually do.

Another noteworthy incident after the carving was complete involves the inscription on the diagonal band running over the Virgin’s torso. Vasari tells us about the reason for this inscription in one of his passages about the life of Michelangelo:

Here is perfect sweetness in the expression of the head, harmony in the joints and attachments of the arms, legs, and trunk, and the pulses and veins so wrought, that in truth Wonder herself must marvel that the hand of a craftsman should have been able to execute so divinely and so perfectly, in so short a time, a work so admirable; and it is certainly a miracle that a stone without any shape at the beginning should ever have been reduced to such perfection as Nature is scarcely able to create in the flesh. Such were Michelagnolo’s love and zeal together in this work, that he left his name a thing that he never did again in any other work written across a girdle that encircles the bosom of Our Lady. And the reason was that one day Michelagnolo, entering the place where it was set up, found there a great number of strangers from Lombardy, who were praising it highly, and one of them asked one of the others who had done it, and he answered, “Our Gobbo from Milan.” Michelagnolo stood silent, but thought it something strange that his labors should be attributed to another; and one night he shut himself in there, and, having brought a little light and his chisels, carved his name upon it.
Vasari’s Lives of the Artists

This was the only work of Michelangelo to which he signed his name.

The Pieta became famous right after it was carved. Other artists started looking at it because of its greatness, and Michelangelo’s fame spread. Since the artist lived another six decades after carving the Pieta, he witnessed the reception of the work by generations of artists and patrons through much of the sixteenth century.

In more modern times, the Pieta has experienced some colorful events. In 1964, it was lent to the New York World’s Fair; afterwards, Pope Paul VI said it wouldn’t be lent out again and would remain at the Vatican. In 1972, a Hungarian-born man (later found to be mentally disturbed) rushed the statue with a hammer and started hitting it, including the left arm of the Virgin, which came off, and her head, breaking her nose and some of her left eye. Today, you can visit the statue in New St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Michelangelo’s David

High Renaissance, Sculpture

Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504, marble. By Rico Heil (User:Silmaril) (private photo) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons — Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504, marble

David is one of Michelangelo’s most-recognizable works, and has become one of the most recognizable statues in the entire world of art. Standing 13’5″ tall, the double life-sized David is depicted patiently waiting for battle, prepped with slingshot in one hand and stone in the other. The twentysomething-Michelangelo carved the David after he had already carved the Pieta in Rome in the late 1490s and returned to Florence in 1501. Knowledge of his talent as a sculptor, therefore, was growing, and his career was accelerating when he was commissioned to carve the biblical David for the outside of the Florence Cathedral. Because the statue was intended to be placed in a high location on the church, it had to be large enough to be seen from below. Today, it resides not outside the cathedral, but inside the comfortable confines of the Accademia Museum in Florence.

The marble block used by Michelangelo was originally excavated for a statue to be carved by another sculptor in 1464, but the block was not fully carved. When Michelangelo received his commission in 1501, he was presented with the challenge of using the block which had already been worked upon to some degree. He had to work with what he was given, and in this case it meant that the figure he carved would not project outward beyond the preset block of marble.

The David we are presented with here is a nude man with a very muscular physique. His veins are visible in his arms and hands as he clutches the stones with one hand and the slingshot in the other. His hands and his head appear to be disproportionally large for his body, possibly because they were deemed more visually important for viewers who would see the statue high up on the exterior of the cathedral. Also, his left leg, which straddles the rocky base upon which he stands, appears a big too long for his body. It accentuates the line of this leg as it forms an essential component in David’s contrapposto stance. Like the ancient Hellenistic and Roman sculptures who were masters at convincingly depicting the human anatomy, Michelangelo has depicted David so that his body responds to the stance he is in. David’s weight has been placed on his right leg while his left leg is at rest. Because of this, his hips have shifted with one side being higher than the other. In turn, this has caused David’s spine and midsection to curve slightly, and his right shoulder drops slightly below his left one.

Compared to Donatello’s bronze David, also created in Florence – though a half century earlier – we see several tantalizing similarities and differences. Both are heroic nudes standing in contrapposto, though Donatello dressed his figure in boots and a hat. Unlike the semi-effeminate boy that Donatello created, Michelangelo presented David as a strong and assured man stripped of all the other objects associated with the biblical narrative, such as the head of Goliath or the sword. Instead, David stands alone with only his slingshot and stones almost hidden on his person. Scale is also an important consideration, since Donatello’s David is less than half the height of Michelangelo’s. In fact, Michelangelo presents us with David in giant form, which is ironic since his enemy is a giant. The colossal size is significant because it was the first time that a large scale nude statue was made in the Renaissance since antiquity. But perhaps even more striking is the timing in the narrative at which we are seeing David as depicted by Donatello and Michelangelo. The earlier sculptor shows us David after the fight has already occurred and after he is victorious in battle. Not so with the latter. Instead, Michelangelo shows us David before he is engaged in battle, and before victory has been attained. This anticipation of action is manifested in the face of Michelangelo’s David, which conveys intense concentration and a furrowed brow as he stares into the distance. This is a figure who is focused on the future rather than one who is contemplating the past.

David-Michelangelo-detail — Detail of the face of Michelangelo’s David.

After it was completed, Michelangelo’s David became a civic symbol for Florence, even though it was ultimately a religious sculpture. The early 1500s was a time of turbulence between the city and its former ruling family, the Medici. Now, the Medici were seen as aggressors or tyrants and had been kicked out of Florence. Florentines adopted the David as a symbol of their own struggle against the Medici, and in 1504 they decided that Michelangelo’s creation was too good to place high up on the cathedral. Instead, they put it in a much more accessible place near the Palazzo della Signoria, the main square of the city.

Michelangelo’s Painting of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam

Further Reading

Michelangelo’s Pieta

Further Reading

Michelangelo’s David

Further Reading