A Brief Look at the Painting of the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, has always been considered to be one of the greatest works of art of all time. A visitor to the chapel can only imagine what it must have been like for the artist to lie supine on the huge scaffolding, toiling endlessly to paint each detail to fit into the larger-than-life scenes. While a modern painter might use interior scaffolding that is rolling scaffolding, in his day, the scaffolding was built to be immobile.
Starting in 1508, Michelangelo spent twenty months painting the ceiling. It is said that artists such as Raphael and Donato Bramante urged the Pope to select Michelangelo for this project, hoping that, as a sculptor and not a painter, he would fail. They did this out of jealousy over Michelangelo’s meteoric success.. Even though he knew Michelangelo was famous as a sculptor, the Pope felt that he had the ability to bring to life the Biblical visions. Michelangelo was reluctant to take on this task because he lacked confidence in his ability to realistically render the foreshortening of the figures that would be required.
In a life story completed in 1553, Michelangelo’s protégé, Ascanio Condivi, had this to say about Michelangelo’s work. He completed this entire work in twenty months, without any help whatever, not even an assistant to grind his colors for him. It is true that I have heard him say that it is not completed as he would have desired, as he was hampered by the urgency of the Pope, who asked him one day when he would finish that chapel, and when Michelangelo answered, ‘When I can,’ the pope, enraged, retorted, ‘You want me to have you flung from the scaffolding.’ Hearing this, Michelangelo said to himself, ‘You shall not have me flung anywhere,’ and he removed himself and had the scaffolding taken down the chapel that day, saw with great pleasure, and all Rome admired it and crowded to see it.
The characters depicted on this fresco are all based on Biblical stories. The centerpiece, “The Creation of Adam,” is arguable one of the most widely recognized pieces of religious art. It is reproduced frequently and often parodied. This scene shows God giving life to the newly created Adam. Along the sides, within the spandrels, are figures representing the ancestors of Christ. The spandrels are areas between the right or left exterior curve of an arch and an enclosing right angle. In this ceiling, the spandrels are defined by a molding. This molding is the only actual architectural portion of the painting. All other architectural details are trompe l’oeil details. Between the Old and New Testament sections Michelangelo has depicted the prophets and sibyls in meditation.
A visitor viewing the full work can discern a difference between one end of the painting and the other. As Michelangelo began, he worked with great detail to include every detail. However, as time passed, and the impatience of the Pope increased, the level of detail had to be scaled back. This difference does not detract from the glory of the work. As one of the great works of religious art, the Sistine Chapel is the highlight of a visit to Italy, and not to be missed.
