Ana səhifə

High renaissance


Yüklə 255.5 Kb.
səhifə2/4
tarix25.06.2016
ölçüsü255.5 Kb.
1   2   3   4

Born to a famous Italian family – the Della Rovere family




  • His uncle was Pope Sixtus IV, the pope who built the Sistine Chapel, in which future popes would be chosen

  • The Della Rovere family’s symbol is the acorn, a motif which you will notice several times in artwork commissioned by Pope Julius II




  1. Avid art patron




  • Understood the importance of visual imagery in conveying his power and authority as pope

  • Pope Julius II was a educated and cultivated humanist who appreciated classical culture and the arts and sought to incorporate the imagery into Christian art

  • He wanted the Rome of the Popes to surpass the glory of the Rome of the Caesars

  • Julius II had major projects under way – He tore down Old Saint Peter’s Basilica, which was built during the reign of Constantine, to build a new version of Saint Peter’s. He put Bramante in charge of building New Saint Peter’s. He hired the fresh young talent from Urbino, Raphael, to decorate the papal apartments with frescoes.

  • Called Michelangelo to Rome to work on some important projects




  1. Julius’ tomb




  1. A grandiose project – a two-story structure with 28 statues intended to be placed in New Saint Peter’s




  1. Dramatically reduced – not finished during Julius’ lifetime due to frequent interruptions in Micheangelo’s work (ex. Sistine Chapel). Later popes (of the Medici family), were not apparently that concerned with aggrandizing the memory of Julius II and downsized the project. Also, they had other projects for Michelangelo.



  1. The finished tomb – San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains) - is not even in Saint Peter’s. It is in the Roman church where Julius II served as cardinal prior to becoming pope.




  1. Moses

  • Moses, the famous servant of God and bringer of the Ten Commandments, is the dominant figure of the tomb

  • The horns – Moses does not have horns because he is demonic; he has horns because of a mistranslation of the Bible which persisted through the Middle Ages. Instead of translating the ancient text as “beams of light,” it was translated as “horns.” Many other artists prior to Michelangelo depicted him with the horns.

  • Moses holds the Ten Commandments.

  • Moses has an expression of coiled up energy and force. Art historians and contemporaries referred to this quality as terribilita, an expression of Michelangelo’s intensity.

  • Turned head – concentrates the expression of awful wrath that stirs in the mighty frame and eyes. Moses was angry because while he was on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments as well as instructions on how to lead the people of Israel, the people were worshipping a golden calf, drinking heavily, and behaving in sexually immoral ways. When Moses came down from the mountain with the first set of Ten Commandments, he threw them down as the base of the mountain, breaking them into pieces.

  • The muscles bulge, veins swell, and the great legs seem to begin slowly to move. One commentator remarked that if this titan ever where to move the earth would fly apart!

  • Let’s compare Michelangelo’s Moses to Claus Sluter’s version from the Well of Moses – Northern European style (G – 549)




  1. The Slave Statues




  • Traditionally associated as being a part of Julius II’s tomb but some scholars now challenge this

  • They twist, labor, and struggle with rippling muscles

  • May express the movement of humanity to break free from their earthly existence during their journey to eternal life – Neoplatonist struggle toward the ideal spiritual existence and heaven

  • Example – Bound Slave – arms are bound behind his back as he struggles defiantly to free himself

  • Michelangelo glorified the human body in his work




  1. The Sistine Chapel




  1. Built by Pope Sixtus IV in the early 1480’s. The name Sistine is a version of Sixtus. The pope created it as his own private chapel. Today, the College of Cardinals gathers in the Sistine Chapel to elect new popes.




  1. Design – A rectangular hall measuring 131 feet in length and 43.5 feet in width. The building has the same dimensions as the Bible attributes to Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem.



  1. By 1508, Quattrocento masters such as Botticelli, Perugino, and Ghirlandaio had already depicted Biblical scenes in the chapel.



  1. The ceiling was covered with stars on a blue background.



  1. In 1508, Pope Julius II persuaded Michelangelo to replace the starry sky ceiling with something more appropriate. Julius had in mind portraits of the 12 apostles. Michelangelo had something else in mind.



  1. Michelangelo did not want to paint the ceiling and tried to convince Julius that Raphael would be better suited for the job. Bramante and Raphael, who were friends and already in Rome, convinced Julius to have Michelangelo do it (which would undermine his work on Julius II’s tomb, which was his main project. --- professional jealousy?)



  1. The Sistine Ceiling




  1. The agony and the ecstasy




  • Four years

  • Did not paint on his back; he stood up looking at the ceiling, craning his neck. So much paint fell into his eyes that he was not able to read clearly for several months after the project.

  • Constant prodding from Julius II




  1. Unveiling (October 31, 1512)




  • The whole world came running to see what Michelangelo had done… and certainly it was such as to make everyone speechless with astonishment… There is no other work to compare with this excellence, nor could there be; and it is scarcely possible even to imitate what Michelangelo accomplished.” Vasari







  • Over 300 characters




  • But what does it all mean?



  1. The Central Panels or Histories




  • These scenes are taken from the Old Testament Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible

  • It chronicles God’s creation of the world and humankind, his punishment of humankind, his rescue of humankind after its sinfulness, and then humankinds return to sinfulness

  • There is a message of hope --- panels surrounding the central histories/panels portray prophets that foretell the coming of the Messiah!




  • God Separating Light from Darkness



  • Creation of the Sun and Moon



  • God Separating the Earth from the Waters



  • Creation of Adam

  • Of all the marvelous images that crowd the immense complex of Sistine Ceiling, the Creation of Adam is undoubtedly the one which has most deeply impressed posterity. No wonder, for here we are give a single overwhelming vision of the sublimity of God and the potential nobility of man unprecedented and unrivaled in the entire history of visual art. (Frederick Hill)

  • The image of the creation of Adam is one of the most famous in Western art – memorable, inspired, and with that rare originality that lifts art onto a new plane and indicates a new direction.

  • God

  • In all previous depictions of, God was regally enthroned and dressed. Michelangelo swept these depictions aside. Garbed only in a short white tunic, which reveals the power of His body and limbs, the Lord soars across the heavens.

  • For the first time in Christian art, the mighty right arm of the Lord is revealed

  • Adam

  • Love and longing, wonder and obedience stream from the silent face of Adam toward God

  • Adam, before the Fall, was beautiful even as Christ was beautiful, because he was made in the image of God

  • One of the most beautiful human figures ever imagined. A century of Renaissance research into the nature and possibilities of human anatomy seems in retrospect to lead up to this single moment

  • Notice that Adam’s pose is the mirror of God’s pose and that you can superimpose their bodies to make a unified whole --- the only difference is that Adam’s hand hangs limply waiting for God to give him life

  • The Hands of God and Adam

  • A charge of electricity

  • The breath of life




  • The Ignudi

  • Nude, youthful male figures frame the histories

  • They exemplify the union between humanist concepts of ideal masculine beauty with the Christian message

  • The Ignudi also react to the scenes and serve as frames




  • Creation of Eve

  • Notice how God beckons her forth from Adam’s rib as he sleeps




  • Temptation and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden

  • Notice that Adam and Eve are still idealized and physically beautiful prior to taking the fruit but are starting to look a little wilder

  • After their sin, as the Archangel Michael casts them out of the Garden, they are physically ugly

  • For Michelangelo, physical appearance is an external sign of one’s internal spirit (remember why Mary is so youthful in Pieta)




  • Noah and his Sons Offering the Sacrifice




  • The Deluge or Flood

  • Because of humanity’s sinfulness, God sent a flood to destroy the world. He spared only Noah, his family, and two of every creature

  • Noah’s Ark – the ark symbolizes the Church and tells us that man can save himself only through it




  • Drunkenness of Noah

  • The drunken Noah is the symbol of man reverting to his sins once the Deluge has passed


Summary

  • The supremacy of the spirit – seen in different forms as we move closer to the altar, we become closer to God (God Separating Light from Darkness)

  • The degradation of man – seen in different forms as we move farther from the altar

  • The degradation of man creates the need for a Savior or Redeemer




  1. Prophets and Sibyls




    • The scenes in the central panels are surrounded by large portraits of 5 sibyls (oracles) and 7 prophets from the Old Testament




    • As a group, all 12 prophesied or predicted the advent and message of the Savior. Remember, the Savior is needed because of the Original Sin of Adam and Eve and the degradation of man as symbolized by Noah




    • The prophets and sibyls are shown on thrones with their writings, holding their own book or reading on a scroll the divine message each brought




    • Example 1: The Prophet Zechariah

    • Prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy King cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass... Zechariah also foresaw the reconstruction of the Temple – a building on whose dimensions the Sistine Chapel was built




    • Figure Zechariah was the first of seven Old Testament prophets to be frescoed on the Sistine Chapel’s vault. Thirteen feet in height, and wrapped in heavy crimson and green robes, he was given a yellow-ochre shirt with a brilliant blue collar.




    • Position: Since Zechariah prophesied Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem his image was placed above the entrance to the chapel




    • Resemblance to Julius II: It was common for an artist to immortalize his patron in a fresco. Zechariah not only sits above the Rovere coat of arms but also wears clothing featuring the Rovere colors, blue and gold.




    • Example 2: The Delphic Sibyl




    • Prophecy: the coming of a savior “who shall be betrayed into the hands of infidels and crowned with a crown of thorns.”




    • Position: On the wall to the right of the entrance, below the drunkenness of Noah. The episode of Noah ridiculed by his son is a prefiguration of Christ’s mocking by the soldiers, about which the Delphic Sibyl also spoke in her oracle.




    • Example 3: The Prophet Isaiah




    • Prophecy: “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.”




    • Position: Wrapped in meditation, Isaiah closes his book and turns as he listens to his attendant putto, who points to the Fall of Man!




    • Example 4: The Prophet Jeremiah




    • Prophecy: Jeremiah was called upon by God to be the prophet of tragedies. He felt great sorrow for the agonies that the Omnipotent had decided to inflict upon sinners.




    • Position: The Sibyls and Prophets build in the intensity of their contemplation as we move closer and closer to the altar




    • Is this a self-portrait? Many art historians believe that Jeremiah is a self-portrait of Michelangelo!




    • Example 5: Jonah




    • The Story of Jonah and the Whale – Jonah was the prophet ordered by the Lord to go to Nineveh and denounce its people for their wickedness. He refused this mission and instead boarded a boat going in the opposite direction, only to be caught in a violent tempest unleashed by the displeased Almighty. Learning the reason for the storm, the frightened sailors tossed Jonah overboard, at which point the waters calmed and the reluctant prophet was swallowed by a leviathan, in whose belly he then spent three days and three nights before being disgorged onto dry land. Duly chastened, Noah went to Nineveh and prophesied its destruction, only to be disappointed when the Lord took pity on its inhabitants when they repented their evil ways.




    • Prefigures Christ: Theologians regarded Jonah as a precursor of Christ and the Resurrection, hence his position above the altar of the Sistine Chapel.




    • Jonah is positioned above the altar and looks at God to guide the attention of the viewers.



  1. Last Judgment (1536 – 1541)




  1. Historic background




  • Martin Luther and his 95 Theses

  • Luther challenged the corruption of the Church in Rome

  • Luther says salvation is achieved through faith alone

  • Luther’s actions were a direct cause of the Protestant Reformation.

  • The Church needed to respond to this challenge with a major work of art that would express its position.




  1. The Commission




  • Pope Clement VII proposes that Michelangelo paint a Last Judgment scene behind the altar. Initially unenthusiastic, Michelangelo finally agrees. Michelangelo was 61.




  1. The Painting




  • Fresco

  • 46 feet by 43 feet or 1,940 square feet

  • Over 400 figures

  • Completed on October 31, 1541 – 29 years to the day after the Sistine Ceiling was unveiled

  • Restored between 1990 and 1994




  1. The Sound of Trumpets




  • “And he shall send his angels with trumpets… and they shall gather together…” Matthew: 24:31

  • “And I saw… the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works… An whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life, was cast into the pool of fire.” Revelation 20: 11-15

  • The mighty blast of trumpets

  • A small book and a large book --- Which is the Book of Life?




  1. Christ and the Virgin Mary




  • “And when the Son of Man shall come in his majesty and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty; And all nations shall be gathered together before him, an he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.”

  • The image of Christ – Compare his appearance to Apollo Belvedere. Notice the similarity between Christ’s body and the Belvedere Torso.




  1. Descent into Hell




  • “Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41

  • All those who have chosen to live their lives in a way that denies God go into hell.




  1. Boat of Charon




  • Michelangelo’s vision of hell closely corresponds to Dante’s vision of hell in the Inferno (part of Dante’s Divine Comedy)

  • Charon, the demon, beckoning before, with eyes of glowing coal, assembles all; Whoever lags, he beats him with his oar…” (Dante’s Inferno 3:109 – 120)

  • Charon and the demons of hell are given grotesque features because Christians believe those who have chosen to reject virtue become less than human




  1. Minos/Satan




  • “There Minos, hideously grinning sits…” (Dante’s Inferno 3:109-120)

  • Minos is said to be a portrait of Biagio da Cesena, the papal Master of Ceremonies, who was an outspoken critic of Michelangelo’s work.




  1. Saints around Christ




  • John the Baptist




  • Saint Bartholomew – What is he holding?



  • Saint Peter – What is he returning to Christ?



  • Saint Paul



  • Adam and Eve?



  1. Ascending to Heaven




  • Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:34)




  • Notice how Michelangelo visually depicts the doctrines of faith, hope, and love written about by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13.




  • Michelangelo was depicting the Catholic doctrine that in order to get to Heaven, a Christian had to have faith and do good works (including the sacraments)



  1. Angels carrying the Cross, Crown of Thorns, and Pillar




  • These are the implements associated with the Passion of Christ.

  • Pilate ordered the Roman soldiers to bind Christ to a pillar and whip him.

  • The soldiers made a crown of thorns and placed it on Christ’s head mocking him and calling him King of the Jews.

  • The cross represents Christ’s crucifixion.



  1. Covering and uncovering the nudes




  • In 1563, the Council of Trent banned the display of “seductive charm” in sacred imagery (The Council of Trent was a series of meetings of Catholic religious leaders to reform the Catholic Church. This was a response to Martin Luther’s criticisms of the Church)

  • Daniel da Volterra painted over many of the nudes (during Michelangelo’s lifetime) earning him the nickname “Il Brachettone” – the breeches maker!

  • During the recent restoration, many of the clothes were removed




  1. What do you think of Michelangelo’s Last Judgment?




  1. Raphael (1483 – 1520)


A. A Charmed Life


  1. Grew up in Urbino

  2. Son of a minor artist who worked in the court of Federico da Montefeltro (remember the condotierre with the broken nose?)

  3. His father taught him the rudiments of painting

  4. Precocious (skilled at an early age) talent

  5. Apprenticed to Perugino for four years (1500 – 1504) and became an independent master
1   2   3   4

Verilənlər bazası müəlliflik hüququ ilə müdafiə olunur ©atelim.com 2016
rəhbərliyinə müraciət