Michelangelo Buonarroti: A Life From Beginning to End (Biographies of Painters Book 3) by Hourly History

Author:Hourly History [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2018-11-19T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

“Every beauty which is seen here below by persons of perception resembles more than anything else that celestial source from which we all are come.”

—Michelangelo

Michelangelo made his return back to Rome in 1505 at the express invitation of the then reigning pontiff, Pope Julius II, who hired him to work on a project for his own tomb. Pope Julius was a very ambitious man, and it is said that no sooner than the papal miter was placed on his head, he began to think of his legacy. And in terms of popes, a lasting legacy usually meant having an impressive tomb. Initially the project entailed the construction of 40 statues and was slated to be completed in five years’ time. In reality, Michelangelo would work on the Pope’s tomb for nearly 40 years.

He would temporarily deviate from this project for other various side projects, one of which would be arguably his most famous masterpiece of all, the extravagant mural painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo completed this epic piece of illustrated biblical history in about four years’ time, from 1508 to 1512.

According to one of Michelangelo’s early biographers, Ascanio Condivi, it was initially at the conniving of an architect and alleged foe by the name of Bramante that Michelangelo was awarded this monumental task. According to this theory, Bramante who knew Michelangelo primarily for his work as a sculptor believed that such a feat as painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel would be too overwhelming and Michelangelo would be doomed to failure in the task. It is said that it was out of his capricious wish for Michelangelo to fail that he persuaded the Pope to hand the job over to Michelangelo.

At the time Michelangelo was initially hired on to paint the Twelve Apostles on the triangular vaultings of the ceiling, as well as the creation of a simple decoration on the center of the ceiling. Michelangelo of course would eventually convince the Pope to allow him to greatly expand upon these initial designs, proposing an entire illustrative representation of the Bible from creation, the fall, to salvation through Christ, a work that would ultimately span over 500 square feet with over 300 characters painted.

Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling began in the spring of 1508. He made a diary entry for that day, which stated in part, “I record how today, the tenth of May in 1508, I Michelangelo, sculptor, received from His Holiness, our Lord Pope Julius II, 500 ducats—for the purpose of painting the ceiling of the chapel of Pope Sixtus, which I shall begin working on today under the conditions and according to the agreements that appear in a document made by monsignor Remolo di Pavia and signed by me.”

Shortly after making this entry, Michelangelo then began the exhaustive work required to prepare for the actual painting of the ceiling. This involved the installation of scaffolding and preparation of the ceiling surface by his assistants. These efforts

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