Painting The Sistine Chapel Ceiling example essay topic

Michelangelo Buonarroti, born in the sixteenth century, was perhaps one of the greatest artisans of all time. He was an accomplished artist, sculptor, architect, and poet who demonstrated his great skill with the creation of many astounding works. Michelangelo's artwork consisted of paintings and sculptures that showed humanity in its natural state. He is remembered today as the man who had sculpted the "David" and the "Pieta", which are two of the most stunning sculptures to come out of the Renaissance period. Although sculpting was the love of his life, his paintings of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and "The Last Judgement" are considered by many his best masterpieces.

Michelangelo's artistic career can be divided into two periods. In the early period he focused on realism. During this early period Michelangelo's works included the Pieta and the David. At the age of 24 he completed a statue called the "Pieta", which is still in its original place in Saint Peter's Basilica. This marble sculpture shows the dead Jesus Christ in his mother's arms. In 1501 Michelangelo returned to Florence, Italy to sculpt the famous nude sculpture called the "David".

The "David" measures 18 feet tall, and is so massive that it took 40 men to move it from Michelangelo's workshop (Liebert, 72). The second period of Michelangelo's career was based upon his own imagination. In 1505 Michelangelo was summoned by Pope Julius II to fabricate a monumental tomb for him. We have no clear sense of what the tomb was to look like, since over the years it went through at least five conceptual revisions, and was never actually finished due to frustrating delays.

A short time after starting the tomb, Pope Julius II selected Michelangelo to fresco the Sistine Chapel ceiling. When other artists were asked to paint ceilings they lied down on the scaffolding. Michelangelo painted in a standing position which caused him much discomfort (Liebert 146-147). Michelangelo even wrote a sonnet in which he described the pain he felt while painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. My belly's pushed by force beneath my chin My beard toward Heaven, I feel the back of my brain Upon my neck, I grow the breast of a Harpy; My brush, above my face continually Makes it a splendid floor by dripping down My loins have penetrated to my paunch My rump's a crupper, as a counterweight, And pointless the unseeing steps I go In front of me my skin is being stretched While it folds up behind and forms a knot And I am bending like a Syrian bow (Liebert 148). Pope Julius' chief architect Bramante questioned Michelangelo's experience with fresco, but as he was a friend of the Pope, it was insisted upon that he be given the job.

Michelangelo worked on the ceiling from July of 1508 to October 31, 1512. He had hired five assistants to aid him in painting process. All in all, Michelangelo had painted three hundred and thirty-six assorted figures on the Sistine ceiling. This was an incredible feat and in the present, three hundred thirty-five and one-half of these figures still remain (Brandes, 162). The overall organization of the fresco consists of four large triangles at the corner; a series of eight triangular spaces on the outer border; an intermediate series of figures; and nine central panels, all bound together with architectural motifs and nude male figures. The corner triangles depict heroic action in the Old Testament, while the other eight triangles depict the biblical ancestors of Jesus Christ.

Michelangelo conceived and executed this huge work in only four years, the first half taking almost three years to complete. The paintings were done with the brightest colors that attracted attention to the whole ceiling as one entered to look. The ceiling was completed just a little after the Pope had died but has given the Sistine Chapel tremendous appeal for having the best fresco ever done. In painting "The Last Judgment", Michelangelo was given the chance to incorporate all that he had learned about the human body. He was able to show the way the body moved, as well as its displays of unrestrained passion, overwhelming grief, or endless torment. Michelangelo received a commission from Pope Clement VII to paint "The Last Judgment" on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in 1534.

He was also commissioned at this time to paint a "Fall of the Angels" on the entrance wall, but this second work was never executed (Brandes, 198). Sebastian del Pombo had persuaded the pope that the painting would look best in oil, and the wall was therefore prepared to receive oil pigments. This delayed the beginning of the work, since Michelangelo declared oil painting to be an "effeminate art" and insisted on painting "al fresco", as he had done with the ceiling. Although he had painted the ceiling of the chapel twenty-eight years earlier, the style of "The Last Judgment" was greatly different. On the ceiling, the ideas of hope and exaltation seem to rule, but on the altar wall, there is the depiction of Christ as the unforgiving Judge. "The Last Judgment" has a "drastically plain and direct style, with squarish rather than supple figures", (De Tolnay, 30) whereas the ceiling has a more complicated style.

Also, the figures on the altar wall do not have the same amount of beauty as the figures of the ceiling. Michelangelo followed the tradition of others in having Christ at the top with his hand raised, and also brighter than the rest of the angels and demons. Christ seems to have a harsh and cold expression that furthers Michelangelo's depiction of Christ as the Judge. Christ puts into motion the inevitable separation, with the saved ascending on the left side of the painting and the damned descending on the right into hell. The saved souls rise from their graves and then begin their ascent toward Heaven.

One may expect there to be as much joy on the left as there is torment on the right, but these souls are don't even look happy as they all rush past each other. Michelangelo has filled them with a similar amount of horror as those who are on the right. The chosen ones are not even greeted with a smile from Christ who seems far less inclined to acquit than to condemn. (Brandes 385) It was completed in October of 1541 and unveiled on Christmas Day two months later. Many were appalled to see the great amount of nudity which filled the painting. They did not feel that it was appropriate for such holy people to be depicted without clothes on.

Michelangelo felt that it was the body which ascends to Heaven, not the clothes. Unfortunately, Michelangelo's masterpiece only remained intact for fourteen years, at which point artists were commissioned to paint clothes on the "most beautiful nudes". (Brandes 392-394) "The Last Judgement" seems to stress the importance of the human body and the ways in which the body can move. Michelangelo's skill with the human anatomy allowed him to capture the feelings and emotions which were very characteristic al of this time. The torment and horror we can see in the fresco are also perhaps and indication of the hardships which Michelangelo felt during this time in his life. "The Last Judgment" however is a beautiful painting by the master artist, Michelangelo.

This painting along with many others, allows a greater understanding of the Renaissance era as well as an insight into his own feelings. Although born in the small village of Cap rese, Michelangelo continued to have a deep attachment to his city, its art, and its culture throughout his long life. However, in his will he left instructions that he be buried in Florence, and his body was laid rest in a fine monument in the church of Santa Croce. Michelangelo was arguably one of the most inspired creators in the history of art and one of the contributory forces to the Italian High Renaissance.

Even after his death, this sculptor, architect, painter, and poets' many contributions have exerted a tremendous influence on his generation and on subsequent western art in general.

Bibliography

Brandes, Georg. Michelangelo, His Life, His Times, His Era. New York: Frederick Unger Publishing Co., 1963.
De Tolnay, Charles. The Art and Thought of Michelangelo. New York: Random House, 1964 Liebert, Robert S MD.
Michelangelo, A Psychoanalytic Study of His Life and Images. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983.