Michelangelo and The Sistine Chapel Frescos Essay

An inextricable quality of ceiling frescoes is their consumption di sotto in sù (translated from Italian to “from below, upward”). That is to say, the viewer must direct their gaze skyward in order to view such frescoes. In the case of Gaulli’s Triumph of the Name of Jesus, the viewer’s gaze is drawn first to this aureate burst—a rapturous burst of light around which floats a ring of what appear to be cherubs. The burst of light casts a spire that points toward the upper bound of the fresco’s ornate cornice upon which lies a cascading banner flanked by sculpted angels and shells. Once pointed by the spire to this upper bound, the viewer may then notice the intricate floral patterns that adorn the cornice, patterns which are not repeated elsewhere in the text. Following the outline of the cornice due counterclockwise, the viewer is led to a disruption of the cornice’s outline by a set of figures on a swirling cloud whose trajectory extends beyond the elliptical

Florence is home to many wonderful painters and artists during the renaissance. The one who did the ceiling of the cathedral that is shown is Giorgio Vasari. he was a renaissance painter, architect, and author. This artifact shows how extravagant they had gotten with their art, using perspective, shading and the influences of humanism to paint. This shows the true art of this time period.

When thinking of sculptures, one of the first that comes to mind is David. This statue was created of marble between 1501 and 1504 and stands over 14 feet high. David is a symbol that represents strength and anger. The statue had intended political connotations for the ruling of the Medici family. Michelangelo used David as model of "heroic courage" to demonstrate that "spiritual strength can be more effective than arms". Michelangelo insisted that David should stand as a symbol of the republic and act as a warning that Florence shall be governed justly and bravely". This was the first time since antiquity that a large nude statue be exhibited in a public place.

For My Museum Essay, I have chosen Rogier van der Weyden’s “St. Luke drawing the Virgin” (c. 1435-40). First of all, this painting is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of art, with both meticulous details and true to life emotional state of the figures portrayed. And it intrigued me even more when I found out that there is a very compositionally similar painting by Jan Van Eyck (“Madonna with Chancellor Rolin”).

In the years to come, Raphael painted an additional fresco cycle for the Vatican, located in the stanza d’Eliodoro (“Room of Heliodorus, The miracle of bolsena, The Repulse pf Attila from Rome and the liberation of saint peter. During the same time, the ambitious painter produced a successful series of “Madonna” paintings in his own art studio. The famed Madonna of the chair and Sistine Madonna were among them. By 1514, Raphael had achieved fame for his work at the Vatican and was able to hire a crew of assistants to help him finish painting frescoes in the Stanza dell’Incendio, freeing him up to focus on other projects. While Raphael continued to accept commissions – including portraits of Popes Julius II and Leo X – and his largest painting on canvas, The Transfiguration (commissioned in 1517), he had by this time begun to work on architecture. After architect Donato Bramante died in 1514, the pope hired Raphael as his chief architect. Under this appointment, Raphael created the design for a chapel and an area within Saint Peters new basilica. Raphael’s architectural work was not limited to religious buildings. It also extended to designing

On my twenty-forth birthday, the seventh of May, my mother, the eminent, Whitney West Scooter, almost had a major myocardial infarction. After, I told her that her aspiring Michelangelo had withdrawn, that very day, from her alma mater the illustrious J. C. West Academy of Fine Arts. The only reason I attend the Academy, in the first place was to appease my mother, who believed every artist should hold an art degree. I spend the entire day with my mother and throughout breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I tried to penetrate her armor of resistance so she might understand my reason for leaving the Academy at the conclusion of my junior year. As I spoke, her facial expression took on the characteristics of a rabid dog about to pounce. And I swear

But Honthorst’s painting contrasts with both typical ceiling paintings and his own typically Biblical subject matter. As we gaze up toward heaven to look at the painting, we expect to see a Bible story; instead, our eyes are greeted by a merry pastoral scene depicting common people in the midst of a common activity. Unlike many of the paintings that Honthorst saw in Italy, its secular subject parodies the idea of heaven depicted in many ceiling paintings. Instead of looking up to see angels floating in the distant atmosphere, we see a host of ‘normal’ people. We are even invited to join them, and the simple balcony makes us feel that we need only climb upstairs in order to enjoy the same happiness.

The figures in the School of Athens are noticeably turning, twisting, bending, and moving. This feat would not have been possible without the influence of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. This change is Raphael’s style began after the preliminary unveiling of the ceiling. Raphael’s figures began to be more voluminous and hulking, similar to the Sybils on the Ceiling. An online art archive explained, “Following the preliminary unveiling of the Sistine ceiling in 1509, the figures in Raphael's pictures acquire more voluminous bodies and more powerful arms, and there is a reduction in their numbers. The bold twisting position adopted by the young woman in the Expulsion of Heliodorus - a pose which reappears in reverse in Raphael's late work, the Transfiguration - would be inconceivable without the influence of Michelangelo.” All doubt can be removed when comparing Raphael’s figures to those of Michelangelo’s Sybils on the Sistine Ceiling. “Any question as to the cause of the widely-acknowledged sudden change in Raphael's style after 1509 is removed for good, however, when we compare the Sibyls and Prophets executed by Raphael in the Capella Chigi in S. Maria della Pace (1512) with those by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. In addition to the thematic kinship of these frescos with Michelangelo, Raphael's new approach to body volumes and twisting poses makes patently clear the

In the scope of this paper two works of art would be compared and contrasted - David’s Oath of the Horatii and Painting of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride by Van Eyck.

The works of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo influenced the art of the 16th century in Italy and Europe in many ways. Three of Michelangelo’s works such as: The Last Judgment, Pieta, and David were great works during his time. Leonardo da Vinci also contributed great works to the 15st century such as: The Last Supper, St. James in the Wilderness, and The Mona Lisa. Although there were some similarities in Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo’s works, their differences and uniqueness is what made their works great masterpieces of the 15th and 16th century.

Michelangelo always saw himself as a sculptor, even though some of his most famous works are his paintings and architecture. In Michelangelo’s words, “Painting is beautiful in the measure that it approaches sculpture; sculpture is bad the more it approaches painting”. In fact, when Pope Julius II ordered Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in fresco, Michelangelo rebelled. The Sistine Chapel is an example of Michelangelo’s impatience with others as previously mentioned. In the fall of 1508 Michelangelo began the painting of the Sistine ceiling, calling on assistance from Giuliano Bugiardini, Aristotile da Sangallo, Francesco Granacci and several laborers. However, the work that Michelangelo’s friends and laborers

Michelangelo, renowned Renaissance painter and sculptor, called the doors “The Gates of Paradise,” a golden gateway leading into the Heavens. The name stuck, but more so because of the significance of the doors’ location at The Baptistery of San Giovanni in Florence, Italy, where during the Middle Ages, converts came yearly at the parade dedicated to St. John the Baptist, to be anointed and earn paradise; hence, the “paradise” in The Gates of Paradise (“Baptistery of San Giovanni”). Before naming the work of art though, it had to have first been built. Commissioned to goldsmith Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1425 by the Arte di Calimala, a guild of wool merchants in Florence, the golden-bronze doors took twenty-seven years to construct and were

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.

Just as other works that reflect art, pieces in the category of fine arts serve the important message of passing certain messages or portraying a special feeling towards a particular person, function or activity. At times due to the nature of a particular work, it can become so valuable that its viewers cannot place a price on it. It is not the nature or texture of an art that qualifies it, but the appreciation by those who look at it (Lewis & Lewis, 2008).

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.