Michelangelo Buonarroti paintings and sculptures. Paintings by Michelangelo Buonarroti
February 18, 2019
The great master of the Italian Renaissance, Michelagelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), considered himself primarily a sculptor, and not a painter, architect or poet. This is indicated by many surviving letters and documents, signed mainly as “Michelagniolo, scultore”. Today, about fifty of his works are known, belonging to the chisel of the talented sculptor. Most of them are located in Florence and Bologna, and Michelangelo's sculptures in Rome can be practically counted on the fingers of one hand.
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Daniele da Volterra, 1544
In all my life genius artist developed a large number of projects, many of which remained unfinished or not fully implemented. The most striking example of this is his work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, located in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.
Three sculptures by Michelangelo for the Pope
Michelangelo spent 40 years working on his most ambitious project, the creation of a monumental mausoleum for Pope Julius II, commissioned by the pontiff during his lifetime. The original version, developed in 1505, provided for the installation of forty sculptures.
Michelangelo Project
Having gone to the quarries of Carrara in May 1505 to obtain material for sculptures, Michelangelo, returning to Rome eight months later, learned that his grandiose tomb project for the pope was no longer a priority. The architect Donato Bramante convinced Pope Julius II that it would be better to begin the reconstruction of the Basilica of Constantine and direct funds there. In addition, the planned new military campaign against Perugia and Bologna finally postponed the start of work indefinitely.
After the death of Pope Julius II, who reposed on February 21, 1513, at the urgent request of the heirs, the previous project was revised with some changes introduced into it, but its implementation was not carried out. Over the following years, numerous intrigues, lack of funding and accusations against Michelangelo of wasting allocated funds forced the master to radically reconsider his original plan several times. The final, sixth version of the tomb was approved only in August 1542.
Michelangelo. Tombstone of Pope Julius II
Of the seven marble sculptures decorating the tomb, only three belong to Michelangelo - the statues of the sisters Rachel and Leah, and the biblical one. On this occasion, the artist himself wrote that "This statue alone is enough to do honor to the tomb of Pope Julius II".
Moses. Michelangelo Buonarroti
If you look more closely at Moses' beard, then with a good enough imagination, under the lower lip, a little to the right, on Michelangelo's sculpture you can see a carved profile of the face of Pope Julius II.
According to Michelangelo, the sculptures of two female figures represent two ways of being - contemplative and creative. The contemplative life is allegorically represented by the biblical heroine Rachel, the second wife of Joakov, who prays for salvation.
Michelangelo's sculpture "Rachel"
Her elder sister Leah, depicted as a Roman matron, is an allegorical image of the creative life. Historians interpret the overall design of Michelangelo's work on the tomb as a kind of mediating position of Pope Julius II between established Catholicism and its further reform.
Michelangelo's sculpture "Leah"
The sculpture of Pope Julius II himself, reclining on a sarcophagus, is considered quite controversial. For a long time, the authorship was attributed to Tommaso Boscolo, but after a series of studies carried out during restoration work, many historians agree that at least a significant part of the sculpture belongs to the hand of Michelangelo.
Sculpture of Pope Julius II
The monumental work that can be seen today in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli is very different from the artist's original plan. The master himself admitted that this project became a real tragedy of his life, as evidenced by the lines in one of the letters addressed to the anonymous recipient: “I lost all my youth, tied to this burial, which inadvertently destroyed everything in me, and I paid for it as a thief and a usurer.”
Christ della Minerva
The marble statue of Jesus Christ, known in Italy as the "Cristo della Minerva", actually has several names - "Carrying the Cross", "Resurrection of Christ", "Christ the Savior". The sculpture by Michelangelo was made in 1519 - 1520 and can currently be seen in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, to the left of the main altar.
Michelangelo's sculpture "The Resurrection of Christ"
In 1514, despite the fact that the master was bound by an exclusive contract with the heirs of Pope Julius II, he took on another order from Metello Vari. While working on the almost completed sculpture of Christ, Michelangelo discovers black veins in the white marble appearing right on the face.
Black veins on the face of Christ in Michelangelo's first sculpture
Refusing further work over the statue, he leaves Rome and goes to Florence, where he begins his second version of the figure of Christ. In March 1520, having almost completed its new version, Michelangelo left for Rome, leaving the finishing touches on the marble sculpture to his apprentice Pietro Urbano. However, it damages the work, which took about four years to complete. The situation was corrected by his more capable student Federico Frisi, and on December 27, 1521, the sculpture was placed in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
Draped part of Michelangelo's sculpture in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
Initially, the figure depicting Christ was completely naked. Michelangelo's artistic design showed a body undamaged by lust, controlled by the will of the resurrected. He meant, thereby, victory over sin and death. Later, after the decision of the Council of Trent (Concilio di Trento), the genitals of the sculpture were draped with a loincloth made of gilded bronze.
This is interesting!
The fate of the first version of Michelangelo's sculpture is interesting. After Pietro Urbano damaged the second version of the statue, the master suggested that Metello Vari carve another, third figure from marble, but the customer refused. As financial compensation, in 1522 the artist gave Vari the unfinished first version of the sculpture, which he requested for a small garden in the courtyard of his Palacetto, near the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It remained there, according to the records of the botanist and naturalist Ulisse Aldovrandi, until 1556 and was sold on the antique market to the art connoisseur Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani in 1607 for his collection of ancient statues.
The lost masterpiece was again recalled in 1973 by the Italian historian Alessandro Parronchi. He claimed that the statue was completed at the beginning of the 17th century by the French sculptor Nicolas Cordier, and made the assumption that the tombstone, which for some time adorned the family burial of the Giustiniani family, was the first version of the sculpture by Michelangelo.
Only in 2000, art critic and historian Irene Baldriga finally recognized the first version of the work in the statue, confirming the authorship of Michelangelo. Currently this sculpture is located in the sacristy of the church of San Vincenzo Mártir in Bassano Romano near Viterbo.
Sculpture by Michelangelo Pietà
One of the most famous and also the best sculptures of Michelangelo is the Pieta, kept in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The statue, made of Carrara marble, was made by a 24-year-old artist in 1498 – 1499 in just two years, commissioned by the ambassador of the French King Charles VIII, Cardinal Jean de Bilheres. It was intended to be installed as a tombstone after his death.
The Pietà is the only signed sculpture by Michelangelo. On the shoulder strap lying on top of the Virgin’s robe, the master carved the following words: “Michelangelo Buonarroti was made by a Florentine.” He was prompted to draw this inscription by a dispute about authorship that he accidentally overheard, which was being waged near the sculpture by the Lombardians who came to Rome.
Michelangelo's signature
The sculpture depicting the body of Jesus after the crucifixion, lying on the lap of his mother the Virgin Mary, aroused not only admiration, but also criticism from his contemporaries. Michelangelo's interpretation, where Mary appears young and beautiful, rather than an elderly fifty-year-old woman with a 33-year-old son, was very different from previously created works by other artists. Nevertheless, the master’s plan symbolized the imperishable purity of the Mother of God, as evidenced by the words of Michelangelo himself, responding to the attacks of critics. They were recorded by Ascanio Condivi:
“Don’t you know that chastity, holiness and incorruptibility preserve youth much longer. So what can change the body of the Mother of God, who never experienced the slightest lustful desire?.
Pieta took its current location in 1749. Over the centuries, Michelangelo's sculpture has been damaged several times, but the most significant damage occurred on May 21, 1972. On this Sunday, Pentecost, a 34-year-old Australian of Hungarian origin, Laszlo Toth, shouted “I am Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,” and rushed at the statue.
Before he was captured and neutralized, the mentally ill man managed to hit her several times with a geological hammer, causing serious damage. The left arm of the figure of the Virgin Mary was broken off to the elbow, the nose and eyelids were practically destroyed, and in total more than fifty fragments were broken off from the sculpture under the blows of the hammer.
Spectators who found themselves unwitting witnesses to the vandalism began to collect chipped pieces of marble, taking them for themselves as souvenirs, and although many of them were subsequently returned, the nose of the statue was irretrievably lost. Restoration began almost immediately after a thorough examination of the damaged sculpture by Michelangelo. Thanks to the existing plaster cast made in 1944 by Francesco Mercadali, the restoration work was carried out as accurately as possible, without arbitrary changes in dimensions.
Since then, the Pieta has been kept behind protective bulletproof glass. Today it can be seen in the first chapel from the entrance in the right nave of St. Peter's Basilica.
One of the most influential figures in Western art, the Italian painter and sculptor Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni remains one of the most famous artists in the world even more than 450 years after his death. I invite you to get to know the most famous works Michelangelo from the Sistine Chapel to his sculpture of David.
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
When you mention Michelangelo, what immediately comes to mind is the artist’s beautiful fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Michelangelo was hired by Pope Julius II and worked on the fresco from 1508 to 1512. The work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel depicts the nine stories from the Book of Genesis and is considered one of the greatest works of the High Renaissance. Michelangelo himself initially refused to take on the project, since he considered himself more of a sculptor than a painter. Nevertheless, this work continues to delight the approximately five million visitors to the Sistine Chapel each year.
Statue of David, Accademia Gallery in Florence
The statue of David is the most famous sculpture in the world. Michelangelo's David took three years to sculpt, and the master took on it at the age of 26. Unlike many earlier depictions of the biblical hero, which depict David triumphant after his battle with Goliath, Michelangelo was the first artist to depict him in tense anticipation before the legendary fight. Originally placed in Florence's Piazza della Signoria in 1504, the 4-meter-tall sculpture was moved to the Galleria dell'Accademia in 1873, where it remains to this day. You can read more about the Accademia Gallery in the selection of Florence attractions on LifeGlobe.
Sculpture of Bacchus in the Bargello Museum
Michelangelo's first large-scale sculpture is the marble Bacchus. Together with the Pietà, it is one of only two surviving sculptures from Michelangelo's Roman period. It is also one of several works by the artist that focus on pagan rather than Christian themes. The statue depicts the Roman god of wine in a relaxed position. The work was originally commissioned by Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who eventually abandoned it. However, by the early 16th century, Bacchus had found a home in the garden of the Roman palace of banker Jacopo Galli. Since 1871 Bacchus has been shown in the Florentine National Museum Bargello along with other works by Michelangelo, including a marble bust of Brutus and his unfinished sculpture of David-Apollo.
Madonna of Bruges, Church of Our Lady of Bruges
The Madonna of Bruges was the only sculpture by Michelangelo to leave Italy during the artist's lifetime. It was donated to the Church of the Virgin Mary in 1514, after it was bought by the family of the cloth merchant Mouscron. The statue left the church several times, first during the French Wars of Independence, after which it was returned in 1815, only to be stolen again by Nazi soldiers during World War II. This episode is dramatically depicted in the 2014 film Treasure Hunters starring George Clooney. leading role.
The Torment of Saint Anthony
The main asset of the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas is the painting "The Torment of St. Anthony" - the first of famous paintings Michelangelo. It is believed that the artist painted it at the age of 12 - 13 years old, based on an engraving by the 15th century German painter Martin Schongauer. The painting was created under the tutelage of his older friend Francesco Granacci. The Torment of St. Anthony was praised by the 16th-century artists and writers Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi - Michelangelo's earliest biographers - as a particularly curious work with creative approach to the original engraving by Schongauer. The picture received wide acclaim from peers.
Madonna Doni
Madonna Doni (Holy Family) is the only easel work by Michelangelo that has survived to this day. The work was created for the wealthy Florentine banker Agnolo Doni in honor of his wedding to Maddalena, daughter of the prominent Tuscan noble Strozzi family. The painting is still in its original frame, created from wood by Michelangelo himself. The Doni Madonna has been in the Uffizi Gallery since 1635 and is the only painting by the master in Florence. With his unusual presentation of objects, Michelangelo laid the foundation for later artistic direction Mannerist.
Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican
Along with David, the Pietà from the late 15th century is considered one of Michelangelo's most important and famous works. Originally created for the tomb of French Cardinal Jean de Biglier, the sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Body of Christ after his crucifixion. This was a common theme for funeral monuments during the Renaissance era of Italy. Moved to St. Peter's Basilica in the 18th century, the Pietà is the only work of art signed by Michelangelo. The statue has suffered significant damage over the years, especially when Hungarian-born Australian geologist Laszlo Toth hit it with a hammer in 1972.
Michelangelo's Moses in Rome
Located in the beautiful Roman basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, "Moses" was commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II, as part of his funeral monument. Michelangelo never finished the monument before the death of Julius II. The sculpture, carved from marble, is famous for the unusual pair of horns on the head of Moses - the result of a literal interpretation of the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. It was intended to combine the statue with other works, including the Dying Slave, now located in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel
Another masterpiece of Michelangelo is located in the Sistine Chapel - the Last Judgment is on the wall of the church altar. It was completed 25 years after the artist painted his awe-inspiring fresco on the ceiling of the Chapel. The Last Judgment is often mentioned as one of the most complex work Michelangelo. The magnificent work of art depicts God's judgment on humanity, which was initially condemned due to nudity. The Council of Trent condemned the fresco in 1564 and hired Daniele da Volterra to cover up the obscene parts.
Crucifixion of St. Peter, Vatican
The Crucifixion of St. Peter is the final fresco by Michelangelo in the Vatican's Cappella Paolina. The work was created by order of Pope Paul III in 1541. Unlike many other Renaissance-era depictions of Peter, Michelangelo's work focuses on a much darker topic—his death. The five-year, €3.2 million restoration project began in 2004 and has revealed a very interesting aspect of the mural: researchers believe that the blue-turbaned figure in the upper left corner is in fact the artist himself. Thus, the Crucifixion of St. Peter in the Vatican is the only known self-portrait of Michelangelo and a real pearl of the Vatican Museums.
When they say that Michelangelo is a genius, they not only express a judgment about his art, but also give him historical assessment. Genius, in the minds of people of the sixteenth century, was a kind of supernatural force influencing human soul, in the romantic era this force would be called “inspiration.”
Divine inspiration requires solitude and reflection. In the history of art, Michelangelo is the first solitary artist, waging an almost continuous struggle with the world around him, in which he feels alien and unsettled.
On Monday, March 6, 1475, in the small town of Caprese, a male child was born to the podesta (city governor) Chiusi and Caprese. In the family books of the ancient Buonarroti family in Florence there is a detailed record of this event of the happy father, sealed with his signature - di Lodovico di Lionardo di Buonarroti Simoni.
The father sent his son to the Francesco da Urbino school in Florence. The boy had to learn to deflect and conjugate latin words from this first compiler of Latin grammar. The boy was extremely inquisitive by nature, but Latin depressed him. The teaching went from bad to worse. The distressed father attributed this to laziness and carelessness, not believing, of course, in his son’s calling. He dreamed of a brilliant career for him, dreamed of seeing his son someday in the highest civil positions.
But, in the end, the father came to terms with his son’s artistic inclinations and one day, taking up a pen, he wrote: “One thousand four hundred and eighty-eight, April 1st day, I, Lodovico, son of Lionardo di Buonarroti, place my son Michelangelo with Domenico and David Ghirlandaio for three years from this day on the following conditions: the said Michelangelo remains with his teachers these three years as a student for exercise in painting, and must, in addition, do everything that his masters order him; as a reward for his services, Domenico and David pay him the sum of 24 florins: six in the first year, eight in the second and ten in the third; only 86 livres.”
He did not stay in Ghirlandaio’s workshop for long, because he wanted to become a sculptor, and became an apprentice to Bertoldo, a follower of Donatello, who directed art school in the Medici Gardens in Piazza San Marco. Biographers say that he was engaged there in drawing from old engravings, as well as copying, achieving enormous success in this.
The young artist was immediately noticed by Lorenzo the Magnificent, who patronized him and introduced him to his Neoplatonic circle of philosophers and writers. Already in 1490, they began to talk about the exceptional talent of the still very young Michelangelo Buonarroti. In 1494, with the approach of the troops of Charles VIII, he left Florence, returning to it in 1495. At twenty-one, Michelangelo went to Rome, and then in 1501 returned to his hometown.
Unfortunately, there is little information about Michelangelo's early paintings. The only painting he completed and survived is the tondo “Holy Family.” There is no exact documentary information about the time of creation of this tondo (a tondo is an easel painting or sculpture that has a round shape).
The composition of the painting is dominated by the figure of the Madonna. She is young and beautiful, calm and majestic. Michelangelo did not consider it necessary to tell in more detail what caused its complex movement. But it is precisely this movement that binds the Madonna, Joseph and the Child into one whole. This is not an ordinary happy family. There is no trace of intimacy here. This is the majestic “holy family”.
IN In 1504, the Florentine Signoria commissioned two frescoes from the famous artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo to decorate the walls of the Great Council Hall in the Palazzo Vecchio. Leonardo made a cardboard depicting the “Battle of Anghiari”, and Michelangelo - “Battle of Cascina”.
Unlike Leonardo, Michelangelo wanted to depict in the painting not a battle, but bathing soldiers who, having heard the alarm, rush to get out of the water. The artist painted eighteen figures, all of them in motion.
In 1506, both cardboards were put on display. However, the frescoes were never painted. The “Battle of Cascina” cardboard, valued by contemporaries more than all other works by Michelangelo, perished: it was cut into pieces and distributed among different hands until its last pieces disappeared without a trace. Vasari, who saw some of its parts, says that “it was more a divine than a human creation,” and the sculptor Benvenuto Cellini, who had the opportunity to study both cardboards - Michelangelo and Leonardo, testifies that they were “a school for the whole world.”
Vasari notes that in his cardboard Michelangelo used different equipment, trying to show off his perfect mastery of the drawing: “There were many more figures, united in groups and sketched in different manners: the contours of some were outlined with charcoal, others were drawn with strokes, others were filled with shading and the colors were put on them with chalk, as he (that is Michelangelo) wanted to show all his skill in this matter.”
In 1505, Pope Julius II summons Michelangelo. He decided to create a worthy tomb for himself during his lifetime. For more than thirty years, countless complications associated with this tomb constituted the tragedy of Michelangelo's life. The project was repeatedly changed and completely reworked until the completely exhausted artist, busy in his declining years with other orders, agreed to a smaller version of the tomb installed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli.
Michelangelo reluctantly agreed to the commission given to him by Julius II in 1508 to paint the vault of the Sistine Chapel. According to the original plan, only the twelve apostles and the most ordinary ornamental decorations were depicted on the ceiling in the corresponding lunettes.
“But having already begun work,” wrote Michelangelo, “I saw that it would look poor, and I told the pope that with only the apostles it would be poor. Dad asked: why? I answered: because they themselves were poor people. Then he agreed and told me to do as I know..."
IN AND. Surikov wrote to P.P. Chistyakov: “Prophets, Sibyls, Evangelists and scenes of St. the writings flowed out so completely, not jammed anywhere, and the proportions of the paintings to the entire mass of the ceiling were maintained incomparably.”
“Initially, Michelangelo wanted to paint the vault with small compositions, almost decoratively, but then abandoned this idea. He creates his own painted architecture on the vault: powerful pillars seem to support the cornice and arches, “thrown” across the space of the chapel. All the spaces between these pillars and arches are occupied by images of human figures. This “architecture” depicted by Michelangelo organizes the painting and separates one composition from another.
A person entering the chapel immediately sees the entire cycle of paintings: even before starting to look at individual figures and scenes, he gets the first general idea of the frescoes and how the master sets out the history of the world...
The entire history of the world, extremely tragically and personally read, appears before us in the paintings of the Sistine Chapel. In these grandiose frescoes, Michelangelo seems to be creating a world similar to his great soul - a gigantic, complex world, full of deep feelings and experiences” (I. Tuchkov).
Those who saw both before and now the “Sistine Plafond” were and will be shocked. There is a lot of evidence of this, one of them is from Bernard Bernson, the greatest modern art critic: “Michelangelo... created such an image of a man who can subjugate the earth, and, who knows, maybe more than the earth.” “Like a truly great work of art, this painting is infinitely wide and diverse in its ideological plan, so that people of the most varied mentality... experience a blessed awe when contemplating it... On this ceiling, it’s as if giant waves are rolling wave after wave human life, our whole destiny..." (L. Lyubimov).
The creation of this painting was painful and difficult for the artist. Michelangelo has to build the scaffolding himself, working while lying on his back. Condivi says that while painting the Sistine Chapel, “Michelangelo so accustomed his eyes to look upward at the vault that later, when the work was completed and he began to hold his head straight, he saw almost nothing; when he had to read letters and papers, he had to hold them high above his head. Little by little he again began to get used to reading while looking down in front of him.”
Michelangelo himself conveys his condition on the scaffolding:
Breasts like harpies; skull to spite me
Climbed to the hump; and his beard stood on end;
And mud flows from the brush onto the face,
Dressing me in brocade, like a coffin...
The election of Leo X from the Medici family as pope in 1513 contributed to the renewal of the artist’s connection with his hometown. In 1516, the new pope commissioned him to design the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo, built by Brunelleschi. This became the first architectural commission. Michelangelo spends a long time in the quarries, selecting marble for the upcoming work. He begins work on the chapel, but in 1520 Pope Leo X annuls the contract for the construction of the façade of San Lorenzo. The artist's four years of work were destroyed with the stroke of a pen.
In 1524, Michelangelo began construction of the Laurenziana Library. The fall of the Florentine Republic marked the most troubling period in Michelangelo's life. Despite his strong republican convictions, Michelangelo could not stand the anxiety of the upcoming events: he fled to Ferrara and Venice (1529) and wanted to take refuge in France. Florence declared him a rebel and deserter, but then forgave him and invited him to return. While in hiding and suffering great torment, he witnessed the fall of hometown and only later timidly turned to the pope, who in 1534 commissioned him to complete the painting of the Sistine Chapel.
The artist forever leaves Florence, which became the capital of the Duchy of Tuscany, and moves to Rome. A year later, Pope Paul III appointed him “painter, sculptor and architect of the Vatican,” and in 1536 Michelangelo began painting the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. He creates his most famous work - the painting “The Last Judgment”. He worked on this fresco for six years, completely alone.
“The theme of judgment on the world was close to old Michelangelo. On earth he saw grief and injustice; and now, in this work of his, he pronounces judgment on humanity.
In the center of the composition, the saints surround the young and formidable Christ. They crowd around his throne, presenting evidence of the torment they experienced. They demand, they demand, not ask, a fair trial. In fear, Mary clings to her son, and Christ, rising from the throne, seems to push away the people who are advancing on him. No, this is not a kind and forgiving god, this is, in the words of Michelangelo himself, “the blade of judgment and the weight of wrath.” Obeying his gesture, the dead rise from the bowels of the earth to stand trial. With iron inevitability they rise upward, some of them enter heaven, and some are cast into hell. Maddened with horror, sinners fall. And Charon is waiting for them below to transport them into the arms of Minos. Beginning at the bottom left, the round dance of human bodies, having completed a circle, closes at the bottom right on the threshold of hell.
"The Last Judgment" is conceived as grandly as possible, as the last moment before the disappearance of the Universe into chaos, as the dream of the gods before its sunset...” (Bernson).
Paul III visited the chapel every now and then. One day he went there with Biagio da Cesena, his master of ceremonies.
- How do you like these figures? - Dad asked him.
“I apologize to your Holiness, but these naked bodies seem to me simply blasphemous and unsuitable for a holy temple.”
Dad said nothing. But when the visitors left, Michelangelo, seething with indignation, took a brush and painted the devil Minos, giving him a portrait resemblance to the papal master of ceremonies. Having heard about this, Biagio ran to dad with a complaint. To which he replied: “Biagio, my dear, if Michelangelo had placed you in purgatory, I would have made every effort to rescue you from there, but since he placed you in hell, my intervention is useless, I no longer have power there.”
And Minos, with the feisty face of a master of ceremonies, remains in the picture to this day.
During the Catholic reaction, Michelangelo's fresco with its abundance of beautiful and strong naked bodies seemed somewhat blasphemous, especially considering its placement behind the altar. A little time will pass, and Pope Paul IV will order the nudity of individual characters to be recorded with drapery. The draperies were made by the artist's friend Daniele da Volterra. Perhaps this saved him great fresco from destruction by figures of Catholic reaction.
After finishing The Last Judgment, Michelangelo reached the pinnacle of fame among his contemporaries. He forgot to bare his head in front of dad, and dad, in his own words, did not notice this. Popes and kings sat him next to them.
From 1542 to 1550 Michelangelo creates his last paintings- two frescoes of the Paolina Chapel in the Vatican. As E. Rotenberg writes: “Both frescoes are multi-figure compositions with central character, depicted at a decisive moment in his life, surrounded by witnesses to this event. Much here looks unusual for Michelangelo. Although the frescoes themselves are quite large (the dimensions of each are 6.2 x 6.61 meters), they are no longer endowed with that super-ordinary scale that was previously an integral property of Michelangelo’s images. Concentration of action is very peculiarly combined with dispersion characters, forming inside the compositions individual episodes and isolated motives. But this dispersion is contrasted with a single emotional tone, expressed very tangibly and constituting, in fact, the basis of the impact of these works on the viewer - a tone of oppressive, constraining tragedy, inextricably linked with their ideological concept.”
In recent years, Michelangelo has been drafting the central plan of the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, sketching the plan for the Sforza Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, building Porta Pia, and giving a promising monumental appearance to the Capitol Square.
In life, Michelangelo did not know tender affection and participation, and this, in turn, was reflected in his character. “Art is jealous,” he says, “and demands the whole person.” “I have a wife to whom everything belongs, and my children are my works.” The woman who would understand Michelangelo must have had great intelligence and innate tact.
He met such a woman - Vittoria Colonna, the granddaughter of the Duke of Urbana and the widow of the famous commander Marquis of Pescaro, but it was too late: he was then already sixty years old. Vittoria was interested in science, philosophy, and religious issues, and was a famous poetess of the Renaissance.
Until her death, 10 years old, they constantly communicated and exchanged poems. Her death was a great loss for Michelangelo.
The friendship of Vittoria Colonna softened the heavy losses for him - first the loss of his father, then his brothers, of whom only Lionard remained, with whom Michelangelo maintained a cordial connection until his death. In all his actions and words, always homogeneous, consistent, clear, Michelangelo is seen as a strict thinker and a man of honor and justice, as in his works.
Dying, Michelangelo left a short will, as in life, he did not like verbosity. “I give my soul to God, my body to the earth, my property to my relatives,” he dictated to his friends.
Michelangelo died on February 18, 1564. His body was buried in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence.
Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese. Lived until February 18, 1564. Of course, he is better known as Michelangelo - the famous Italian sculptor, artist, architect, poet and engineer of the High and Late Renaissance. The works of the great master had an unprecedented influence on the subsequent development of Western art. Michelangelo was not only the best artist of his time, but also the greatest genius of all times. He should not be confused with Michelangelo Caravaggio, whose paintings were painted somewhat later.
Early works of Michelangelo Buonarroti
The paintings, or rather the reliefs “Battle of the Centaurs” and “Madonna of the Stairs”, testify to the search for the perfect form. Neoplatonists believed that this was the main task of art.
In these reliefs, mature images appear to the viewer High Renaissance, which were based on the study of antiquity. In addition, they were based on the traditions of Donatello and his followers.
Work begins on the Sistine Chapel
Pope Julius II planned to create a grandiose tomb for himself. He entrusted this work to Michelangelo. The year 1605 was not easy for both of them. The sculptor had already started work, but later learned that dad refused to pay the bills. This offended the master, so he left Rome without permission and returned to Florence. Long negotiations ended with Michelangelo's forgiveness. And in 1608, painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel began.
Working on the mural was a great feat. 600 square meters were completed in four years. The most grandiose cycle of compositions on themes from the Old Testament was born from the hand of Michelangelo. The paintings and images on the walls amaze with their ideological, figurative side and plastic expressiveness of forms. The naked human body has a special meaning. Through a variety of poses, movements, positions, an incredible number of ideas and feelings that overwhelmed the artist are expressed.
Man in the works of Michelangelo
In all of Michelangelo's sculptural and painting works, one single theme runs through - man. For the master this was the only means of expression. At first glance, this is imperceptible, but if you start to get acquainted more closely with the works of Michelangelo, the paintings reflect the landscape, clothing, interiors, and objects to a minimum. And only in cases where it is necessary. In addition, all these details are generalized, not detailed. Their task is not to distract from the story about a person’s actions, his character and passions, but to serve only as a background.
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel covers an area of more than 500 square meters. Michelangelo depicted more than 300 figures on it alone. In the center are 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis. They are divided into three groups:
- God's creation of the earth.
- God's creation of the human race and its fall.
- The essence of humanity represented by Noah and his family.
The ceiling is supported by sails, which depict 12 women and men predicting the coming of Jesus Christ: 7 prophets of Israel and 5 Sibyls (soothsayers of the ancient world).
False elements (ribs, cornices, pilasters), which are made using the trompe l'oeil technique, emphasize the bending line of the vault. Ten ribs cross the canvas, dividing it into zones, each of which describes the main narrative of the cycle.
The lampshade is surrounded by a cornice. The latter emphasizes the line of conjugation between the curvilinear and horizontal surfaces of the arch. Thus, biblical scenes are separated from the figures of prophets and sibyls, as well as the ancestors of Christ.
"The Creation of Adam"
Michelangelo's painting "The Creation of Adam" is certainly one of the most famous fragments of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Many people who have different attitudes to art unanimously assert that between the imperious hand of Hosts and the weak-willed, trembling brush of Adam, one can practically see the flow of life-giving force. These almost touching hands represent the unity of the material and spiritual, earthly and heavenly.
This painting by Michelangelo, in which the hands are so symbolic, is completely imbued with energy. And as soon as the fingers touch, the act of creation is completed.
"The Last Judgment"
For six years (from 1534 to 1541) the master again worked in the Sistine Chapel. The Last Judgment, painted by Michelangelo, is the largest fresco of the Renaissance.
The central figure is Christ, who executes judgment and restores justice. He is at the center of the vortex movement. He is no longer the messenger of peace, merciful and peaceful. He became the Supreme Judge, formidable and intimidating. Right hand Christ raised in a menacing gesture, pronouncing the final verdict that will divide the resurrected into righteous and sinners. This raised hand becomes the dynamic center of the entire composition. It seems that it sets the bodies of the righteous and sinners into violent motion.
If the soul of every person is in motion, then the figure of Jesus Christ is motionless and stable. His gestures represent strength, retribution and power. Madonna cannot bear to watch people suffer, so she turns away. And at the top of the picture, angels carry the attributes of the Passion of Christ.
Among the Apostles stands Adam, the first of the human race. Also here is Saint Peter, the founder of Christianity. In the views of the apostles one can read a formidable demand for retribution against sinners. Michelangelo placed the instruments of torture into their hands.
The fresco paintings depict the martyred saints around Christ: Saint Lawrence, Saint Sebastian and Saint Bartholomew, who displays his flayed skin.
There are many other saints here. They try to be closer to Christ. The crowd with the saints rejoices and rejoices at the upcoming bliss that the Lord has awarded them.
Seven angels sound their trumpets. Everyone who looks at them is horrified. Those whom the Lord saves immediately ascend and are resurrected. The dead rise from their graves, skeletons rise. A man covers his eyes with his hands in horror. The devil himself came for him, dragging him down.
"Cumae Sibyl"
Michelangelo depicted 5 famous Sibyls on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. These paintings are famous all over the world. But the most famous is the Kuma Sibyl. She prophesies the end of the whole world.
The fresco depicts the large and ugly body of an old woman. She sits on a marble throne and studies ancient book. The Cumaean Sibyl is a Greek priestess who spent many years in the Italian town of Cumae. There is a legend that Apollo himself was in love with her, who awarded her the gift of divination. In addition, the Sibyl could live as many years as she could spend away from her home. But after many years she realized that she had not asked eternal youth. That is why the priestess began to dream of a quick death. It was in this body that Michelangelo depicted her.
Description of the artwork "Libyan Sibyl"
The Libyan Sibyl is the embodiment of beauty, the eternal movement of the living and wisdom. At first glance, it seems that the figure of the Sibyl is powerful, but Michelangelo endowed her with special plasticity and grace. It seems that she will now turn to the viewer and show the tome. Of course, the book contains the Word of God.
Initially, the Sibyl was a wandering soothsayer. She predicted the near future, the fate of everyone.
Despite her lifestyle, the Libyan Sibyl was quite categorical about idols. She called for abandoning the service of pagan gods.
Ancient primary sources indicate that the soothsayer was from Libya. Her skin was black, her height was average. The girl always held a branch of the Maslenitsa tree in her hand.
"Persian Sibyl"
The Persian Sibyl lived in the East. Her name was Sambeta. She was also called the Babylonian prophetess. It is mentioned in sources of the 13th century BC. The year 1248 was the year of prophecies that the Sibyl drew from her 24 books. It is claimed that her predictions concerned the life of Jesus Christ. In addition, she mentioned Alexander the Great and many other legendary figures. Predictions are expressed in verses that have double meaning. This makes them difficult to interpret unambiguously.
Contemporaries of the Persian Sibyl write that she was dressed in golden clothes. She had an inviting, youthful appearance. Michelangelo, whose paintings always have a deeper meaning, imagined her in old age. The Sibyl has almost turned away from the viewer, all her attention is drawn to the book. The image is dominated by rich and bright colors. They emphasize the wealth, good quality and excellent quality of the clothes.
"Separation of Light from Darkness"
Michelangelo Buonarroti's paintings with titles are amazing. It is impossible to imagine what the genius felt when he created such a masterpiece.
When creating the fresco "Separation of Light from Darkness", Michelangelo wanted powerful energy to emanate from it. The center of the plot is Hosts, who is this incredible energy. God created the heavenly bodies, Light and Darkness. He then decided to separate them from each other.
Hosts float in empty space and endow it with cosmic bodies. Clothes them in matter and essence. He does all this with the help of his divine energy and, of course, the highest and great love.
It is no coincidence that Buonarotti represents the Supreme Intelligence in the form of a person. Perhaps the master claims that humans are also capable of separating the light from the darkness within themselves, thus creating a spiritual Universe that is filled with peace, love and understanding.
Studying the paintings of Michelangelo, photos of which are now available to everyone, a person begins to realize the true scale of this master’s work.
"Flood"
At the beginning of his work, Michelangelo Buonarroti was not confident in his abilities. The paintings and frescoes of the chapel were created after the master painted “The Flood”.
Afraid to begin work, Michelangelo hired skilled fresco masters from Florence. But after a while he sent them back because he was not satisfied with their work.
“The Flood,” like many other paintings by Michelangelo (as we can see, the genius had no problems with the names - they perfectly convey the essence of each canvas and fragment), was a place for studying the nature of man, his actions under the influence of disasters, misfortunes, disasters, his reactions to everything. And several fragments formed into one fresco on which the tragedy unfolds.
In the foreground is a group of people trying to escape on a piece of land that still exists. They are like a flock of frightened sheep.
Some man hopes to delay the death of himself and his beloved. The little boy hides behind his mother, who seems to have given herself over to Fate. The young man hopes to avoid death on the tree. Another group covers themselves with a piece of canvas, hoping to hide from the flow of rain.
Restless waves are still holding the boat, in which people are fighting for a place. The Ark can be seen in the background. Several people are banging on the walls, hoping to be rescued.
Michelangelo portrayed the characters in different ways. The paintings that make up one mural show different emotions of people. Some are trying to catch the last chance. Others strive to help loved ones. Someone is ready to sacrifice a neighbor in order to save himself. But everyone is worried about one question: “Why should I die?” But God is already silent...
"Noah's Sacrifice"
IN Last year Michelangelo created the stunning fresco "The Sacrifice of Noah". Her images convey to us all the sorrow and tragedy of what is happening.
Noah was shocked by the amount of water that fell and at the same time was grateful for his salvation. Therefore, he and his family rush to make a sacrifice to God. It was this moment that Michelangelo decided to capture. Paintings with this subject usually convey family closeness and internal solidarity. But not this one! What is Michelangelo Buonarroti doing? His paintings convey completely different experiences.
Some participants in the scene demonstrate indifference, while others demonstrate mutual alienation, outright hostility and distrust. Some characters - a mother with a child and an old man with a staff - show grief, turning into tragic despair.
God promised not to punish humanity in this way again. The earth will be saved for fire.
There are so many artistic masterpieces, the author of which is the great Florentine, that one can talk about them for hours. Fortunately, today anyone interested high art a person has access to photographs depicting paintings by Michelangelo (with names and brief description we introduced you to the most famous ones). Thus, at any moment you can start enjoying the creations of this Renaissance genius.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) was a sculptor, painter and architect. He is considered one of greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance and perhaps of all times. His work demonstrated, never before seen, a combination of psychological insight, physical realism and intensity. His contemporaries recognized his extraordinary talent, and Michelangelo received commissions from some of the richest and most powerful men of his time, including popes and others associated with Catholic Church. His paintings, in particular those that adorn the Sistine Chapel, are carefully preserved so that future generations have the opportunity to view them and appreciate Michelangelo's talent.
The Sistine Chapel (former church) was built in the holiest part of Italy, the Vatican, in 1473-1481. by the architect Giorgio de Dolci, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV, which is where its name comes from. New popes have always been and are being elected within its walls. Today the Chapel is a museum and a famous monument of the Renaissance.
In 1508, Pope Julius II summoned Michelangelo to Rome to work on a rather expensive and ambitious painting project: to depict the 12 apostles on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Instead, over the course of a four-year project, Michelangelo painted 12 figures around the central part of the ceiling: seven prophets and five sibyls, and filled the center with nine scenes from the Book of Genesis.
25 years after the ceiling painting was completed, in 1537 - 1541. Michelangelo continued painting the Sistine Chapel and painted the large-scale fresco “The Last Judgment.” It occupies the entire wall behind the altar. The fresco was commissioned by Pope Clement VII, who died during preparation for painting. He was replaced by Paul III, who wanted the picture to be completed.
The most famous of Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is The Creation of Adam. On it, God and Adam stretch out their hands to each other. This gesture looks very emotional, and cannot leave literally any connoisseur of painting indifferent.
CREATION:
"Separation of Light from Darkness"
This fresco depicts Hosts. With just one powerful movement of his hands, he disperses the clouds, fighting chaos, striving to separate light and darkness.
"The Creation of the Sun and Planets"
The fresco was painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti around 1509–10. Its size is 570 cm x 280 cm. The fresco depicts the events described in biblical story, Genesis, chapter 1, verses 14 to 19 inclusive.
"Separation of land from waters"
The fresco depicts events described in the Bible, in the Old Testament, the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verses 1 - 5.
ADAM AND EVE:
"The Creation of Adam"
The fresco was painted by Michelangelo around 1511. The fresco depicts the moment when God, with a movement of his hand, seems to give Adam vital energy and revives the already created body. Fresco size: 280 cm x 570 cm.
"The Creation of Eve"
The fresco was painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1508 - 1512. From the rib of sleeping Adam, God creates Eve.
"The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise"
The fresco was painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti around 1508 - 1512. The tree of knowledge, located in the center, seems to divide the life of Adam and Eve into before and after eating the forbidden fruit.
NOAH'S STORY:
"Noah's Sacrifice"
This fresco was painted by Michelangelo around 1508 - 1512. It depicts the story of how, after the Great Flood, grateful for his salvation and the salvation of his family, Noah makes a sacrifice to God.
"Global flood"
The fresco was painted by Michelangelo around 1508 - 1509. Its size is 570 cm x 280 cm. It tells us about how people tried to escape from the Flood, how they reacted to what was happening and what methods they used to try to avoid death.
"Noah's Drunkenness"
The fresco is by Michelangelo and was painted by him in 1509. Its size is 260 cm x 170 cm. The fresco depicts events from the Book of Genesis, chapter 9, verses 20 - 23.
SIBYL:
"Libyan Sibyl"
Sibyls in ancient culture were called soothsayers, prophetesses who predicted the future and future troubles. According to Varro (Roman writer and polymath of the 1st century BC), the word Sibyl translates as "God's will."
"Persian Sibyl"
The Persian Sibyl is depicted on the fresco in the form of an elderly woman, apparently with not very good eyesight, since she brought the book too close to her eyes. Her advanced age is also indicated by her very covered clothing. Sibyl seems to be completely focused on reading and does not pay any attention to what is happening around her.
"Cumae Sibyl"
The prophetess is depicted on the fresco in the form of an old but strong woman with well-developed muscles. The Cumaean Sibyl is often mentioned in ancient literature: in Petronius’s “Satyricon”, in Tacitus’s “Annals”, Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” and Virgil’s “Aeneid”. Many artists depicted her in their paintings. In addition to Michelangelo, it was also painted by Titian, Raphael, Giovanni Cerrini, Andrea del Castagno, Jan van Eyck and others.
"Eritrean Sibyl"
In this fresco, the Sibyl is depicted as a young, quite attractive and developed woman, reading, apparently, at a late time. The little putti uses a torch to light a lamp for her.
"The Delphic Sibyl"
Delphic Sibyl - a mythical woman who existed before Trojan War(circa 11th century BC). It is mentioned in his manuscript, in stories that he heard from locals, by Pausanias (a Greek geographer and traveler who lived in the 2nd century AD).
PROPHETS:
"Prophet Jeremiah"
Jeremiah is the second of the four prophets of the Old Testament, who lived around 655 BC. uh, author of two books: “The Lamentations of Jeremiah” and “The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.” In the fresco, the saddened prophet is immersed in difficult thoughts about the fate of the people.
"Prophet Daniel"
Daniel is a biblical prophet who lived in the 7th century BC. He had the gift from God to interpret dreams.
"Prophet Ezekiel"
Ezekiel is a great Old Testament prophet who lived in Jerusalem around 622 BC. e. According to the Bible, the Book of Ezekiel, he made prophecies directed against pagans and Jews, testified to a vision of the glory of the Lord, etc.
"Prophet Isaiah"
For Christians, Isaiah's prophecies about the future birth and coming of the Messiah (Is. 7:14, Is. 9:6), as well as about ministry (Is. 61:1) are especially valuable. He also prophesied about the fate of Egypt and Israel.
"Prophet Joel"
The fresco depicts one of the 12 minor prophets - the prophet Joel, the son of Bethuel, who, according to legend, lived in the city of Bethar and wrote a book of prophecies.
"Prophet Jonah"
This slightly unusual fresco depicts Jonah, one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by Michelangelo. Behind him is a big fish. This is a reference to the fact that in the book of Jonah, he is swallowed by a whale.
"Prophet Zechariah"
Zechariah was one of the twelve "minor" prophets. In church tradition he is young, but Michelangelo painted him as a gray-haired, aged man with a long beard.
"The Last Judgment"
The theme of the fresco: the second coming of Jesus Christ and the apocalypse. Its size: 1200 cm x 1370 cm.