The Last Judgment Alaina Wygant

Explanation The Last Judgment is about the Last Judgment depicted in the Bible, where people are sent to heaven or hell. Jesus is in the center of the painting, in a glowing light, with Mother Mary at his right side and the Saints around them. There are angels and demons and the dead throughout the painting. At the bottom of the painting is the gate of hell, which happens to be above the altar of the chapel.

History Michelangelo was commissioned to paint “The Last Judgment” from 1536 to 1541 on the wall of the Sistine Chapel in Italy. (He painted it against his will.) The Last Judgment was based on Matthew 25:31-46. The Sistine Chapel was a “turning-points in architectural history”, and depicted many things from the Bible, the Last Judgment being one of them. The Last Judgment was painted amidst “papal-Imperial struggle” in Italy. After Michelangelo died, people were angry at the indecency of the painting being mainly of nudes, so they painted drapery or loincloths on the people in the painting.

Artistic Significance The Last Judgment mainly had ideas of Mannerism, which is defined as “severe distortions of perspective and scale; complex and crowded compositions; strong, sometimes harsh or discordant colors; and elongated figures in exaggerated poses” The whole painting was a fresco, which is “a mural done with watercolors on wet plaster paint onto wet plaster on a wall”. The Last Judgment “marked a change in style for the artist”; “his palette grew more monochromatic, and the proportions of his figures grew broader and more menacing”. Michelangelo “created a new standard” by painting all of the figures, regardless of rank, in the nude, or, as one article puts it, “stripped of rank”.

Literary Devices Metaphor: The flayed skin that St. Bartholomew holds (he was a martyr that was flayed alive) is a metaphor for Michelangelo’s “tortured soul”. Michelangelo painted his own self-portrait in the flayed skin to show this. Metaphor: Minos, the king of hell, is a metaphor for Michelangelo’s enemy, Biagio da Cesena, who was also a Vatican official. He is also shown with donkey’s ears. Metaphor: The people who are caught between heaven and hell are metaphors for “the larger struggle between divine grace and evil for human souls”. Symbol: The painting was a symbol of “papal authority”, and how the authority of popes was passed down.

Purpose in Novel This piece is used in the novel in order to show how Asher developed in painting the truth about how he feels. He paints his classmate in Hell in the Last Judgment to show the classmate how he hates him, just as Michelangelo painted his enemy into Hell in the Last Judgment.

Bibliography Hayes, Holly. “Sistine Chapel.” Sacred Destinations. n.p, August 26, 2009. Web. February 3, 2010. http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-sistine-chapel Kren, Emil, and Daniel Marx. “Michelangelo Buonarroti.” Web Gallery of Art. Web Gallery of Art, n.d. Web. February 3, 2010. http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/m/michelan/biograph.html “The Last Judgment.” Vatican Museums . Vatican Museums, n.d. Web. February 3, 2010. Web. February 3, 2010. http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/x-Schede/CSNs/CSNs_G_Giud.html Ruehring, Lauren Mitchell. “Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.” HowStuffWorks, Inc. August 27, 2007. Web. February 3, 2010. http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/michelangelos-last-judgment.htm