The Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, has always been considered to be one of the greatest works of art ever created. A a tourist visiting the chapel can only imagine what it must have been like for the artist to lie on his back 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 worked for almost two years painting the ceiling. According to legend, artists such as Raphael and Donato Bramante urged the Pope to select Michelangelo for this project, hoping that, as a sculptor trying to paint, 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 correctly render the foreshortening of the figures that would be required.
In a life story completed in 1553, Michelangelo’s protégé, Ascanio Condivi, said this about Michelangelo’s work. He completed this entire work in twenty months, without any help whatever, not even someone to grind his colors for him. It is true that I have heard him say that it is not completed as he would have wanted, as he was held back by the urgency of the Pope, who inquired one day when he would finish that ceiling, and when Michelangelo answered, ‘When I can,’ the pope, enraged, shot back, ‘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 immense satisfaction, and all Rome admired it and crowded to see it.
The scenes on this fresco are all based on Biblical stories. The centerpiece, “The Creation of Adam,” is arguable one of the most widely recognized masterpieces of religious art. It is reproduced frequently and often parodied. This scene shows God bringing to life the newly created Adam. Within the spandrels along the side are figures representing the ancestors of Christ. The spandrels are spaces between the right or left exterior curve of an arch and an enclosing right angle. In the Sistine Chapel, the spandrels are defined by a molding. This molding is the only actual architectural aspect of the painting. All other architectural details are optical illusions. Between the Old and New Testament sections Michelangelo painted the prophets and sibyls in meditation.
A visitor viewing the full work can see 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 compromise the glory of the work. As one of the great works of religious art, the Sistine Chapel is the highlight of a trip to Italy, and not to be missed.
