Curiosity of Sistine Chapel Laura Timpano

Have you ever seen this detail?

It is in Vatican City, Rome It is in Vatican City, Rome. It is the place where cardinals choose the new Pope.

Glossary English Portuguese Ceiling= Starry= Pintar = Surface = Afresco= Square meter= Capela= Heritage= Camada= Starry= Arquitetura = Bare= Herói= Layer= Tempera= Rilief= cal Curve= Sculpture= Drunkenness= Mistake= Bestowal =

In 1508 Michelangelo was asked by the pope Julius II to paint the vault of Sistine Chapel in Rome. “I’m not a painter I’m a sculptor.  I’ve hardly done anything with a brush and you want me to paint on a curved ceiling!”

So he accepted and in the same year he started to paint a surface of 800 square meters to fresco with history from the Old Testament -from the Genesis book, in particular. He, completely alone, created one of the greatest world heritage of all the time

Fresco technique Painters mix sand and lime and spread the mix over the wall. Then when it is still wet, they paint the wall. When it dries, the colors become permanent due to the chemical process of water and carbon dioxid. The fresco technique is old and dates back at least to the Egyptians

The fresco was painted from a stepped scaffold suspended on wooden rafters. In which position do you think he painted the chapel, standing or laying?

Michelangelo himself designed the unique system of platforms, which were attached to the walls. This means that Michelangelo painted standing up – contrary to popular belief that he was laying on his back. stepped scaffold =andaime pisou

Michelangelo divided the vault in architectural sectors The architectural elements and the bare men (“ignudi”) come out, while the scenes are imagined beyond the structure. The multiplicity of layers gives the idea of a great high rilief. bare = nu layer = camada high rilief =alto relevo

“I am not in the right place — I am not a painter.” During the 4 years…. Working on the Sistine Chapel was so unpleasant that Michelangelo wrote a poem about his misery. “I am not in the right place — I am not a painter.”

The scenes from the Genesis begin with the separation of light and darkness and finish with the drunkenness of Noah however Michelangelo painted them in reversed order. It means he painted the creation of Adam in his last year of work.

In the creation of Adam, God with his angels arrives from the right and gives the life to the man touching his finger. Maybe this is one of the most intense gesture of the history of art

Some theorists think the scene also contains the unmistakable outline of a human brain, formed by the angels and robes surrounding God. According to Frank Lynn Meshberger, a doctor who pioneered this hypothesis, Michelangelo meant to evoke God’s bestowal of intellegence on the first human.

The torsions and the pathos of Michelangelo’s characters are influenced by the famous ellenistic statue of Laocoön and his sons discovered in Rome in 1506. The figure’s stretching motion seems natural but in fact relies on an impossible dislocation of the upper body.

Let’s visit it….

Questions who was Michelangelo? When did he finish to paint the Sistine Chapel? Where is the Sisitine Chapel? Which is about the history told on the fresco? Why the fresco is so called? Did Michelangelo paint standing or laying on the scaffolds? Someone says that God gave intelligence to the human being as a bestowal …. Where can we see? What do actually the cardinals do intoo the Sistine Chapel? How is the creation ofAdam considered in the world? How large is the surface painted by Michelangelo?

Jigsaw class Divide into groups and share your answers. Then correct