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Location: Michelangelo Buonarroti
Discussion: 1 November 1512 - Sistine Chapel Ceiling shown to public for 1st time
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Kittywake09 |
1 November 1512 - Sistine Chapel Ceiling shown to public for 1st time
Oct 31 2010, 8:18 PM EDT
| Post edited: Oct 31 2010, 8:20 PM EDT
To be able to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo needed a support; the first idea was by Pope Julius' favoured architect Donato Bramante, who wanted to build for him a scaffold to be suspended in the air with ropes. However, Bramante did not successfully complete the task, and the structure he built was flawed. He had perforated the vault in order to lower strings to secure the scaffold. Michelangelo laughed when he saw the structure, and believed it would leave holes in the ceiling once the work was ended. He asked Bramante what was to happen when the painter reached the perforations, but the architect had no answer. The matter was taken before the Pope, who ordered Michelangelo to build a scaffold of his own. Michelangelo created a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall, high up near the top of the windows. He stood on this scaffolding while he painted. Michelangelo used bright colours, easily visible from the floor. On the lowest part of the ceiling he painted the ancestors of Christ. Above this he alternated male and female prophets, with Jonah over the altar. On the highest section, Michelangelo painted nine stories from the Book of Genesis. He was originally commissioned to paint only 12 figures, the Apostles. He turned down the commission because he saw himself as a sculptor, not a painter. The Pope offered to allow Michelangelo to paint biblical scenes of his own choice as a compromise. After the work was finished, there were more than 300. His figures showed the creation, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood. He painted the Last Judgment over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, on commission from Pope Paul III Farnese. Do you find this valuable?
Keyword tags:
Michelangelo
Pope Julius II
Pope Paul III
Rome
Sistine Chapel
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offwithherhead |
1. RE: 1 November 1512 - Sistine Chapel Ceiling shown to public for 1st time
Nov 1 2010, 9:51 AM EDT
Can you imagine walking into that chapel and seeing that ceiling for the first time when the colors were new and vibrant. I will just bet there were many tears as people were overwhelmed by what they saw.
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Kittywake09 |
2. RE: 1 November 1512 - Sistine Chapel Ceiling shown to public for 1st time
Nov 1 2010, 10:28 AM EDT
It would have been just amazing!!! You would truly feel you were close to God.
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offwithherhead |
3. RE: 1 November 1512 - Sistine Chapel Ceiling shown to public for 1st time
Nov 1 2010, 10:37 AM EDT
"It would have been just amazing!!! You would truly feel you were close to God."No kidding....if you weren't a believer, seeing that ceiling for the first time would surely make you a believer. Do you find this valuable? |
Brooke9/7 |
4. RE: 1 November 1512 - Sistine Chapel Ceiling shown to public for 1st time
Nov 1 2010, 4:01 PM EDT
What an amazing work! It makes me literally tear up when I look at it, and not to mention when I think about the hardship, pain, and sacrifice Michelangelo endured. The sheer drive and endurance he displayed puts him in the category with da Vinci and Mozart - divine inspiration comes to mind! Thanks Julius II, your stubborn forcefulness really paid off for all art lovers!The three or so weeks I spent reading the novel "The Agony and the Ecstasy" were three of the best I can remember for a very very long time. I just couldn't put it down. Do you find this valuable? |
