Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: An overview of the Artist, Work, and Cultural Environment
Natural Context: environment in which the art was made Despite its religious subject matter and location in the Renaissance tradition of papal patronage of art, Michelangelo's sprawling fresco across the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican impresses many contemporary viewers with its visual resonance with pagan and pre-Christian artistic images dating back to Greece and Rome. Although the ceiling depicts the Fall of Man, the visual iconography is filled with excitement and celebration of the human, sexualized form in the tradition of pagan antiquity. This is consistent with the artist's style and also the spirit of the age when it was constructed.Artist's Biography: life story and circumstances of the artist With the possible exception of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni stands as the most famous painter and sculptor of the High Renaissance style in the Florentine and Roman tradition. During this period of art history, although religious subjects, such as those featured in the Sistine Chapel, remained popular, there was a new ethos: that of the celebration of the human form, and human achievements. Michelangelo was born near Florence, and grew up in that region. Although later in life Mich
However, by now the consensus is that the Restoration has improved the ability of spectators to observe Michelangelo's vision. most of the time leaning backwards and never able to get far enough away from the ceiling to be able to see what he was doing, he completed the first half (the part nearer to the door) in 1510" (Kren & Marx 2008). Artworld Context: ideas/beliefs/activities relevant to the era in which the artwork was made Despite their personal difficulties, when the work was finished in 1512 Julius II held a solemn Mass in honor of Michelangelo's completion of the achievement. His version of Adam, Eve, even of God as a man with a long white beard, have all created a kind of collective unconscious as to what these tales resemble visually, even though Michelangelo himself modeled many of these works upon older archetypes. Following the expulsion of the Medici, Michelangelo moved on to Rome, where he sculpted his first "Pieta. The profound influence of Greek and Roman depictions of anatomy and the body characteristic of the era is seen in the fluid and atomically correct depictions of the Biblical characters in the work. Regardless, Michelangelo's images have become so pervasive in our culture we often feel as if we have seen them already, long before we have a face-to-face encounter with the actual work. Art Specialists' Understanding: How do specialists in art understand the artwork? Despite the cliche that great artists are misunderstood during their lifetimes, Michelangelo and his magnum opus was immediately celebrated by his contemporaries. "Renaissance style in art, exemplified in works from Florentine artists, flourished largely because of the patronage, or financial support, of wealthy citizens and the church. The electric excitement in the hand of God as he animates Adam, the positive narrative arc of the tale into a vision of rebirth, and even the beauty of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, creates a life-affirming one might even say body-affirming work of art. After Lorenzo de' Medici died in 1492, Michelangelo studied anatomy with the help of the Prior of the Hospital of Sto Spirito. Personal Viewpoints: How do individuals' experiences affect how they understand the artwork? Of course, the degree to which Michelangelo embodies Christian or humanism in his work depends upon the bias of the gazer. The Vatican sees a celebration of the people of Christ, and the quintessential pinnacle of the relationship of church patronage and artists, a devout secularist may simply see a startling evocative vision of human forms.
Common topics in this essay:
Sistine Chapel,
Julius II,
Artist's Intent,
Personal Viewpoints,
Cultural Understanding,
Greek Roman,
Kren Marx,
Specialists' Understanding,
Greece Rome,
Natural Context,
sistine chapel,
marx 2008,
julius ii,
pope julius ii,
florentine art architecture,
ceiling vatican,
human form,
pope julius,
kern marx,
architecture renaissance 2008,
celebration human,
kren marx 2008,
renaissance style,
kern marx 2008,
2008 cultural,
|
Acceptance Essays
