The Sistine Chapel Essay

The Medici family commissioned many artists to make art for them. By the family commissioning them it basically made the artist’s name. In the early time of the Medici family when they were just building up their empire commission artists would help them to build their political prestige and their reputation in the community. Initially in the time of Lorenzo Medici the church wanted nothing to do with the Medici family’s art patronage because they believed that the works that they had commissioned were crude or inappropriate due to nudity or sexual scenes. About 70 years later right before Pope Julius died the Medici art patronage was brought into the church when he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. By Michelangelo being brought into the light of the Catholic Church it opened doors for the Medici family to

When Pope Julius II heard about the artist’s accomplishments, he commissioned Michelangelo to create his tomb. However, Pope Julius turns his focus in funding to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica. Rome was overpassing a difficult time, and the Pope wanted to return it to its powerful roots. Michelangelo unhappy about the Pope not paying back for the stone, returned to Florence. Yet, the Pope

The shift brought the transformation of thick columns to much thinner and “lighter” columns (Blankenbehler). However, before this architectural movement can begin, Abbot Suger struggled to reconstruct and synthesize the style of the ancient building with his ideas of modern designs. He knew that the freshness of these new designs would bring beauty and spaciousness. He wanted people to be amazed at the transformation of the once small, but soon to be large and wide feel of the basilica. To create the wide feel, Abbot Suger issued the ceiling to have a complicated web of interlocked and pointed vaults. He also chose to have arches with points so that the basilica would not need thick walls to support the arch. Thick walls would make the interior look crowded and small, something Suger did not want. By having the pointed arches, those would take the weight of the ceiling and distribute the weight across rather than being pulled down. This allowed for thin and elegant looking columns, for they were able to support the ceiling because the weight of it was dispersed. He envisioned the structure to have high ceilings, which would be supported with thinner columns (Birth of the Gothic: Abbot Suger and the Ambulatory at St. Denis). Suger also brought in the idea of having tall towers so that the building would look like it was reaching for the heavens. By reaching the heavens, it brought this concept of being closer to God and reassuring the people’s

Michelangelo’s art, which relied heavily on the human body reflected the Renaissance Period’s interest in humanism and the individual experience. Michelangelo often studied the human anatomy, and even looked at and dissected corpses. Great examples of this are two of his earlier sculptures; the Pietå and the David, revealed his true talent and also his disposition to bend rules of anatomy and proportion i the service of greater expressive power. His ability to portray humans in the Renaissance Period, which was his great talent, showing the values of the period though his sculptures and paintings, which appealed to the people of this period. Arguably his most well known work, the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which was painted to show humanity’s need for salvation offered by God through Jesus.

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

The paintings of Michelangelo had figures that were nude and caused an uproar. The Bible states that Adam and Eve were naked until they knew sin, then they were ashamed. The nakedness of the bodies could have been a scene of a time before sin. It helped to open the minds of some of the church members. To show them that the Bible should be the authority to which they live by and not the church. Michelangelo's painting went against what the church wanted, however it still stayed within the realm of the Bible. By doing this, it showed how the church would try to overstep its boundaries, while trying to place itself above the Bible.

Next, we have the Pantheon a wonderful temple in Rome which is now a church called Santa Maria ad Martyres. The Pantheon was built in 27-25 B.C. by magistrate, Marcus Agripa to commemorate the victory of Actium over Antony and Cleopatra. Unfoaryanty, the original temple burned down in 80 AD and it was restored between 193-211 by emperor, Septiums and Caracalla. Later, when Christianity replace paganism in Rome, the temple was give to Pope Boniface IV 608 AD. The Pantheon was the first to be Christianized in Rome. The Pantheon is 142 ft. wide and 142 ft. in height it is shaped as a sphere sitting on a cylinder. The place is resting in a solid ring wall while the outside is covered in cantilevered brick. The porch is made of 16 monolothic Corinituan

An example of the Medici support to artists involves The Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore. The dome of the chapel was built so large that no architect knew how to complete the rooftop structure and was a humiliating point in Florentine history. A contest to see who could develop a solution to complete the dome was won by a Florentine engineer named Brunelleschi, who felt he had found the solution. With the successful completion of the chapel, support from Cosimo de Medici and the holy consecration performed by the Pope, a great structure was once again a source of pride to the Florentines and the

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

Religion was a huge motivator for both of these periods, and held deep emotional connections for many artists. I find this to be somewhat relatable, since I also need emotional attachment as a motivator to complete my artwork sometimes. These designs resemble those of today in the amount of effort and forethought put into planning and building them, however, the complexity of these older religious structures lies in the artistic and visual nature of the building, rather than the efficiency-related accomodations one would observe today. This demonstrates the metamorphosis of human priorities over the centuries. Both of the images to be discussed (Temple of Hera II and Palatine Chapel) speak to the

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.

Michaelango painted the Sistine Chapel, which is located in the Vatican in Rome. The Sistine Chapel depicted the book of Genesis. The manner in which it was painted was unlike another at the time, all the characters in the Sistine chapel are very life like and realistic. Also it was one of the first times that religion was painted by the painters opinion of the events. The arts led to new ways of thinking.

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

The area where the cathedral now stands was originally occupied by the ancient Metropolitan Church of the city under the title Saint Maria Maggiore in 836 (Boldorini 5).The name of the first architect of the Milan cathedral is not exactly known (Boldorini 5). In 1386, Giovanni Galeazzo Visconti, began the restoration project using the Gothic style after severe damage to the building (Benigni). In total, there are 6,000 statues inside and outside the cathedral, with 2,000 of them being a part of the exterior embellishments (Benigni). The design or layout of the interior of the church is that of a Latin cross, and