Michelangelo - Cappella Sistina, last updated on Sept 9, 2015.

2. Michelangelo - Cappella Sistina
• Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 – 1564), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of
the High Renaissance who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art.
• Today the name of Michelangelo is commonly known and is inseparably associated with the Sistine
Chapel. Having the details of the ingenious sculptor’s life in mind, we are struck by the titanic force
nested in Michelangelo – a short, thin man, the force that enabled him to surpass seemingly
insurmountable obstacles and, sometimes, the fate’s mockeries – his life abounded in them.
• Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel in two stages. First he, doing the order of Pope Julius II (the
nephew of Sixtus IV), was painting frescos on the Chapel plafond since 1508 until 1512. Twenty years
later Pope Clement VII ordered the master to paint the altar wall. However, the work was only started at
the time of the next pontiff – Paul III.
• In 1536–1541 the artist created his tremendous fresco “The Last Judgment”. Michelangelo glorified the
Sistine Chapel, the Chapel immortalized the artist’s name.
• Probably, we cannot present the events that followed better than Stendhal did:
• “A unique case in the history of human spirit: an artist in the prime of life is made to quit the kind of art
he has always been devoting all his forces to and set for working in an another field; they demand that
his first experience should be a most difficult and large-scale work ever imagined in this sphere of art,
and he fulfills the task in such a short period, not imitating anybody, creating something that is
inimitable and taking the first place in the field of art he was not at all going to choose!

3. • Since then, through all the three centuries nothing comparable, even partially, to Michelangelo’s exploit
has been observed. Just imagine what could be going on in the soul of a man who was so scrupulous
about his repute and so strict about himself when he set for that huge creation, without even knowing
the techniques of fresco painting, and you will acknowledge his vigor which matches, if only this is
feasible, grandiosity of his genius”.
• The artist committed his feat merely through 26 months (working with intervals since May 10, 1508 until
October 31, 1512). He painted the ceiling, lying on his back or sitting, with his head thrown back. The
paint was dropping onto his eyes; the body was lacerated with unbearable pains caused by his strained
position. According to Condivi, long looking upward during the work made Michelangelo unable to see
anything with his head held straight. He had to read letters and examine objects having them raised
above his head.
• Michelangelo wrote in a letter to his father dated 27 January 1509 : "This is the difficulty of work, and
yet is not my profession. And even I am wasting my time fruitless. God help me." In a humorous sonnet
accompanied by a little sketch, composed in 1509, the artist described his physical state at that time.
• However, in spite of all hardships, Michelangelo created a masterpiece that, due to its grandiosity,
content and perfection took the central place in the art of the High Renaissance. Goethe wrote: “Having
not seen Capella Sistina, hardly can you obtain a visual idea about what a single man is capable of.”
• http://efetov.com/read-book-online/chapter-2/
• Efetov, K. A. A shocking secret of the Sistine Chapel. – Simferopol: CSMU Press, 2006. – 84 pp
• Stendhal (1783-1842). Histoire de la peinture en Italie. – Paris: Didot l'aîné, 1817, p. 329 – 330
• Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Italienische Reise-Teil 2 Rom, 23 August 1787

4. I’ ho già fatto un gozzo in questo stento,
come fa l’acqua a’ gatti in Lombardia
o ver d’altro paese che si sia,
c’a forza ‘l ventre appicca sotto ‘l mento.
La barba al cielo, e la memoria sento
in sullo scrigno, e ‘l petto fo d’arpia,
e ‘l pennel sopra ‘l viso tuttavia
mel fa, gocciando, un ricco pavimento.
E’ lombi entrati mi son nella peccia,
e fo del cul per contrapeso groppa,
e’ passi senza gli occhi muovo invano.
Dinanzi mi s’allunga la corteccia,
e per piegarsi adietro si ragroppa,
e tendomi com’arco sorïano.
Però fallace e strano
surge il iuditio che la mente porta,
ché mal si tra’ per cerbottana torta.
La mia pittura morta
difendi orma’, Giovanni, e ‘l mio onore,
non sendo in loco bon, né io pittore.
I‘ve grown a goitre by dwelling in this den —
as cats from stagnant streams in Lombardy,
or in what other land they hap to be —
which drives the belly close beneath the chin:
My beard turns up to heaven; my nape falls in
fixed on my spine: my breast-bone visibly
grows like a harp: a rich embroidery
bedews my face from brush-drips, thick and thin.
My loins into my paunch like levers grind:
my buttock like a crupper bears my weight;
my feet unguided wander to and fro;
In front my skin grows loose and long; behind,
by bending it becomes more taut and strait;
crosswise I strain me like a Syrian bow:
Whence false and quaint, I know,
must be the fruit of squinting brain and eye;
for ill can aim the gun that bends awry.
Come then, Giovanni, try
to succour my dead pictures and my fame;
since foul I fare and painting is my shame.
Michelangelo sonett 5 (1509)

13. Scenes from the Genesis Year Dimensions
1. Separation of Light from Darkness 1511 180 x 260 cm
2. Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants 1511 280 x 570 cm
3. Separation of the Earth from the Waters 1511 155 x 270 cm
4. Creation of Adam 1510 280 x 570 cm
5. Creation of Eve 1509-10 170 x 260 cm
6. The Fall and Expulsion from Garden of Eden 1509-10 280 x 570 cm
7. Sacrifice of Noah 1509 170 x 260 cm
8. The Deluge 1508-09 280 x 570 cm
9. Drunkenness of Noah 1509 170 x 260 cm

67. Prophets Year Dimensions
1. Zechariah (ZACHERIAS) 1509 360 x 390 cm
2. Joel (IOEL) 1509 355 x 380 cm
3. Isaiah (ESAIAS) 1509 365 x 380 cm
4. Ezekiel (EZECHIEL) 1510 355 x 380 cm
5. Daniel (DANIEL) 1511 395 x 380 cm
6. Jeremiah (HIEREMIAS) 1511 390 x 380 cm
7. Jonah (IONAS) 1511 400 x 380 cm

88. Sibyls Year Dimensions
1. Delphic Sibyl. (DELPHICA) 1509 350 x 380 cm
2. Erythraean Sibyl. (ERITHRAEA) 1509 360 x 380 cm
3. Cumaean Sibyl. (CVMAEA) 1510 375 x 380 cm
4. Persian Sibyl (PERSICHA) 1511 400 x 380 cm
5. Libyan Sibyl (LIBICA) 1511 395 x 380 cm

106. Ignudi in the scene of the above the Year
1 , 2. Drunkenness of Noah prophet Joel 1509
3 , 4. Drunkenness of Noah Delphic Sibyl 1509
5 , 6. Sacrifice of Noah Erythraean Sibyl 1509
7 , 8. Sacrifice of Noah prophet Isaiah 1509
9 ,10. Creation of Eve prophet Ezekiel 1509-10
11,12. Creation of Eve Cumaean Sibyl 1509-10
13,14. Separation of the Earth from the Waters Persian Sibyl 1511
15,16. Separation of the Earth from the Waters prophet Daniel 1511
17,18. Separation of Light from Darkness prophet Jeremiah 1511
19,20. Separation of Light from Darkness Libyan Sibyl 1511

138. Last Judgment Year Dimensions
1. Last Judgment 1537-1541 1370 x 1220 cm

162. Ancestors of Christ Year Dimensions
1. Abraham-Isaac-Jacob-Judah
2. Perez-Hezron-Ram
3. Amminadab (AMINADAB) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
4. Nahshon (NAASON) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
5. Salmon - Boaz - Obed (SALMON - BOOZ - OBETH) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
6. Jesse - David - Solomon (IESSE - DAVID - SALOMON) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
7. Rehoboam - Abijah (ROBOAM - ABIAS) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
8. Asa - Jehoshaphat - Joram (ASA - IOSAFAT - IORAM) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
9. Uzziah - Jotham - Ahaz (OZIAS - IOATHAM - ACHAZ) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
10. Hezekiah - Manasseh - Amon (EZECHIAS - MANASSES - AMON) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
11. Josiah - Jechoniah - Shealtiel (IOSIAS - IECHONIAS - SALATHIEL) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
12. Zerubbabel - Abiud - Eliakim (ZOROBABEL - ABIVD - ELIACHIM) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
13. Azor - Zadok (AZOR - SADOCH) 1511-12
14. Achim - Eliud (ACHIM - ELIVD) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
15. Eleazar - Matthan (ELEAZAR - MATHAN) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm
16. Jacob - Joseph (IACOB - IOSEPH) 1511-12 215 x 430 cm

180. Spandrels Year Dimensions
1. Judith and Holofernes 1509 570 x 970 cm
2. David and Goliath 1509 570 x 970 cm
3. Punishment of Haman 1511 585 x 985 cm
4. The Brazen Serpent 1511 585 x 985 cm

196. Spandrels above Year Dimensions
1. Jesse - David - Solomon 1509 245 x 340 cm
1. Zerubbabel - Abiud - Eliakim 1509 245 x 340 cm
2. Josiah - Jechoniah - Shealtiel 1509 245 x 340 cm
3. Uzziah - Jotham - Ahaz 1509 245 x 340 cm
4. Hezekiah - Manasseh - Amon 1509 245 x 340 cm
5. Rehoboam - Abijah 1509 245 x 340 cm
6. Asa - Jehoshaphat - Joram 1509 245 x 340 cm
7. Salmon - Boaz - Obed 1509 245 x 340 cm
8. Jesse - David - Solomon 1509 245 x 340 cm

211. Studies Year Dimensions Museum
1. Creation of Adam 1510 19.30 x 25.90 cm The British Museum, London
2. Creation of Adam 1510 29.60 x 19.50 cm Teylers Museum, Haarlem
3. Creation of Adam 1510 29.60 x 19.50 cm Teylers Museum, Haarlem
4. The Fall and Expulsion from Garden of Eden 1508-09 39.60 x 25.40 cm Casa Buonarroti, Florence
5. The Drunkenness of Noah 1508-09 20.50 x 16.00 cm Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
6. Libyan Sibyl 1511 28.90 x 21.40 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
7. Libyan Sibyl 1511 28.90 x 21.40 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
8. Libyan Sibyl 1511 Private collection, Freiburg
9. Cumeaen Sibyl 1508-10 32.00 x 22.80 cm Biblioteca Reale, Turin
10. Ignudo 07 1511 27.20 x 19.20 cm Graphische Summlung Alberina, Vienna
11. Ignudo 11 1511-12 27.90 x 21.10 cm Teylers Museum, Haarlem
12. Ignudo 1510-11 34.30 x 24.30 cm The Cleveland Museum of Art
13. Ignudo 1508-09 30.50 x 21.00 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris
14. Punishment of Haman 1512 40.60 x 20.70 cm The British Museum , London
15. Punishment of Haman 1512 25.10 x 20.20 cm Teylers Museum, Haarlem
16. Last judgment 1534-36 40.70 x 27.20 cm The British Museum , London
17. Last judgment 1534-36 24.20 x 18.20 cm Teylers Museum, Haarlem

230. Sources
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo
• http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_Buonarroti
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling
• http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volta_della_Cappella_Sistina
• http://efetov.com/read-book-online/chapter-2/
• http://texni-zoi.blogspot.gr/2013/04/michelangelo.html
• http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/m/michelan/3sistina/1genesis/3sacrifi/index.html
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:ListFiles/1a2b3c%3F
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Last_Judgement_(Michelangelo).jpg
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_diagram.svg
• http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sistine_chapel_ceiling_diagram_of_areas.PNG
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_diagram_overlay_composite.png
• http://www.desordre.net/accessoires/peinture/michel_ange_cappella_sistina.jpg
• http://a-pollaiolo.livejournal.com/78992.html
• http://a-pollaiolo.livejournal.com/78702.html#cutid1
• http://www.amolenuvolette.it/root/image/abrupt_clio_team.folder/michelangelo%201504-1550.folder/
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/18030640@N06/5480975349/
• http://www.cappella-sistina.it/giudizio-universale.html
• http://laexuberanciadehades.wordpress.com/2012/11/28/capilla-sixtina/
• http://chianti.in-travel.it/wp-content/gallery/sistina/cappella_sistina_03.jpg
• http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-5788715531
• http://www.teylersmuseum.nl/
• http://www.slideshare.net/algargos/miguelngel-la-bveda-de-la-capilla-sixtina
• http://www.slideshare.net/sergisanchiz/07-renacimiento-pintura-de-miguel-ngelppt
presentation by sotos
Michelangelo - Cappella Sistina