Michelangelos Sistine Chapel - Essay Example

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel A lot of study has been devoted to analysis and appreciation of the fabulous paintings of the Sistine Chapel, conducted between the years of 1508 and 1512 by Michelangelo Bounarroti, but not as much attention has been given to the story behind the art. Although already recognized as a highly talented and well-respected artist with a keen eye for emotion and a sensitive treatment of religious topics, there were several requirements and special challenges regarding the undertaking of this particular masterpiece. Because of the sheer difficulty of the project, requiring the artist to spend years painting in wet plaster rather than working on his sculpture or other projects, some might wonder what prompted Michelangelo to undertake this project rather than allowing some other artist the dubious honor. Just how much freedom Michelangelo had in this decision is an often discussed topic. It might also be wondered whether the subject of the painting was determined by Michelangelo himself or the Pope who commissioned him for the project. To more fully appreciate the process that contributed to the creation of the Sistine Ceiling, it is necessary to understand the details regarding the commission of the project, why it was commissioned, why Michelangelo accepted the commission given the difficulties involved, how he met these challenges given the media and subject involved as well as his final assessment of the results. It is widely accepted that Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling as none other had the power and authority to force the artist back to Rome. Michelangelo had fled the city only two years earlier after the Pope first commissioned him to create approximately 40 sculptures in the most lavish Papal tomb designed to date and then refused to honor his portion of the contract. In addition, the work being requested of Michelangelo was painting rather than sculpture which he preferred. Other accounts indicate the idea of having the ceiling completed by Michelangelo was the idea of Donato Bramante, who intended to discredit Michelangelo’s daunting reputation. “In Michelangelo’s eyes, Bramante had persuaded the pope to abandon the project [of the tomb] by warning him that it was bad luck to have one’s tomb carved during one’s lifetime, and had then proposed an altogether different commission for the sculptor, a task at which he knew Michelangelo could not possibly succeed” (King, 2003, p. 11). Work commenced on the project in 1536 under Pope Paul III and was finished in 1541 (West, 1996). The project was started by necessity. According to Waldemar Januszczak (1990), the chapel ceiling had been thrown up in haste between 1477 and 1483 to please Sixtus IV, who rightfully felt he hadn’t long to live and wanted to see the completed chapel prior to his death. However, this haste led to faulty building, leading to a major collapse in 1504. “This was the most important chapel in Christiandom: it had to be repaired. Sixtus’ nephew, Julius II, who owed his entire religious career to his uncle’s nepotistic largesse, must have decided almost immediately that the roof should be restored and that the existing ceiling, a blue one decorated with a galaxy of twinkling silver stars, must be replaced” (Januszczak, 1990, p. xiii). During the height of the Italian Renaissance, it was extremely important for the ruling and wealthy families to put up some sort of architecture that would stand as a long-lasting personal monument to the power and prestige of the family line and the church fathers were no exception to the rule (Martines, 1979, p. 236). The idea to hire Michelangelo for the project probably came as a combination of the Pope’s previous high opinion of Michelangelo’s work along with the urging or discouragement of Bramante, who in some instances is said to have encouraged the commission and in others is said to have discouraged it as a work completely above and beyond the scope of Michelangelo’s powers to carry it off respectably. “Holy Father,” he is reported as having said, “I believe he does not have enough courage and spirit for it, because he has not done too many figures and, above all, the figures are high and in foreshortening, and this is another thing from painting at ground level” (King, 2003, p. 21). Given the history of his relationship with the Pope, it is surprising to many that he accepted the commission for the Sistine Chapel. It was true that he much preferred sculpture to painting and that he was exceedingly unfamiliar with both the fresco technique and the foreshortening techniques necessary for the project. Also, ceilings were often given to lesser known artists or apprentices, making Michelangelo feel as if the commission were beneath his talents as an artist (King, 2003, p. 27). It wasn’t until after he completed a bronze sculpture of the Pope that Michelangelo was again summoned to Rome. Having just returned to the Pope’s good graces and facing a Pope with more authority and power than any before or since, Michelangelo had little desire to anger him further and still nourished hope for work on the tomb (King, 2003, pp. 43-45). In undertaking the project, the first step in tackling the ceiling work was working out just how to get to the ceiling itself. Some scaffolding was already in place in preparation for the project, built by Bramante, but it was deemed inadequate for its purpose. “Bramante built a scaffold that was suspended from the ceiling from ropes. When Michelangelo saw it, he was convinced that Bramante was trying to discredit him in the eyes of the pope because he knew that when the scaffolding was removed it would leave holes in the ceiling and ruin the painting (Marszalek & Panagakis, 2004). Michelangelo’s scaffold, on the other hand, consisted of a flat wooden platform on brackets that were built out from the walls near the tops of the windows, reducing any damage to the building itself and connected to the floor by a series of zigzag ladders. With the scaffolding in place, it was then necessary for teams to come in and remove the plaster of the old ceiling upon which Piermatteo d’Amelia’s fresco of the starry sky had been painted and a new layer of foundation plaster, called ariccio, was applied. Intonaco is the layer of plaster that the pigments are applied to in a fresco. Michelangelo, although depicted in movies as having lain on his back to complete the painting, did no such thing. Instead, he bent over backwards in order to get just the right touch. As has already been mentioned, Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel using the fresco technique and a design he himself determined. The process of fresco painting is at once complicated and rushed. It began with the process of mixing intonaco, which is essentially calcium hydroxide by mixing quicklime with water and sand in just the right proportions to make the plaster stick. This specialized plaster, spread over the working area at approximately half an inch thick, absorbed the pigments applied and then locked them into place as it dried. The major drawback to this method, though, was that the plaster dried quickly, often in less than 24 hours in the Tuscan summer heat, so only a small amount could be spread at a time, typically no larger than the area of a large size canvas. As was the custom in Italy at the time, Michelangelo began designing the ceiling according to specifications sent to him by the Pope. The original instructions were that Michelangelo should paint the Twelve Apostles above the windows of the chapel while covering the rest of the ceiling space with geometric squares and circles reminiscent of ancient Roman villas. When Michelangelo complained to the Pope about the lack of imagination involved in the ceiling design, the Pope reportedly “merely shrugged his shoulders and then, according to Michelangelo, gave him free rein to design his own program” (King, 2003, p. 60). However, it is most likely that he received a great deal of advisory regarding the content. The evidence is provided in the sophisticated theology depicted upon the ceiling, cleverly linking the lives of Jesus and Moses with the beginning books of the Bible and blending into the scenes already depicted upon the walls of the chapel. The ceiling, once finished, delighted most who came to see it. “The pope was delighted with the unveiled fresco, surveying it ‘with immense satisfaction.’ Everyone visiting the Sistine Chapel in the days after the fresco’s completion was equally dazzled with Michelangelo’s work” (King, 2003, p. 299). Despite his pleasure with the work, though, it is reported that Julius II was somewhat dissatisfied with the final image because of its lack of ‘the final touch.’ Previous works of great artists had included the use of gold and ultramarine to add a certain touch of richness and opulence to the painting. Although the pope argued vociferously with Michelangelo regarding these extra touches, Michelangelo won out by arguing that the men depicted were not rich men and that the fresco would last longer without such unnecessary additional touches. However it was accepted or rejected by others, Michelangelo seemed to have taken a rather pessimistic attitude toward the entire work. His letters home complain more of his physical suffering in carrying out the painting as well as his lack of payments than the beauty that was emerging from his paint pots. The mentions made of the artwork itself are usually oblique, in statements such as “my work is not progressing in such a way as to make me think that I deserve anything” (Stone, 1962, p. 46). However, within the painting, he was able to answer many of the objections originally raised against him being the selected artist for the ceiling. A foreshortened image of Jonah satisfactorily answered the complaints of Bramante regarding Michelangelo’s ability to understand the relationship between the contours of the surface and the vantage point of his audience while the overall awe-inspiring effect he achieved within the ceiling itself proved to everyone that this inexperienced painter was as gifted with a brush as he was with a chisel. Thus, though the images still preserved and now restored on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel tell an amazing story of Biblical times and display an awesome application of visual and technical talent, the story behind the ceiling provides an even greater appreciation for the monumental work. It tells of a titanic power struggle between an incredibly talented man and an equally stubborn and demanding Pope. It tells of the fear and the triumph of a sensitive artist over the threats and insults, veiled or outspoken, made by others attempting to discredit his abilities. And it displays the sheer force of will necessary and expended to not only prove these others wrong, but also to accomplish the task undertaken, overcome the physical and technical challenges presented and to fight against continual interruptions and lack of funds. While Michelangelo is widely lauded as a master in the arts, his completion of the Sistine Chapel to such a high degree of skill also demonstrates he was a master at overcoming a myriad of challenges as they arose with a single-minded attention to detail and, to some extent, escape in the execution of his art. Works Cited Januszczak, Waldemar. Sayonara Michelangel: The Sistine Chapel Restored and Repackaged. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1990. King, Ross. Michelangelo & The Pope’s Ceiling. New York: Walker & Company, 2003. Marszalek, C.S. & Panagakis, B. The Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Renaissance Art Studio, August 23, 2004. Martines, Lauro. Power and Imagination: City-States in Renaissance Italy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979. 236. Stone, Irving (Ed.). I, Michelangelo, Sculptor: An Autobiography Through Letters. New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1962. West, Shearer. The Bulfinch Guide to Art History: A Comprehensive Survey and Dictionary of Western Art and Architecture. Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1996. Read More