"Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving."
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe
On today's date, November 1, in the year 1512 the paintings of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome were opened to public viewing for the first time. Considered one of, if not the most important example of art of the High Renaissance, it was painted between 1508 and 1512 it was as Herr Goethe says above, it was indeed one man's achievement.
Michelangelo; sculptor or painter?
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born in 1475 in the village of Caprese and was raised in Florence a center of artistic development in the early Renaissance. Showing obvious ability, he was taken in as a special interest of Lorenzo de’ Medici, a man who was very interested in supporting the arts, who was the leader of the Florentine Republic. Michelangelo
(right) considered himself to be primarily a sculptor, having demonstrated his mastery of the craft with his magnificent work on pieces such as the Pieta (1498) and David (1504). But it was as a painter that he was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome in 1508.
Michelangelo -vs- the Pope
Julius II (below) has been called the "Warrior Pope" because he conducted several wars during his Papacy to bring Italy under his leadership in order to keep the ambitions of the various Kings in line and unite them all under the leadership of thee church. Such a man was not one to be told "no" by anyone. In spite of the fact that Michelangelo was then working on
sculpting the tomb of Julius himself. Michelangelo protested that he should continue to work on the tomb, but the Pope had settled on the ceiling of the Sistine as the primary project. So Michelangelo was obliged to accept. But here again there was disagreement. The Pope had envisioned large paintings of he twelve Apostles to be the main focus of the work. But Michelangelo had in mind a scheme far greater and more involved, dealing with the events of the Bible's Old Testament. Finally after considerable disagreement, Michelangelo was given leave as he put it: "to do as I liked."
The Sistine Chapel took Michelangelo a LONG Time
It wound up taking Michelangelo four long years to complete his very grand design, which came to include over three hundred characters and which he did entirely on his own - no assistants were employed, and the scaffolding used was of Michelangelo's design. As to whether or not the artist laid on his back the entire time or stood, the consensus at present seems to be that he stood, and that the long-held conception of the man on his back for four years is a myth. This was very trying on the patience of the Pope who wanted the whole thing done in a greater hurry than the artist was prepared to go. Here from the 1553 biography of Michelangelo by Ascanio Condivi we have an idea of what was going on between these two men:
"It is true I have heard him say, that it was not finished as he would have wished; having been prevented by the hurry of the pope, who asked him one day when he would finish the chapel, and Michelangelo replying to him, 'as soon as I am able' added in wrath: 'You wish that I should have you thrown down from the scaffold' and Michelangelo hearing this, said to himself: 'you shall not have me thrown down.' And having gone his way, he caused the scaffold to be removed, and uncovered the work on the Feast of All Saints, and it was seen with great satisfaction by the pope, who was in the chapel that day, and by all Rome, who flocked together to see it."
But on today's date Michelangelo's celebrated masterpiece was unveiled to the world and has been hailed as a one of the greatest artistic achievements of all time. Probably the most famous detail, the creation of Adam by God is shown below:
Sources =
"The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness History", Ed. by Jon E. Lewis, Carroll & Graf Publ.,
New York, 1998
