A Brief Look at the Sistine Chapel Ceiling
It is widely acknowledged that Michelangelo's frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are the greatest achievement in Western art, having inspired artists through the ages to use its styles and motifs in their own work. Since its unveiling 490 years ago, this complex masterpiece has transfixed countless viewers through its historical illustrations and predominant themes of the human experience. Michelangelo's decoration of the ceiling is a monument to the extraordinary creative and integrative capacities of the mind (Oremland,1). Many of the historical records which traced its progress, technique, cost, and time spent on it have been lost or destroyed. Thus, the questions of how, when, and why Michelangelo painting the ceiling have been the topic of much debate over the centuries. Recently even more controversy arose when the ceiling was cleaned and restored to its original color and beauty. Nevertheless, as the work is better understood, the universality of themes which give it vitality and endurance is better appreciated. The Sistine Chapel was begun by Pope Sixtus IV probably in 1475, the year Michelangelo was born. It was built to serve functional and symbolic purposes. Functionally, it was to be a fortress into wh
The ceiling is divided into three sections. The first contains the Lunettes and a series of eight triangular spaces in which the Ancestors of Christ are depicted, beginning with Abraham and ending with Joseph. At the four corners, the ceiling is connected to the walls by four triangular pendentives, also called the vele ("sails). In these are painted Old Testament episodes in which chosen people were saved from destruction by heroic acts (Judith beheading Holofernes, David slaying Goliath, Haman punished for his crimes, and the rod of Moses changing into a serpent). From the moment of it's completion the Sistine Ceiling has always been regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of pictorial art and Michelangelo was, at the age of 37, not only recognized as the greatest artist of his day, but was also regarded as having raised the status of the artist to such a high pinnacle that he could be referred to as "divine". His devout religious beliefs, as well as his dedication to representing the passionate side of man, can be seen in not only the Sistine Chapel but in all his works. Buon fresco begins with the choice of a good plaster. Michelangelo chose to use a mixture of lime and pozzolana (a volcanic material very common in Roman construction work). This mixture produced excellent results, judging much by the quality of the painting by its carbonization and its compactness which made the plaster resistant to heavy infiltrations of water. In the beginning of his work, Michelangelo had trouble with this. The northern winds during the winter months in Roman caused mold to form on the paintings because the lime and pozzalana was slow to dry. Michelangelo was discouraged by this and almost abandoned the project but he was taught how to remove the mold by a man named Giuliano da Sangallo. The recent restoration of the ceiling has revealed that Michelangelo painted in buon fresco or true fresco. His work was characterized by the profound knowledge and rigorous technique that was typical of the fresco painters of the Renaissance. Other great Florentine masters such as Giotto and Domenico Ghirlandaio had already set the highest standard for fresco painting. Michela
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Approximate Word count = 1471
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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