The Rebirth of Art…Part Deux The High Renaissance, featuring Michelangelo

Are you hungry for some knowledge? Michelangelo was cared for by a wet nurse whose husband was a stonecutter I always wondered why authors bother putting completely inconsequential things like that in their textbooks If you’re going to go random, go really random Say something about Michelangelo eating only one meal a day but eating the equivalent of three meals in that lone meal That’s completely false, but it’d be much more interesting to read. Anyway…

Dost Thou Bite Thy Thumb at Me, Sir? Michelangelo believed that creativity was divinely inspired, therefore he broke all of artistry’s rules What does that mean? His rival was Raphael (which makes it even stranger that they teamed up on Ninja Turtles) Venom from Michelangelo to Raphael, “Where are you going in such company, as happy as a Monsignor?” Venom returned from Raphael, “Where are you going, all alone like a hangman?” (Trust me, that was good smack talk in the 16th century) This smack was talked because Michelangelo preferred to work alone while Raphael was always surrounded by courtiers

Whateva! I Do What I Want! Michelangelo refused to train apprentices or allow anyone watch him work He was self-critical and critical of others When asked why an ox in another artist’s painting was so much more convincing than other elements, Michelangelo responded, “Every painter does a good self-portrait.” (Okay, that is good smack talk) Michelangelo was an architect, sculptor, painter, poet, and engineer—let’s look at some of those now

I Am (like) God Michelangelo believed the sculptor was most godlike; as God created life from clay, he unlocked beauty from stone He believed he was “liberating the figure from the marble that imprisons it” Artists are a different breed… He always carved sculpture from one block, showing any mistakes he made His first great sculpture was “Pieta”, of Christ and the Virgin Mary (on the next slide) When it was first unveiled, a viewer attributed the work to a more experienced sculptor, not believing a young unknown could accomplish it Therefore, Michelangelo carved his name into the Virgin Mary’s breast on a ribbon—the only work he ever signed

“Pieta” (1498/99-1500) by Michelangelo

Hey, What’s That on the Ceiling? Pope Julius II wanted a few vines on a blue background on the ceiling to spruce up the barnlike feel of the Sistine Chapel Instead Michelangelo painted more than 340 human figures (10 feet to 18 feet tall) covering 10,000 square feet, representing the origin and fall of man He painted the Sistine Chapel in less than four years, virtually without any help Michelangelo designed, sketched, plastered, and painted the entire roof despite its leakiness Michelangelo disliked painting, which he considered inferior art, but nevertheless engaged in figure painting, with figures drawn not from the real world but from a world of his own creation The nudes had never been painted on such a colossal scale and are presented without background or ornament, with the torsos more expressive than the faces

“The Creation of Adam” (1508-1512) by Michelangelo

Hey, What’s That on the Wall? 29 years after the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was finished, Michelangelo painted an entire wall of the Sistine Chapel with his “Last Judgment” fresco (next slide) It is quite gloomy, with Michelangelo depicting Christ not as a merciful Redeemer but as an avenging Judge The effect it had on Pope Paul III was so profound that he fell to his knees when he saw the fresco and cried, “Lord, hold not my sins against me!” Once again, his human forms look in motion as nearly 400 contorted figured struggled, fought, and tumbled into hell

“The Last Judgment” (1541) by Michelangelo

I Can Build Stuff Too Near the end of his life Michelangelo devoted himself to architecture, supervising the construction of Rome’s St. Peter’s Cathedral Just as arms and legs flank the trunk of the human form, Michelangelo believed architectural units should be symmetrical, surrounding a central, vertical axis

I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me! Raphael was the most popular of the three major figures of the High Renaissance Raphael completed frescoes inside the Vatican rooms with the help of 50 students the same year Michelangelo was finishing the Sistine ceiling “School of Athens” (next slide) is one of his most famous works within the Vatican Raphael was also a lady’s man, which means that… His arm most completely expressed all of the qualities of the High Renaissance, borrowing pyramidal composition from Leonardo, how to model faces with light and shadow (chiaroscuro), and the full-bodied, dynamic figures from his rival Michelangelo

“School of Athens” (1510-1511) by Raphael