The fresco “The Last Judgment” by Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the greatest works of all time. She still adorns the altar wall in the Sistine Chapel. Created by Michelangelo, “The Last Judgment” - a description and illustration of not just a religious plot, but a catastrophe of universal proportions. For his interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, the artist was revered and condemned both during his lifetime and over the next several centuries.
The Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) lived quite a long time, even by modern standards. During this time, he created many brilliant works. The great sculptor and artist in the Sistine Chapel worked twice. The first time, from 1508 to 1512, he worked on the ceiling paintings commissioned by Pope Julius II. Michelangelo’s biblical legends from the creation of the world to the flood, adorning the chapel, are one of the most famous works of the author.
The next time the master was here much later. Michelangelo created the Last Judgment from 1534 to 1541, when he was already an elderly man. Karina reflected not so much the traditional understanding of the plot as the author’s rethinking of the person with his fears and hopes and his complete subordination to fate.
The mural was originally ordered by the master Pope Clement VII, who died during the preparatory work for the painting. He was replaced by Paul III, like his predecessor, who wanted to perpetuate his name in history with the help of the great work created by Michelangelo. I must say that he completely succeeded. The Sistine Chapel is today considered the best repository of Renaissance masterpieces, and along with the name of Michelangelo, the names of its customers often sound in its halls.
Deviation from the canon
Written by Michelangelo Buonarroti “The Last Judgment” - a description of the biblical ending of human history, very different from the usual medieval paintings. Christ is depicted at the time of the division of people into the righteous and sinners. He is not like an all-forgiving God, but an implacable punisher, the mighty formidable Zeus. He embodies not hope and salvation, but law and retribution. This is the only static figure that is the center of the picture. The remaining characters depicted create a cycle. The illusion of movement arises whenever you look closely at the center of the mural.
However, the main point in the work of the great master was the exposure of all figures, including Christ. The supreme judge, angels, sinners and saints - all were depicted as naked, endowed with clearly drawn bodies. Through the elaboration of poses, Michelangelo achieved an extraordinary expressiveness of the picture. And it is precisely these two points, the naked bodies and the presentation of the Last Judgment in the form of a catastrophe, that caused the greatest criticism among contemporaries of the master in subsequent eras.
Michelangelo's Last Judgment: description of the painting
Compositionally, the picture is divided into several parts. In the center is the figure of Jesus Christ. His hand is raised in a punishing gesture, a formidable face turned towards sinners. Beside Christ, Virgin Mary, she turned away in dismay. Madonna cannot interfere in the court, but she is also not able to reject selfless love for all of humanity.
The central figures are surrounded by two rows of bodies. In the first, near, are the prophets and apostles. The second circle is formed by the bodies of sinners, falling and dragged away by demons into the abyss of hell, and the ascending righteous.
At the bottom of the fresco, seven angels are painted proclaiming the coming of the Last Day. Under them, graves open, the dead again receive bodies, Charon drives the sinners out of his boat into the hellish abysses with an oar.
Circle One
Among the saints surrounding Christ, many figures are well recognized. Here are the apostles with instruments of torture in their hands. The holy martyrs are depicted with objects that led to their suffering and death. This is sv. Sebastian with arrows, St. Lawrence, holding the grate on which he was burned, sv. Bartholomew with a knife. Some researchers see Michelangelo’s self-portrait in a distorted face on the skin that is holding the martyr in his second hand.
However, many figures in this circle remain unrecognized due to the lack of characteristic details that would help to identify them.
Second circle
The Last Judgment by Michelangelo is a picture that produces a rather strong and even somewhat heavy impression. There is no room for triumph and jubilation. The joy of the righteous, close to Christ, drowns in the circulation of bodies, where even those who go to heaven seem dumbfounded and frightened. Sinners calling for justice, angels overthrowing the cross and pillar (symbols of martyrdom and passing power) in the upper part of the fresco, the righteous ones rising to heaven are difficult to distinguish from each other, the cycle can sweep everyone away. Only Christ, as the foundation and core, is able to lead him.
Michelangelo painted the fresco primarily people with their passions, deeds, fears and hopes. In some figures, contemporaries of the master are well recognized. Here you can see Pope Paul III and Clement VII, the ceremonies of the master Biagio da Cesena (he is depicted as the king of Souls Minos with donkey ears) and one of the ardent opponents of the painting by Pietro Aretino.
Attacks
The controversy surrounding the fresco flared up immediately after its completion. According to some, it was a great masterpiece. Their opponents said that the master completely inappropriately treated the images of holy men and Jesus himself, writing them naked, defiled the chapel with such a fresco. Michelangelo even tried to blame heresy.
The new Pope Paul IV was one of the opponents of the work. Initially, he intended to completely knock down the mural from the altar wall, but later changed his mind. He demanded to write clothes and draperies that would hide the nudity of the characters in the picture, which was done. Later, such an indication will be given several more times. During such improvements, the fresco suffered in terms of visual integrity. In the process of restoration in the last century, it was decided to wash away all later sketches and leave only records of the 16th century to reflect the spirit and contradictory nature of the era.
“The Last Judgment” by Michelangelo even today amazes all visitors to the Sistine Chapel to the core. He occupies a significant place both in the religious and in the art world. Despite numerous attempts to modify, remove or “ennoble” it, the masterpiece still conveys the power of thought of the great Michelangelo. The Last Judgment, the photo of which is on many art history resources, is rightly considered one of the symbols of the Renaissance.