Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
were painted between 1481 and 1482 by a team of Renaissance artists, including
Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Pinturicchio, Perugino and Luca Signorelli. They represent
events in the lives of Moses (to the left, looking at the
Giudizio Universale
) and
Christ (to the right).
MYTHS DEBUNKED
It's often said that Michelangelo worked alone. He didn't. Throughout the job, he employed a steady
stream of assistants to help with the plasterwork (producing frescoes involves painting directly onto wet
plaster).
Another popular myth is that Michelangelo painted lying down, as portrayed by Charlton Heston in the
film
The Agony and the Ecstasy
. In fact, Michelangelo designed a curved scaffolding system that allowed
him to work standing up, albeit in an awkward backward-leaning position.
Giudizio Universale (Last Judgment)
Michelangelo's second stint in the Sistine Chapel, from 1535 to 1541, resulted in the
Giudizio Universale
(Last Judgment), his highly charged depiction of Christ's second
coming on the 200-sq-metre western wall.
The project, which was commissioned by Pope Clement VII and encouraged by
his successor Paul III, was controversial from the start. Critics were outraged when
Michelangelo destroyed two Perugino frescoes when preparing the wall - it had to be
replastered so that it tilted inwards to protect it from dust - and when it was unveiled
in 1541, its dramatic, swirling mass of 391 predominantly naked bodies provoked
outrage. So fierce were feelings that the Church's top brass, meeting at the 1564
Council of Trent, ordered the nudity to be covered up. The task fell to Daniele da
Volterra, one of Michelangelo's students, who added fig leaves and loincloths to 41
nudes, earning himself the nickname
il braghettone
(the breeches maker).
For his part Michelangelo rejected the criticism. He even got his own back on one
of his loudest critics, Biagio de Cesena, the papal master of ceremonies, by depicting
him as Minos, judge of the underworld, with donkey ears and a snake wrapped
around him.
Another famous figure is St Bartholomew, just beneath Christ, holding his own
flayed skin. The face in the skin is said to be a self-portrait of Michelangelo, its an-
guished look reflecting the artist's tormented faith.
