Michelangelo's Sixth Bay
One
of the most humbling experiences in the world is standing under Michelangelo
Bounarroti’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. The pure enormity of the work (131 by 43
feet) paired with the skill and finesse of Bounarotti makes this work awe-inspiring.
Under
the patronage of Pope Julius II, Bounarotti completed the frescoes over four years, between 1508 and 1512using the boun
fresco method meaning that he worked only on freshly laid plaster
and each section of work was completed while the plaster was still in its fresh
state.
Central to the ceiling decoration are nine
scenes from the Book of Genesis of which the Creation of Adam is the best
known, and my personal favorite.
The complex design includes several sets of
individual figures, both clothed and nude, which allowed Michelangelo to fully
demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure.
These figures were so well rendered that they have provided an enormously
influential pattern book of models for other artists ever since. The action
takes place between the two figures in the forefront, Adam and God. The reclining
Adam in the bottom left-hand corner languidly reaches out his left arm to meet
the hand of God from whom he was created. A crowd of people surrounds God, Eve
is visible peaking out from under his arm and all are enveloped in a purple
cloak in the shape of the human brain. This shape serves as a reference to Gods
gift to man, thought. For someone who was initially averse to painting,
Michelangelo achieved a piece that many could never create.
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