Sistine Chapel Ceiling Research Paper

The Renaissance was from c. 1300-1600 in Italy then spreading to the rest of Europe around 1450. During this time period, new forms of art and literature were developed that glorified the individual. Sculpture, painting and architecture techniques enhanced the individual’s beauty and uniqueness.

Through swift glimpse, it is apparent that they had many in common as artists of the High Renaissance period. One of both their greatest moments as artists and painters were commissions insisted by the Pope which rendered high significance from one another. Michelangelo’s triumphed in the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512) and Raphael’s gem, Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms). A story was said to believe that Raphael, at the time, were painting frescos and was deeply inspired by Michelangelo’s paintings. He had accessed the Sistine Chapel still in its making without the consent on Michelangelo and later scraped his frescos of the wall to paint and repainted it, imitating the more dynamic style of

In this research paper I will be looking at two different artworks by the same artist. The two I will be looking at are the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512) and The Last Judgment (1534). Both of these painting are painted in the Sistine chapel which is located in the Vatican. I am going to attempt to evaluate these two pieces of art painted by Michelangelo and explain the cultural and religious aspects of them. I will also look to other scholars to get their perspective and their reactions to the paintings. The last step of my research will be to formulate a theory about the relationship between culture and religion and use my topic to help defend my theory.

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

“Studies for the Libyan Sibyl” (1510–11) by Michelangelo Buonarroti is the study of male anatomy and is a characteristic example of Michelangelo 's late draughtsmanship, and a preparatory sketch for one of the female seers frescoed Libyan figure Sibyl, painted on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512) Rome, Vaticana Palace. Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, Caprese 1475–1564 Rome) was a painter, sculptor, architect, poet, engineer as well as a compulsive drawer, of the High Italian Renaissance era, who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Michelangelo was once quoted saying “Design, which by another name is called drawing is the font and body of painting and sculpture and architecture and every other kind of painting and the root of all sciences” (Michelangelo And The Mastery Of Drawing).

"The Renaissance was a rebirth that led to new ways of thinking in the sciences, philosophy, and architecture, as well as painting and sculpture" (Spence 6). This period of European history, beginning in the fourteenth-century, saw a renewed interest in the arts. It has been characterized by

The Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by Michelangelo in the years of 1508 and 1512 C.E. The Sistine Chapel was built in the year 1479 under the orders of the Pope Sixtus IV, the chapel was named by the Pope himself, the name Sistine derives from Sixtus. The Sistine Chapel was located near to St. Peter Basilica, and one of its many functions was to serve as gathering hall for the members of the Catholic Church in order to elect the new Pope. In 1508 C.E. Michelangelo was hired by the Pope to paint the ceiling of the chapel. At the time Michelangelo was hired to paint the Sistine Chapel by Pope Julius II he was mainly known as a sculptor and not as a painter.

Michelangelo undertook the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during the High Renaissance. The height of the rebirth of Classical thought in Europe. The atmosphere of the time period and even its name, translating to “rebirth”, can be seen in the program of the frescoes decorating the ceiling of the chapel. The central panels are scenes from the book of Genesis. They deal with God’s creation of earth and man, the fall of man and the story of Noah.

Introduction As one of the most thoroughly studied texts in history, the Old Testament produces an array of commentaries in a plethora of forms. Theologians, philosophers and artists alike continually search to uncover the true interpretation of the Bible. Fittingly, Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti pays homage to the Old Testament in his painted masterpiece, the Sistine Ceiling. In the spine, or center, of the Sistine Ceiling, Michelangelo painted nine scenes from the Book of Genesis.

This chapel was not only over 300 yards long, but also 1,500 years old and happened to be hidden under earthquake debris that took place in AD 847. The earthquake strangely helped preserve the church from being altered in later centuries to come. Sistine Chapel was rediscovered in the early 1900s; it has recently been restored and reopened to the public to reveal some of the earliest Christian works of art from our history. Its painted interior took more than three decades to recreate due to the high ceilings allowing room for horses to pass under. The cost for this process was an equivalent to $2,887,700 that was funded by the Italian government and the World Monuments Fund.

In 1508, Pope Julius II wanted a geometric ornament and the placement of twelve Disciples in spandrels (spaces between two arches) around the decoration to cover up the original blue ceiling covered in stars. The task was asked to thirty-three year old sculptor, Michelangelo, who although at the time did not want to paint the ceiling, proposed the idea of old testament stories along the ceiling. The first stories showcased are The Creation of the Heavens and Earth, The Creation of Adam and Eve, The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the story of Noah and the Great Flood. When the painting was first begun, the painting, The Deluge, showed multiple figures that were small in size that had very complex stories.

The Sistine Chapel is a large chapel, which is a religious place of fellowship, prayer and worship that is attached to a larger, often nonreligious institution or that is considered an extension of a primary religious institution. The Chapel is located in Vatican City, Rome and is in the Apostolic Palace. It is known for its Renaissance art, especially for the ceiling art that was painted by Michelangelo, and attracts more than 5 million visitors each year (Szalay, 2013). The Sistine Chapel had got its name from its commissioner, Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, who decided to have a large room built where the Cappella Magna, which was a mediaeval fortified hall that the Papal Court used for assemblies, once stood (Vatican City State, n.d). After the structure of the chapel was complete in 1481, Pope Sixtus IV had commissioned celebrated Florentine painters to work in the chapel, that of which included Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Cosimo, Rosselli, Signorell and Umbrian artists such as Perugino and Pinturicchio, who executed painting the Northern wall, which housed the Stories of Jesus, the Southern wall, which was decorated with the Stories of Moses, and the Eastern wall, which included the Resurrection of Christ and the Disputation over Moses’ Body (Vatican City State, n.d). It was not till 1508 when Pope Julius II della Rovere, the nephew of Sixtus IV, insisted artist Michelangelo to paint his famous frescoed ceiling, which took four years to complete

The Sistine Chapel was built in 1475, by Pope Sixtus IV. It is best known for its paintings on the ceiling by renaissance artist Michelangelo. Originally Michelangelo was going to make a sculpture, but the Pope tricked him and had other plans. One of the most famous Biblical scenes “The Last Judgement” is painted on the ceiling. Michelangelo’s work took him four years to complete, and was finally revealed to the public on November 1, 1512.

One can visualize an implied asymmetrical line that goes right through the break between the two fingers. From doing so, one can the two figures by themselves rather than a whole, God, clothed in white to represent purity, is on the upper right hand side floating with his angels in an organic shape. A debate lies within what is the shape that god is in. Some argue the red shape could form a giant brain, while other believes that the shape is a uterus which symbolizes life. Nevertheless, both are appropriate for describing the God figure. Adam, on the other hand, is on the bottom left hand side on an earthly landscape, naked. Michelangelo could have painted him in the nude for the Bible says that Adam was naked and was not ashamed. Having one figure on rather sides of the fresco balances out the painting as a whole and with both figures stretching their arms out to meet one another, unifies the

The restoration of the Sistine Chapel in the 1980’s and 90’s was very controversial. This issue began because Michelangelo, the painter of the Sistine Chapels ceiling, did the painting as a fresco. This means that the paint was absorbed in the wall, thus becoming part of the wall itself. Like many other walls and building, over time they began to crack and deteriorate. During the time of the consideration of the restoration of the chapel, the fresco had been up for over 500 years. As one would expect, there had been many cracks in the ceiling and the coloring of the ceiling was becoming dull. The ceiling was also dusty and covered in grime from candle smoke and burning coal.