Michelangelo (1475-1564). Renaissance Grandeur

Michelangelo Buonarroti, usually referred to simply as Michelangelo, lived a long life from 1475 to 1564. Trained in Florence, he worked there and in Rome for most of his career. He was a sculptor, architect, painter, and a great draughtsman. While we focus here on his paintings, it is important to remember that he also created some of the most important sculptures and buildings ever made, including the famous David, the Moses, and the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Michelangelo was the first artist to be widely recognized as a genius by his contemporaries—an important landmark in the history of what it meant to be an artist in Europe. His dedication to multiple arts and his pursuit of an ideal of beauty began in the early Renaissance. His enormous influence made him, alongside Leonardo and Raphael, a central figure of the High Renaissance. Though he produced few easel paintings, he devoted most of his energy to monumental mural painting. His greatest achievements in this field are the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which include the vault (painted between 1508 and 1512 on commission from Pope Julius II) and the altar wall. The Sistine Chapel, named after Pope Sixtus IV who built it in the 15th century, is used by the Pope and remains the place where cardinals gather to elect new pontiffs. The central vault depicts nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, surrounded by numerous figures and illusionistic architecture. One of the most famous images is the Creation of Adam. God, surrounded by figures, reaches toward Adam, who lies alone in a barren space. Both figures resemble gods or heroes from classical antiquity, inspired by sculptures such as the Laocoön, excavated in Rome in 1506 and displayed in the Vatican during Michelangelo’s time. Ancient art often used the nude human body as its primary expressive form, and its grandeur and beauty set the standards for Michelangelo. Here, he represents the moment when God is about to animate Adam, giving him spirit. The electric tension between their nearly touching hands conveys the difference between matter and spirit—the mysterious essence absent in death and about to be bestowed upon Adam. Adam’s body exemplifies Michelangelo’s style: clearly delineated contours and emphatic modeling of form through light and shade, giving his painted figures a sculptural quality. Michelangelo himself wrote that painting should be considered better the closer it approaches relief. Another image from the ceiling shows a Sibyl, a mythological prophetess whom Christians believed foretold Christ’s coming. Her body twists in opposing directions: face left, torso right, legs left again. This counterpose, known as contrapposto, was a compositional device of classical Greek sculpture, revived in the Renaissance and used extensively by Michelangelo. Preparatory drawings reveal his meticulous study of volume and anatomy—even down to individual toes. His drawings raised artistic standards for centuries and underscored the importance of skill in an artist’s reputation. In 1534 Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel with The Last Judgment, completed in 1541. By then, his outlook and religious attitudes had changed, and the work reflects a more pessimistic mood, expressing his anxieties about death and redemption. At the center stands the resurrected Christ, showing the wounds of crucifixion. With his raised right hand he casts the damned to hell; with his left he calls the blessed to heaven. Saints and prophets surround him, alarmed yet powerless. Beside him, the Virgin turns toward the blessed being lifted from their graves, recoiling from the sight of the damned below. Among the figures is Saint Bartholomew, who according to tradition was skinned alive for preaching. He holds his flayed skin, whose face bears Michelangelo’s own features. The scene combines a sombre, terrifying mood with immense physical and psychological presence—qualities contemporaries identified as typical of Michelangelo, calling it terribilità. Technically, these works were executed in fresco, a method in which pigments mixed with water are applied directly onto wet plaster. As the plaster dries, the colors become integral to the wall. Only enough plaster for a day’s work was laid at a time, so daily patches remain visible when viewed closely.

Images in video: Michelangelo (1475-1564). Renaissance Grandeur

Daniele da Volterra, Portrait of Michelangelo, c. 1544, 88 x 64 cm, 
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

View of the interior of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, detail from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, c. 1511
Rome, Vatican City, Sistine Chapel

Detail, The Laocoon, 1st century AD, 
Rome, Vatican City, Musei Vaticani

Detail, Michelangelo, The Libyan Sibyl, c. 1511
Rome, Vatican City, Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl, c. 1510-1511, drawing, red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the left shoulder of the figure in the main study, 289 x 214 mm, 
New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art