![]() Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564), The Creation of Adam (detail of ceiling fresco) (1508-12), fresco, 480.1 x 230.1 cm, Cappella Sistina, The Vatican City. The end result is one of the greatest artistic accomplishments of mankind, and a major influence on painting ever since, including Raphael’s own frescoes. Michelangelo painted a total of 343 figures on the 41 by 14 metre (130 x 45 feet) ceiling over a period of four years, standing day after day on his scaffolding. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564), ceiling fresco (1508-12), fresco, 4090 x 1400 cm, Cappella Sistina, The Vatican City. I suspect that’s a little exaggerated, and Michelangelo’s preparatory work would still have been closely monitored and approved before he applied any plaster and paint, but it’s clear that what we now see on the Sistine ceiling is Michelangelo’s vision, not that of Julius. He seems to have been one of the few people to have successfully negotiated with this Pope – who modelled himself on Julius Caesar – and was allowed to paint what he wanted. Julius already had the intention that Michelangelo would paint twelve large figures of the Apostles on the chapel ceiling, but the artist had other ideas. But in 1508, six months or so before Raphael arrived in Rome, the Pope finally got Michelangelo to agree to this extraordinarily ambitious commission. The Pope’s attention was also diverted by military campaigns, in which he personally led troops into battle at Bologna. It has been claimed that Bramante tried to set Michelangelo up to fail, and pressed Julius to insist given Michelangelo’s earlier apprenticeship with Domenico Ghirlandaio that seems unlikely. When the Pope first invited Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1506, the artist was reluctant, preferring to sculpt instead. With two of the finest painters of the day in Rome, Julius decided that he wanted frescoes. In 1508, Raphael was also invited to Rome to work on commissions for Julius. While Bramante was busy on that, Julius invited Michelangelo to return to Rome, and commissioned him to build his tomb, with forty statues, a task which he eventually worked on over a period of forty years.īramante resented the presence of Michelangelo, and took the opportunity to recommend the young Raphael to the Pope. No sooner had Julius been elected Pope than he engaged the architect Donato Bramante (1444-1514), and commissioned him to design a complete replacement for the Basilica of Saint Peter, on which building work started in earnest in 1506. Even before becoming Pope, he had been a significant patron of the arts. He had gathered a collection of antique sculpture, and commissioned Pollaiuolo to make sculptures, including gilded bronze doors with reliefs for his titular church of San Pietro in Vincoli. This included much of three palaces, the restoration of two ancient basilicas, and extensive work at a third. These were successful in 1488, when the artist was commissioned by Pope Innocent VIII to paint the chapel of the Belvedere.Īs Cardinal he also undertook an extensive building programme. He had been made a Cardinal in 1471, and in 1484 he started negotiations with Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, to let Mantegna go to Rome. Then and now he had a fearsome reputation for his temper, and inflexibility. Giuliano della Rovere became Pope in November 1503, and died while still in office on 21 February 1513. ![]() ![]() This article considers how much his patronage influenced these works of art, and his place in the history of art. ![]() These were commissioned by Pope Julius II, and there is no doubt that in doing so, he became one of the most important patrons of European art. The huge frescoes painted by Michelangelo and Raphael in the Vatican between 15 are among the greatest works of the High Renaissance.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |