Michelangelo grew up in one of the most artistically renowned city of all time’Florence—an incredible sanctuary for Renaisance art. As an adolescent, his artismanship grew noticed by famous mural painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. A quick year later, Michelangelo sparked the interest of Lorenzo de’ Medici, whom advanced Michelangelo’s artistic talent through the provision of mentors and resources for the years to come. Now in his early twenties, Michelangelo moved on to Rome to find that his work was highly applauded by Pope Julius II’s messenger from France’cardinal Jean Bilh”res de Lagraulas. In 1499, the cardinal entitled Michelangelo to create and finish the famous sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding her slain son Jesus (the Pieta) to place within the Pope’s burial tomb. After receiving much success in Rome, Michelangelo resumed to his home city where yet another challenge awaited him. The Arte della Lana, popular for the maintenance and the ornamentation of The Duomo in Florence, appointed Michelangelo to enhance The Duomo (Cathedral of Sanata Maria del Diore) with a large, marble male symbol of his choosing. Michelangelo chose to portray the courageous David from the Bible in 1501; three years later, he finished one of the most well-renowned symbols of both astonishing art and ancient history. By 1505, Michelangelo was at the pinnacle of his career. Pope Julius II instructed Michelangelo to reciprocate his work from his previous successful sculptures onto a tomb. However, Pope Julius II turned his attention away from the construction of the tomb to more pressing political matters. Such political disputes caused the resources of the project to be limited, which led Michelangelo to temporarily pause on making statues for the tomb. With three years in the passing, Julius asked Michelangelo to paint a masterpiece that would require fewer resources yet still provide the same amount of astonishment (if not more) than the tomb. As of 1508, Michelangelo began his articulate, four year process that would illustrate scenes from Genesis and include Prophets and Sibyls: and the Ancestors of Christ upon the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Within the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel ceiling displays an incredible masterpiece that captures the emotions behind extraordinary history and remarkable talent. Such ingenuity was painted during the time of the Renaissance. Much of the artwork occurring during this time was heavily influenced by Roman and Greek culture, and turned away from the Gothic era of the Middle Ages. Since the turning point of the Renaissance was primarily focused on a newfound interest in humanism, much of the artwork displayed infatuation with newer human ideology and spiritual practices. Philosophical art, like the chapel ceiling, was especially emblematic during the 1500’s because much of Italy was dominated by Christianity. Though religion was at a downfall at the end of the Medieval Times, the Roman Catholic Church was still able to persevere. For the devoted religious peoples, every detail upon the ceiling touched deeper than intellectual art appreciation. Rather, the incredible imagery across the ceiling tugged at the roots of peoples’ spirituality. Such oeuvre was similar to other popular Renaissance artists’ work, like Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and Raphael’s various Madonna paintings. Nevertheless, the Sistine Chapel ceiling is often more praised than Leonardo da Vinci’s and Raphael’s compositions. So much so, that Michelangelo’s other famous pieces of art were still not as acclaimed because of the process behind the ceiling’s origination. Michelangelo spent four years tediously painting the ceiling, while atop scaffolds. Though the physical implementations for the ceiling were strenuous, the psychological outlook caused Michelangelo much more disheartenment. This of course was because Michelangelo had little faith in his painting capabilities, and always believed to be a sculptor instead. But, Pope Julius II remained persistent upon Michelangelo’s commissioned agenda.
However, Michelangelo utilized many artistic components to connect the majority of Europe’s Christian audience with the history behind the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
The immense admiration the Sistine Chapel ceiling has received over the last five centuries is due to Michelangelo’s impeccable artistic capabilities that have continued to remain effective. Much of his exceptional artwork was deemed so because of his proficient use of the visual elements. First, of the many elements he used, was color. Though color seems simplistic, Michelangelo gave color a new meaning when incorporating multiple hues to bring his artwork to life. An interesting observation of the hues used was seen in the portrayals of God because they would vary. For example, in The Creation of Adam and Eve, both paintings show God in a robe of white with some gray. While in the paintings of The Creation of the Heavenly Bodies and The Separation of Land and Water, God’s robe was a burgundy-red. This contrast of colors represents the many characteristics of God: the pure, wise and redeeming light to all mankind as seen with white, but also the wrathful, fearing, all powerful Judge as seen with the burgundy-red. Michelangelo even displayed the hues’ values, which brought vibrancy among the frescoes because of the intensity. The intensity of the values were high during the original creation of the frescoes, but over time, dirt and grime built up which dulled and fainted the chapel. However, with renovations within the 1980's and 90’s, the intensity was renewed. Clearly, color was of much importance within the Sistine Chapel, but Michelangelo didn’t cease in demonstrating his talent with visual elements. He further integrated shapes and textures. The various shapes used were designed to recreate the lifelikeness of the events in the Bible. For example, the organic shapes used to create the naturalistic settings as well as the animals and people, provided a more flowing and smooth presentation. Also, such freeform shapes brought about interest in the audience by conveying emotion to the paintings. This was because the postures and facial expression within the frescoes were painted so realistically. Along with the simulated texture of the cracks, they too added a more ancient and realistic feel to the chapel. Moreover, Michelangelo’s articulate ceiling was also artfully composed of numerous components of design. In order for Michelangelo’s masterpiece to truly portray the extravagance of such history, he had to include multiple principles that artistically express the content. For instance, to achieve aesthetic stability, he had to include balance. This is extremely difficult to achieve since the artwork was full of so much intensity and imagery. However, Michelangelo maneuvered his paintbrush to prevail the challenges and still provide stability. Such balance was achieved by the format of the artwork within the chapel. Overall, the layout of the artwork in the entire chapel is symmetrical. Each fresco is categorized by its own general theme (prophets/sibyls, ancestors of Jesus, creation, etc.), which is evenly distributed around the room. However, when taking a closer look at the frescoes regardless of their format, they are asymmetrical. They each possess differences that make them set apart from one another, but they still remain orderly. Additionally, balance was also achieved by including rhythmic figures. Michelangelo demonstrated this talent within the frescoes with the repeated use of what he termed ‘Ignudi,’ or naked figures. History has viewed them as representations of man through various stages of life. Though their purpose is not completely clear, my initial reaction to seeing them was that they could be angels. Within the Bible, angels aren’t necessarily described as having wings (besides cherubim and seraphim) and haloes like society has stereotyped them to be. Rather, they often would appear as humans within the Bible. However, when looking at the placement of the Ignudi, it provided a more convincing case to represent mankind. The Ignudi are placed around the frescoes that are huge historical remembrances for mankind. For example, they are placed around The Drunkenness of Noah to symbolize the great importance of honor and respect in relation to family within the Bible. They’re also placed around The Creation of Eve, again, another remarkable moment in history where man receives a life partner. Appropriately, the Ignudi led to the emphasis of the beginning of mankind and the first freewill decision. Michelangelo did this by painting The Creation of Adam and of Eve, and The Temptation of Adam and Eve, on the center of the ceiling. This personal contrast by Michelangelo is unique because he chooses to place the literal creation of man next to the philosophical downfall of man. The uniqueness of this emphasis might not be very clear to non-Christian audiences, but for Michelangelo’s primarily Christian audience, it is seen as quite bold. The fascination lies within the ancient history as to why the three frescoes are at the center of the ceiling. Humans are God’s most valuable creation. All of what He created (light, dark, solar system, vegetation, animals, etc.) was all in preparation for the creation of man. In other words, Michelangelo reemphasized how everything God created was centered on the wellbeing of mankind; hence, his purpose for panting the creation stories of man in the center of the chapel ceiling. Essentially, Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling has achieved harmony. Michelangelo promptly stated that ‘The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.’ The sole purpose of art, using the fundamentals of visual elements and principles of design, is meant to express the most aesthetically pleasing origins and variations of life. As Michelangelo expressed through his Sistine Chapel ceiling, his chef-d'oeuvre was meant to mirror the intricacies derived from an all-powerful Creator. With his artistic components, Michelangelo did in fact create a historical wonder, while hinting to his audience that the most breathtaking artist will eventually come to descend upon His canvas.