MICHELANGELO and Religion

Ross King’s Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling narrates the four years from 1508-1512 that Michelangelo spent laboring over the immense project handed to him; to fresco the 12,000 square foot ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. King’s book describes the battles that Michelangelo faced; the internal struggles, political turmoil and rivalries among fellow artist that encompassed his surroundings. Michelangelo’s battles with his health, family problems, financial burdens, rival artists and the ever impatient Pope are told in great detail by King. King also provides precise artistic descriptions of the process required to fresco scenes so magnificent they are considered one of the greatest artistic masterpieces of all time.

The architectural construction of the Sistine Chapel was between 1475-1481. The historical and psychological substance of the Sistine Chapel’s birth was evident in his conflicts between the Franciscan factions, giving the Conventuals his favor, together with his long-term pursuit to canonize St. Bonaventure. The Sistine Chapel, under the reign of Sixtus IV, contained fresco decorative paintings. The painted imagery contained the first 30 Popes along with Martyrs, the feast of the Assumption of Mary, which was the altarpiece, among Christian iconography of the Christ and Moses, whom was a popular theme in the chapel by the Pope’s request. This, however, was destroyed several years later to become what we now know as Michelangelo's Last Judgment in

This was accepted with great pleasure by this up and coming artist who now had solidified himself as more than just an aspirant, but a successful artist. As it happened, the biggest commission of Raphael's life brought him into a direct encounter with one of his idols. Just down the corridor, Michelangelo was engaged in the greatest solo project of the Renaisssance, the painting of the Sistine chapel. (Donegan) Michelangelo didn’t think very highly of Raphael, and thought him unworthy to work on a project of such high religious significance. This began one of the greatest artistic rivalries of all time and became the stuff of

Michelangelo’s significance to art history is enormous. Michelangelo's output in every field during his long life was prodigious; when the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences that survive is also taken into account, he is the best-documented artist of the 16th century. He created two of the most influential works in fresco in the history of Western art, the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He then later on in life designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the same city and revolutionized classical architecture with his use of the giant order of pilasters. In a demonstration of Michelangelo's unique standing, he was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive. This shows how much significance he has and how much his art works influenced the world. His Sistine Chapel ceiling painting shows the significance he had to the church and Christianity. His works signify religion, but to a more explicit level. In his lifetime he was also often called Il Divino ("the divine one") . One of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and it was the attempts of subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelo's impassioned and highly personal style. His significance caused for him to have a lasting impact on the

Michelangelo’s Bathers, though a mere sketch for a never-executed fresco, causes an enormous artistic uprising in Florence and its surrounding areas. His “wholly different art” intrigues painters all around Italy, with mixed reactions of fascination and wrath. Talented young artists including Raphael Sanzio and Sebastiano de Sangallo are moved to “start back at the beginning” and rethink their techniques and knowledge of painting (Stone 435). Michelangelo applies this same talent to the Sistine ceiling at the request of Pope Julius II to create his most religious piece of work, a documentation of God’s creation of the world and an illustration of the artist’s belief in God. Michelangelo in essence becomes a self-appointed god himself as he praises His supreme power and pays homage to the Creation. Instead of complying to previously stipulated artistic norms, Buonarroti displays his own trademark of complex nude figures while at the same time combining Greek ideals and Christian morals. Michelangelo also paints the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, another selection of his art that was awarded with mixed reactions from the public. Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine chapel was completed in the early and mid-1500’s, but it remains some of the most well-known and respected Renaissance art. Contrary to Lorenzo’s theory that the “finest flowering [arts] of every age are torn down, broken, [and] burned by the next” (Stone 179), the art of Michelangelo survives as a result of his resilient

Michelangelo is one of the most well-known artists of all time, with many masterpieces attributed to him including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which stays one in every of his maximum famous initiatives. Michelangelo, like any other artists did now not create his artwork honestly from spontaneous notion of invention. He changed into stimulated by many various factors which include faith and other philosophies that have been actively practiced in society. His specialty and even his compositions demonstrate those impacts and can be seen approach to good impacts of his works.

Michelangelo’s most famous piece The Ceiling of The Sistine Chapel is a series of Frescoes depicting Biblical stories. The ceiling was renovated in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

The Pieta is a “sculpture of Mary holding the dead Jesus across her lap” (Biography.com Editors). Back in Florence, he created the statue of David. Two former sculptors attempted to create art out the 17 for piece of marble, but ended up abandoning it. “David” became a famous piece of art in the city of Florence. Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to start painting instead of sculpting so he could paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He finished the 65-foot ceiling single handedly on October 31, 1512. Other buildings he designed are the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library. All of these architectural pieces had a great impact on Michelangelo’s career, but he was glorified when he became the chief architect of St. Peter’s Basilica in

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance which left an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before the age of thirty. Although he had a low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also created two of the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and The Last Judgment on its altar wall. Heavily influenced by Lorenzo de’Medici who wished to revive the art of sculpture in the classical manner of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Classical art provided an inspiration and a standard of excellence that

My personal favorite piece of work done by Michelangelo is the well- known ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Originally, the pope wanted scenes from the New Testament on the ceiling, but Michelangelo chose the Old Testament instead. Overall, the project was a huge task and took about four years to complete. After the completion of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo became known as “divine Michelangelo”, and he felt he was God’s artist. Michelangelo said in Speeches & Presentations Unzipped “If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius.”

Michelangelo believed that the human body was a reflection of the person’s inner soul, “The soule is form and doth the bodie make.” Out of this belief came a fascination with the naked human body and all its imperfections and sheer detail. Michelangelo sought to include this in much of his artwork; however, the most notable example is in his statue David. His other sculptures feature this passion; heavy-handed classical features combined with Michelangelo’s own flair, his Tuscan roots showing forth. David is representative of Michelangelo’s view of the humanist ideal-that man is locked in a heroic struggle with fate, that only through strength of will, courage, and determination can we win the decisive battle. David’s body is carved with scientific precision, yet stands tall and austere. This is where Michelangelo looks beyond humanism-to the point that man must aspire to be a god, that humans should look to become greater than man, to become the greatest they can be. Likewise, Michelangelo’s Battle of Cascina shows his fascination with the human body. Each one of the men in the drawing possess admirable traits combined with deft scientific knowledge of anatomy. This drawing became the foundation of the academic ideal of the human body; the drawing was used in art education for hundreds of years as a lyrical combination of antiquity and scientific precision. Out of all his artwork; however, the one that stands out the most as representative of the humanist ideals that dominated the Renaissance is his work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. He was commissioned to paint the ceiling after he had had a falling out with Pope Julius II, almost a penance for his actions and words. Despite his insistence that painting was not his forte, Michelangelo produced a momentous work of art that resonates with humanity to this day. His painting beings with The

Michelangelo painted the ceilings in the church between 1508-1512. The ceilings have 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis. Michelangelo started working on the ceilings for Pope Julius II.

By the time Michelangelo returned to Florence, he had become somewhat of an art star. He had taken over commissions for a statue of “David”, and several other commissions, including a important project for the tomb of Pope Julis II, but this project was interrupted due to a request for Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo continued the work on the tomb of Julis II after the Sistine Chapel was completed, and even designed the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library.

The Sistine Chapel is one of the most beautiful artworks known to man, but who knew that so many secrets could be hidden in the artwork that covers the ceilings and walls of the sacred church. The Sistine Chapel was falling apart and after getting it fixed church needed someone to decorate the inside with the most intelligent strokes of a paint brush. After searching Pope Julius ll chose the famous artist Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo may or may not have wanted to paint the Sistine Chapel for the Pope. Symbols are everywhere in art; Michelangelo was able to put large and even some insulting symbols on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The high renaissance time period introduced the world to arguably its best artists. Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian ruled the grand community of artists at the time. Da Vinci and Michelangelo further succeeded because of their versatility. The high renaissance was marked by rival city-states and a continued trend of lavish spenders. Religious and political leaders spent great quantity of money to have their chapels, or any setting appear better than their rivals. Michelangelo’s artwork dominates over any other in the Sistine chapel. The Sistine chapel is the ideal place of where new popes are elected. Michelangelo brought along his love for sculpting in his paintings. There are about three hundred figures on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, and no two appear the same. Michelangelo’s artwork has an enormous variety of expression. Arguably Michelangelo’s best painting; The Creation of Adam perfectly represents his ideas. God is shown flying through the sky; while Adam is bound to the earth. Beneath the Lord’s left arm appears to be Eve, waiting to be born. The viewer’s eye follows the entire arm motion perfectly, which ends up pointing at Christ’s child face. Michelangelo’s figures differ greatly from Leonardo Da Vinci’s formal poses and gestures. Michelangelo’s figures include