Michelangelo's Revenge

Biagio da Cesena   |   seidenadvertising.com

Last month, after I posted about the trompe l'oeil aspects of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling, I was inspired to reread Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy, the best-selling biography of Michelangelo.

Michelangelo painted The Last Judgement — the altar wall directly below his ceiling — almost 30 years after he finished the ceiling. While Pope Julius II had commissioned the ceiling and intended Michelangelo to paint the wall, Pope Paul III was on the papal throne when the wall was actually painted.

Pope Paul III   |   wikipedia.org

Julius II and Michelangelo were continually at odds, in part because they were so alike in their temper and stubbornness. But Paul III, who had been a part of the Medici court — as Michelangelo had — liked, respected and supported Michelangelo.

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When Pope Paul III heard that Michelangelo had finished the top part of the wall and was removing scaffolding, he came immediately to see the progress. His reaction was to fall to his knees and pray. The Pope's Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, had also come to view The Last Judgement, and his reaction was to call it disgraceful! Da Cesena thought the multitude of nudes were sacrilegious, and he predicted that the wall would someday be destroyed.

Pope Paul III was astonished and angry, and he said that he'd excommunicate anyone who touched the wall.

Biagio da Cesena   |   seidenadvertising.com

Almost immediately, Michelangelo had an assistant stucco the lower right corner of the wall, and he painted da Cesena as Minos, the judge of Hades. Word got back to da Cesena and he demanded another visit, with the Pope in tow. Here, I quote from Irving Stone:

"You see, Holy Father," cried the Master of Ceremonies, "the report was true. Buonarroti has painted me into the fresco. With some kind of repulsive serpent for my genitalia."

"It's a covering," replied Michelangelo. "I knew you would not want to be portrayed wholly naked."

"A remarkable likeness," observed the Pope, his eyes twinkling. "Michelangelo, I thought you said you could not do portraiture?"

"I was inspired, Holiness."

Biagio da Cesena hopped up and down on either foot as though it were he instead of his picture standing over the fires of hell.

"Holiness, make him take me out of there!'

"Out of hell?" the Pope turned surprised eyes on the man. "Had he placed you in purgatory, I should have done everything in my power to release you. But you know that from hell there is no redemption."

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Biagio da Cesena and his followers did launch a campaign which eventually resulted in many little drapes to be added to Michelangelo's figures by another artist, Daniele da Volterra. Thereafter da Volterra was known as "Il Braghettone," or "the breeches maker."

Here's a quotation I found from Michelangelo; it could well be in reference to Biagio da Cesena:

Trompe l'Oeil From Michelangelo

michelangelo.com

I've been studying a richly illustrated book on the refurbished Sistine Chapel. It's entitled The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration, by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. It not only documents the cleaning of the ceiling, but it also provides loads of information on the whole history of the original project.

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Before Michelangelo painted the ceiling, it looked like this, with a flat blue color and an arrangement of stars. You can see clearly in this engraving that the structure of the ceiling is vaulted, which of course means that all the surfaces curve inward.

The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration

Michelangelo wanted his images to be read as though they were on a flat surface, so he distorted the perspective of the painted architectural elements. With painted columns and an inner "crown moulding," he reconfigured the ceiling so that it would be viewed thusly:

click to enlarge   |   wga.hu

If you click to enlarge, an interesting thing to note is that Michelangelo worked from the back of the chapel towards the front and altar (or from left to right in this photo) — and as he did so, his figures became much larger. It's believed that Michelangelo did this so that the viewer's first impression would be that all the figures were the same size.

Jonah, before and after restoration  |  The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration

The posture of Jonah (it's a good guess that Michelangelo never saw a whale) masterfully completes the illusion of flatness. By having Jonah lean backwards, Michelangelo denied the curvature of the ceiling and convinces us that the niche is a flat surface.

Another note of interest about the Sistine Chapel ceiling is that, according to some sources, Michelangelo had never before painted a fresco. He delayed the project until artists from Florence arrived in Rome to teach him the method of painting on wet plaster.

We should all have such first efforts!

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