Michelangelo
1475-1564
The genius was born in Italy | Youth.
Years of study.
1488-1495 / Rome.
"Pieta".
1496-1501 / Florence.
"David".
1501-1505 / Rome.
Tomb of Pope Julius II.
1505-1545 / Rome.
Frescoes of the Sistine Chapel vault.
1508-1512 / Florence.
The Medici tombs.
1516-1534 / Rome.
Late works.
"The Last Judgment".
1534-1541 / Architecture.
The Cathedral of St. Peter.
1538-1564 | site map | home page
6.
Rome.
Frescoes of the Sistine Chapel vault (1508-1512)
Opening of the chapel murals
"Pope Julius was very fond of looking at his enterprises, the more he wanted to look at the one that was hidden from him.
And one day he went to look at it, but they didnot open it for him, saying that Michelangelo didnot want to show it.
Because of this, as already mentioned, the misunderstanding allegedly arose, for the sake of which he, who did not want to show his work to the pope, had to leave Rome: according to what I learned from him, in order to clarify this doubt, when he finished a third of the work, it began to become covered with mold when the north wind blew and winter weather came.
This happened because Roman lime, which is made from travertine for whiteness, dries slowly and is mixed with brown pozzolana, so that the mixture turns out dark, and when it is liquid and watery and the wall is strongly impregnated with it, it often blooms, that is, in many places the blooming liquid secretes salt, which, however, evaporates in the air over time.
This circumstance made Michelangelo desperate, and he did not want to continue; and when he apologized to the pope for the fact that his work was not successful, His Holiness sent Giuliano da Sangallo there, who, after explaining to him why the trouble was happening, persuaded him to continue working and taught him how to remove mold.
When the work was half finished, the pope, who had climbed ladders with Michelangelo's help more than once before to look at it, demanded that it be opened, since he was naturally hurried and impatient and could not wait for it to be completed, that is, as they say, the last stroke of the brush.
And as soon as it was opened, the whole of Rome gathered to look at it, and first of all the pope, who could not wait for the dust to settle after the removal of the scaffolding.
When Raphael of Urbino, who imitated it very admirably, immediately changed his manner and immediately wrote, in order to show what he was capable of, the prophets and sibyls in Santa Maria della Pace; then Bramante tried to get the pope to hand over the second half of the chapel to Raphael.
When Michelangelo heard about this, he complained to the pope about Bramante, telling without any hesitation about his numerous vices both in life and in architecture, the latter, as it turns out later, had to be corrected by Michelangelo himself during the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral.
But the pope, who was becoming more and more convinced of Michelangelo's abilities every day, wished him to continue working; for when he saw the work revealed, he reasoned that the second half could have turned out even better for Michelangelo: and indeed, he completed the work perfectly within twenty months alone, even without the help of those who would rub his paints.
Nevertheless, Michelangelo sometimes had to complain about how his father hurried him with annoying requests, when he would finish, not allowing him to finish in his own way, as he wanted.
And to one of the many requests, he once replied that the end would be when he himself would be satisfied with his art.
"And we wish," the pope objected, " that our desire, which is to do it quickly, is satisfied."
And in conclusion, he added that if he did not do it quickly, he would order him to be pushed down from the scaffolding.
Then Michelangelo, who was afraid of the pope's anger, and there was something to be afraid of, immediately, without delay, completed what was missing and, removing the remaining scaffolding, revealed everything on the morning of All Saints ' Day so that the pope went to the chapel to celebrate mass on the spot, to the satisfaction of the whole city.
Michelangelo wanted to go dry in some places, as the old masters did, in the stories written below, to touch here and there the backgrounds, clothes and faces with azure ultramarine, and the ornament with gold, so that the overall appearance would become even better and richer; the pope also agreed to this, having learned that this was not enough, because he heard how those who saw them praised such improvements; however, since it seemed too difficult to restore the forests, everything remained as it was.
When meeting Michelangelo, the pope often reminded him: "Why not make the chapel richer with paints and gold, because it is a little poor."
To which Michelangelo replied simply:
"Holy Father, in those days people did not wear gold on themselves, and those who are depicted there were never too rich, but they were holy people, because they despised wealth."
For this work, the pope paid Michelangelo three thousand scudos in several terms, of which he had to spend twenty five on paints.
It was executed with the greatest inconvenience for him, since he had to write with his head thrown up, and he so spoiled his eyesight that for several months he could not read what was written and look at the drawings except from the bottom up " by Vasari.
Pope Julius was looking forward to the end of the work.
He was hurrying the artist.
I climbed the scaffolding myself.
According to Condivi, " Michelangelo did not have time to paint even half of the vault ...how the pope demanded that he show his work to the public, despite the fact that it was not quite finished.
The opinion formed about Michelangelo and the hopes placed on him led the whole of Rome to the Sistine Chapel, where the pope came before the dust that rose from the dismantling of the forests could settle" (Correspondence of Michelangelo Buonarroti and the life of the master, written by his pupil Ascanio Condivi)
Such interference in the work could not but slow it down, not to unnerve the artist.
However, the removal of forests had its positive results.
Seeing what was written from below, Michelangelo drew attention to the lack of scale and the overload of details of the first compositions — "The Flood" and "The Story of Noah".
When the scaffolding was erected again and the work continued, he enlarged the scale of the figures, reducing their number in each composition.
By monumentalizing and generalizing, he achieved greater expressiveness of the general, clarity of silhouettes, special rhythmicity.
Pope Julius was extremely pleased with Michelangelo's paintings.
As for the author of this colossal work, for a long time after its completion, he could not look straight ahead, and when he had to read letters and papers, he had to hold them high above his head.
The incredible strain of work greatly undermined his health.
Michelangelo spent four years high on the scaffolding, overcoming the pain in his muscles, constantly wiping the paint that flooded his face.
After that, his eyes almost stopped seeing: in order to read a book or look at something, he had to lift it high above his head.
Gradually, this ailment passed.
When painting the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo, according to Condivi, " so accustomed his eyes to look up at the vault that later, when the work was finished and he began to hold his head straight again, he could hardly see anything; when he had to read letters and papers, he had to hold them high above his head.
And only gradually he got used to reading again, looking down in front of him."
Julius II did not even give him an order to come to the divine service in the Sistine.
Michelangelo found out about the ceremony by accident.
Only Raphael came to congratulate him.
"Messer Buanarotti, your chapel has literally struck me," Raphael said.
No one else came to congratulate him, no one ever approached him on the street.
The painting of the ceiling of the Sextina did not almost excite the Roman audience, everything seemed to come down to a duel between Michelangelo, the Lord God and Julius.
Only a year later, in 1511, Michelangelo was able to continue painting.
He worked hard, not stopping on Sundays or holidays.
"Until I finished working on the ceiling, I even hate to think about any amenities and pleasures.
You can live well only when you are happy, " Michelangelo said.
He believed that he would be happy only when he took up marbles.
The master himself painted every figure and garment, every movement and gesture, in which he showed his own feeling, his own thought.
Every stroke of the brush was made by him.
This gigantic work was completed in 3 terrifying years, although it would have been enough for a lifetime.
On All Saints ' Day, November 1, 1512, the ceiling was opened.
Michelangelo did not go to the opening, he went down to the terrace of his house and froze in thought in front of the marbles, which he had been so eager to chop and cut for 7 years.
He went back to his desk, picked up a pen, and wrote:
And the highest genius will not add
A single thought to those who marble themselves
It hides in abundance and only this is for us
The hand, obedient to reason, will reveal.
But it was this "heroic symphony", exceptional in scope and greatness, that allowed Rodin to write: "I will say that Michelangelo... he rises above the whole of Italy as an inspired prophet, crowning it with his genius.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel extends over it."
In the future, Michelangelo will be forced to once again take up a huge painting order — to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, entering into competition with himself.
But between these two works lies a long period of time and many events that occurred in the life of the country and in the life of Michelangelo himself.
Four months after the completion of the painting of the Sistine Chapel vault, Pope Julius II died,
Julius ' successor, Leo X, entrusted Michelangelo with the construction of the facade of the Church of St. Nicholas.
St. Lawrence, in Florence, where the brilliant artist moved.
He spent a lot of labor and precious time on this matter, but it did not go beyond making a model of the facade and preparing materials for its construction.
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