Michelangelo's sculptures in Rome: history, description, where to see. Brief biography of Michelangelo The main works of Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti is considered by many to be the most famous artist. Among his most famous works are the statues “David” and “Pieta”, and the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.

Consummate Master

The work of Michelangelo Buonarroti can be briefly described as the greatest phenomenon in art of all time - this is how he was assessed during his lifetime, and this is how he continues to be considered to this day. Several of his works in painting, sculpture and architecture are among the most famous in the world. Although the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican are probably the artist's most famous works, he considered himself first and foremost a sculptor. Practicing several forms of art was not unusual in his time. They were all based on the drawing. Michelangelo practiced all his life and only engaged in other forms of art during certain periods. The high appreciation of the Sistine Chapel is partly a reflection of the greater attention paid to painting in the 20th century, and partly the result of the fact that many of the master's works were left unfinished.

A side effect of Michelangelo's lifetime fame was that his career was described in more detail than any other artist of his time. He became the first artist whose biography was published before his death; there were even two of them. The first was the last chapter of the book on the life of artists (1550) by the painter and architect Giorgio Vasari. It was dedicated to Michelangelo, whose work was presented as the culmination of the perfection of art. Despite this praise, he was not entirely satisfied and commissioned his assistant Ascanio Condivi to write a separate short book (1553), probably based on the comments of the artist himself. In it, Michelangelo and the master’s work are depicted the way he wanted others to see them. After Buonarroti's death, Vasari published a refutation in the second edition (1568). Although scholars prefer Condivi's book to Vasari's lifetime account, the latter's overall importance and its frequent reprinting in many languages ​​have made the work a major source of information about Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists. Buonarroti's fame also resulted in the preservation of countless documents, including hundreds of letters, essays and poems. However, despite the enormous amount of accumulated material, in controversial issues only the point of view of Michelangelo himself is often known.

Brief biography and creativity

Painter, sculptor, architect and poet, one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance was born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. His father, Leonardo di Buanarotta Simoni, served briefly as a magistrate in a small village when he and his wife Francesca Neri had the second of five sons, but they returned to Florence while Michelangelo was still an infant. Due to his mother's illness, the boy was given to be raised by a stonecutter's family, about which the great sculptor later joked that with the nurse's milk he absorbed a hammer and chisels.

Indeed, Michelangelo was least interested in studying. The creativity of painters in neighboring churches and the repetition of what he saw there, according to his early biographers, attracted him much more. Michelangelo's school friend, Francesco Granacci, who was six years older than him, introduced his friend to the artist Domenico Ghirlandaio. The father realized that his son was not interested in the family financial business and agreed to apprentice him at the age of 13 to a fashionable Florentine painter. There he became acquainted with the technique of fresco.

Medici Gardens

Michelangelo had only spent a year in the workshop when a unique opportunity arose. On Ghirlandaio's recommendation, he moved to the palace of the Florentine ruler Lorenzo the Magnificent, a powerful member of the Medici family, to study classical sculpture in its gardens. It was a fertile time for Michelangelo Buonarroti. The biography and work of the aspiring artist were marked by his acquaintance with the elite of Florence, the talented sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni, prominent poets, scientists and humanists of the time. Buonarroti also received special permission from the church to examine corpses to study anatomy, although this had a negative impact on his health.

The combination of these influences formed the basis of Michelangelo's recognizable style: muscular precision and realism combined with an almost lyrical beauty. Two surviving bas-reliefs, "The Battle of the Centaurs" and "Madonna of the Stairs", testify to his unique talent at the age of 16.

Early success and influence

Political strife after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent forced Michelangelo to flee to Bologna, where he continued his studies. He returned to Florence in 1495 and began working as a sculptor, borrowing his style from the masterpieces of classical antiquity.

There are several versions of the intriguing story of Michelangelo's Cupid sculpture, which was artificially aged to resemble a rare antique. One version claims that the author wanted to achieve a patina effect by this, and according to another, his art dealer buried the work in order to pass it off as an antique.

Cardinal Riario San Giorgio bought Cupid, believing it to be such a sculpture, and demanded his money back when he discovered that he had been deceived. In the end, the deceived buyer was so impressed by Michelangelo's work that he allowed the artist to keep the money. The Cardinal even invited him to Rome, where Buonarroti lived and worked until the end of his days.

"Pieta" and "David"

Soon after moving to Rome in 1498, his career was furthered by another cardinal, Jean Billaire de Lagrola, papal envoy to the French king Charles VIII. Michelangelo's Pietà, which depicts Mary holding the dead Jesus in her lap, was completed in less than a year and was placed in the temple with the cardinal's tomb. Measuring 1.8m wide and almost as tall, the statue was moved five times until it found its current location in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Carved from a single piece, the sculpture's fluidity of fabric, the position of the subjects, and the "movement" of the Pieta's skin (meaning "pity" or "compassion") terrified its first viewers. Today it is an incredibly revered work. Michelangelo created it when he was only 25 years old.

By the time Michelangelo returned to Florence, he had already become a celebrity. The sculptor received a commission for a statue of David, which two previous sculptors had tried unsuccessfully to make, and turned a five-meter piece of marble into a dominant figure. The strength of sinew, vulnerable nudity, humanity of expression and overall courage made "David" a symbol of Florence.

Art and architecture

Other commissions followed, including an ambitious design for the tomb of Pope Julius II, but work was interrupted when Michelangelo was asked to move from sculpture to painting to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The project sparked the artist's imagination, and the original plan to paint the 12 apostles grew into more than 300 figures. This work was later completely removed due to fungus in the plaster and then restored. Buonarroti fired all the assistants he considered incompetent and completed the 65-meter ceiling himself, spending endless hours lying on his back and jealously guarding his work until its completion on October 31, 1512.

Michelangelo's artistic work can be briefly characterized as follows. This is a transcendent example of high Renaissance art, which contains Christian symbols, prophecies and humanistic principles absorbed by the master during his youth. The bright vignettes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel create a kaleidoscope effect. The most iconic image is the composition “The Creation of Adam”, depicting God touching a man with his finger. The Roman artist Raphael apparently changed his style after seeing this work.

Michelangelo, whose biography and work remained forever associated with sculpture and drawing, was forced to turn his attention to architecture due to physical exertion while painting the chapel.

The master continued work on the tomb of Julius II over the next few decades. He also designed the Laurenzina Library, located opposite the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, which was to house the library of the House of Medici. These buildings are considered a turning point in the history of architecture. But Michelangelo's crowning glory in this area was his work as chief in 1546.

Conflict nature

Michelangelo unveiled the floating Last Judgment on the far wall of the Sistine Chapel in 1541. There were immediate voices of protest - nude figures were inappropriate for such a holy place, and calls were made to destroy the largest fresco of the Italian Renaissance. The artist responded by introducing new images into the composition: his main critic in the form of the devil and himself as the flayed Saint Bartholomew.

Despite the connections and patronage of rich and influential people in Italy, which were provided by Michelangelo’s brilliant mind and all-round talent, the master’s life and work were full of ill-wishers. He was cocky and quick-tempered, which often led to quarrels, including with his customers. This not only brought him troubles, but also created a feeling of dissatisfaction in him - the artist constantly strived for perfection and could not compromise.

Sometimes he suffered from attacks of melancholy, which left a mark in many of his literary works. Michelangelo wrote that he was in great sorrow and labor, that he had no friends and did not need them, and that he did not have enough time to eat enough, but these inconveniences brought him joy.

In his youth, Michelangelo teased a fellow student and was hit on the nose, which disfigured him for life. Over the years he grew increasingly tired of his work, and in one of his poems he described the enormous physical effort he had to put into painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Political strife in his beloved Florence also tormented him, but his most notable enemy was the Florentine artist Leonardo da Vinci, who was 20 years his senior.

Literary works and personal life

Michelangelo, whose creativity was expressed in his sculptures, paintings and architecture, took up poetry in his mature years.

Having never married, Buonarroti was devoted to a pious and noble widow named Vittoria Colonna - the recipient of more than 300 of his poems and sonnets. Their friendship provided great support to Michelangelo until Colonna's death in 1547. In 1532, the master became close to the young nobleman Tommaso de' Cavalieri. Historians still argue about whether their relationship was homosexual in nature or whether he experienced paternal feelings.

Death and legacy

After a short illness, on February 18, 1564—just weeks before his 89th birthday—Michelangelo died at his home in Rome. The nephew transported the body to Florence, where he was revered as “the father and lord of all arts,” and buried him in the Basilica di Santa Croce - where the sculptor himself bequeathed.

Unlike many artists, Michelangelo's work brought him fame and fortune during his lifetime. He was also lucky enough to see the publication of two of his biographies by Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi. The appreciation of Buonarroti's craftsmanship goes back centuries, and his name has become synonymous with the Italian Renaissance.

Michelangelo: features of creativity

In contrast to the great fame of the artist's works, their visual influence on later art is relatively limited. This cannot be explained by a reluctance to copy Michelangelo’s works simply because of his fame, since Raphael, who was equal in talent, was imitated much more often. It is possible that Buonarroti's certain, almost cosmic-scale type of expression imposed restrictions. There are only a few examples of almost complete copying. The most talented artist was Daniele da Volterra. But still, in certain aspects, creativity in the art of Michelangelo found a continuation. In the 17th century he was considered the best at anatomical drawing, but was less praised for the broader elements of his work. The Mannerists exploited his spatial compression and the writhing poses of his Victory sculpture. Master of the 19th century Auguste Rodin used the effect of unfinished marble blocks. Some masters of the 17th century. The Baroque style copied it, but in such a way as to exclude literal similarity. Moreover, Jan and Peter Paul Rubens best showed how Michelangelo Buonarroti's work could be used by future generations of sculptors and painters.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet.

Born on March 6, 1475 in the Tuscan village of Caprese, where Michelangelo's father was the headman. Despite his father's strong protests, he became an apprentice to the fresco painter Ghirlandaio and soon began studying at the Florentine art school of Lorenzo Medici.

Michelangelo's work belongs to the High Renaissance. Already in his youthful works, such as the reliefs “Madonna of the Stairs” and “Battle of the Centaurs” (both around 1490-1492), the main features of Michelangelo’s art emerge: monumentality, plastic power and dramatic images, reverence for the beauty of man. Fleeing the civil unrest resulting from Savonarola's reign, Michelangelo moved from Florence to Venice, then to Rome.

During his five years in Rome, he created the first of his famous works, including the sculptures Bacchus (1496-1497) and Pietà (1498-1501) in St. Peter's Basilica. In 1500, at the invitation of the citizens of Florence, Michelangelo returned to this city in triumph.

Soon he had at his disposal a four-meter-high marble block, which two sculptors had already rejected. For the next three years, he worked selflessly, almost without leaving his workshop. In 1504, a monumental statue of a naked David was presented to the public.

In 1505, the power-hungry Pope Julius II ordered Michelangelo to return to Rome, ordering a tomb for himself. The sculptor worked for a whole year on the giant bronze statue that was to crown the monument, so that almost immediately after finishing the work he could witness how his creation was melted down into cannons.

After the death of Julius II in 1513, his heirs insisted on completing another project for a tomb sculpture. This, including numerous alterations caused by the whims of customers, took 40 years of Michelangelo’s life. As a result, he was forced to abandon the implementation of his plan, which included the erection of a tomb as part of the internal architecture of St. Peter's Cathedral.

The colossal marble Moses and the statues known as "Slaves" remained forever impressive parts of an unfinished whole.

According to contemporaries, Michelangelo was a closed and self-absorbed person, subject to sudden outbursts of violence. In his private life he was almost an ascetic, going to bed late and rising early. They said that he often slept without even taking off his shoes. When he was almost sixty, Pope Paul III commissioned Michelangelo to create wall frescoes in the Sistine Chapel depicting scenes of the Last Judgment (1536-1541).

In 1547, he was given the post of chief architect for the reconstruction of St. Peter's Basilica and designed the enormous dome, which remains one of the greatest masterpieces of architecture to this day.

February 18, 2019

The great master of the Italian Renaissance, Michelagelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), considered himself primarily a sculptor, and not a painter, architect or poet. This is indicated by many surviving letters and documents, signed mainly as “Michelagniolo, scultore”. Today, about fifty of his works are known, belonging to the chisel of the talented sculptor. Most of them are located in Florence and Bologna, and Michelangelo's sculptures in Rome can be practically counted on the fingers of one hand.

Michelangelo Buonarroti. Daniele da Volterra, 1544

During his life, the brilliant artist developed a large number of projects, many of which remained unfinished or not fully realized. The most striking example of this is his work on the tomb of Pope Julius II, located in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

Three sculptures by Michelangelo for the Pope

Michelangelo worked on his most ambitious project, the creation of a monumental mausoleum for Pope Julius II, commissioned by the pontiff during his lifetime, for 40 years. The original version, developed in 1505, provided for the installation of forty sculptures.

Michelangelo Project

Having gone to the quarries of Carrara in May 1505 to obtain material for sculptures, Michelangelo, returning to Rome eight months later, learned that his grandiose tomb project for the pope was no longer a priority. The architect Donato Bramante convinced Pope Julius II that it would be better to begin the reconstruction of the Basilica of Constantine and direct funds there. In addition, the planned new military campaign against Perugia and Bologna finally postponed the start of work indefinitely.

After the death of Pope Julius II, who reposed on February 21, 1513, at the urgent request of the heirs, the previous project was revised with some changes introduced into it, but its implementation was not carried out. Over the following years, numerous intrigues, lack of funding and accusations against Michelangelo of wasting allocated funds forced the master to radically reconsider his original plan several times. The final, sixth version of the tomb was approved only in August 1542.

Michelangelo. Tombstone of Pope Julius II

Of the seven marble sculptures decorating the tomb, only three belong to Michelangelo - the statues of the sisters Rachel and Leah, and the biblical one. On this occasion, the artist himself wrote that "This statue alone is enough to do honor to the tomb of Pope Julius II".

Moses. Michelangelo Buonarroti

If you look more closely at Moses' beard, then with a good enough imagination, under the lower lip, a little to the right, on Michelangelo's sculpture you can see a carved profile of the face of Pope Julius II.

According to Michelangelo, the sculptures of two female figures represent two ways of being - contemplative and creative. The contemplative life is allegorically represented by the biblical heroine Rachel, the second wife of Joakov, who prays for salvation.

Michelangelo's sculpture "Rachel"

Her elder sister Leah, depicted as a Roman matron, is an allegorical image of the creative life. Historians interpret the overall design of Michelangelo's work on the tomb as a kind of mediating position of Pope Julius II between established Catholicism and its further reform.

Michelangelo's sculpture "Leah"

The sculpture of Pope Julius II himself, reclining on a sarcophagus, is considered quite controversial. For a long time, the authorship was attributed to Tommaso Boscolo, but after a series of studies carried out during restoration work, many historians agree that at least a significant part of the sculpture belongs to the hand of Michelangelo.

Sculpture of Pope Julius II

The monumental work that can be seen today in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli is very different from the artist's original plan. The master himself admitted that this project became a real tragedy of his life, as evidenced by the lines in one of the letters addressed to the anonymous recipient: “I lost all my youth, tied to this burial, which inadvertently destroyed everything in me, and I paid for it as a thief and a usurer.”

Christ della Minerva

The marble statue of Jesus Christ, known in Italy as the "Cristo della Minerva", actually has several names - "Carrying the Cross", "Resurrection of Christ", "Christ the Savior". The sculpture by Michelangelo was made in 1519 - 1520 and can currently be seen in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, to the left of the main altar.

Michelangelo's sculpture "The Resurrection of Christ"

In 1514, despite the fact that the master was bound by an exclusive contract with the heirs of Pope Julius II, he took on another order from Metello Vari. While working on the almost completed sculpture of Christ, Michelangelo discovers black veins in the white marble appearing right on the face.

Black veins on the face of Christ in Michelangelo's first sculpture

Refusing further work on the statue, he leaves Rome and goes to Florence, where he begins his second version of the figure of Christ. In March 1520, having almost completed its new version, Michelangelo left for Rome, leaving the finishing touches on the marble sculpture to his apprentice Pietro Urbano. However, it damages the work, which took about four years to complete. The situation was corrected by his more capable student Federico Frisi, and on December 27, 1521, the sculpture was placed in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.

Draped part of Michelangelo's sculpture in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Initially, the figure depicting Christ was completely naked. Michelangelo's artistic design showed a body undamaged by lust, controlled by the will of the resurrected. He meant, thereby, victory over sin and death. Later, after the decision of the Council of Trent (Concilio di Trento), the genitals of the sculpture were draped with a loincloth made of gilded bronze.

This is interesting!

The fate of the first version of Michelangelo's sculpture is interesting. After Pietro Urbano damaged the second version of the statue, the master suggested that Metello Vari carve another, third figure from marble, but the customer refused. As financial compensation, in 1522 the artist gave Vari the unfinished first version of the sculpture, which he requested for a small garden in the courtyard of his Palacetto, near the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. It remained there, according to the records of the botanist and naturalist Ulisse Aldovrandi, until 1556 and was sold on the antique market to the art connoisseur Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani in 1607 for his collection of ancient statues.
The lost masterpiece was again recalled in 1973 by the Italian historian Alessandro Parronchi. He claimed that the statue was completed at the beginning of the 17th century by the French sculptor Nicolas Cordier, and made the assumption that the tombstone, which for some time adorned the family burial of the Giustiniani family, was the first version of the sculpture by Michelangelo.

Only in 2000, art critic and historian Irene Baldriga finally recognized the first version of the work in the statue, confirming the authorship of Michelangelo. Currently this sculpture is located in the sacristy of the church of San Vincenzo Mártir in Bassano Romano near Viterbo.

Sculpture by Michelangelo Pietà

One of the most famous and also the best sculptures of Michelangelo is the Pieta, kept in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The statue, made of Carrara marble, was made by a 24-year-old artist in 1498 – 1499 in just two years, commissioned by the ambassador of the French King Charles VIII, Cardinal Jean de Bilheres. It was intended to be installed as a tombstone after his death.

The Pietà is the only signed sculpture by Michelangelo. On the shoulder strap lying on top of the Virgin’s robe, the master carved the following words: “Michelangelo Buonarroti was made by a Florentine.” He was prompted to draw this inscription by a dispute about authorship that he accidentally overheard, which was being waged near the sculpture by the Lombardians who came to Rome.

Michelangelo's signature

The sculpture depicting the body of Jesus after the crucifixion, lying on the lap of his mother the Virgin Mary, aroused not only admiration, but also criticism of his contemporaries. Michelangelo's interpretation, where Mary appears young and beautiful, rather than an elderly fifty-year-old woman with a 33-year-old son, was very different from previously created works by other artists. Nevertheless, the master’s plan symbolized the imperishable purity of the Mother of God, as evidenced by the words of Michelangelo himself, responding to the attacks of critics. They were recorded by Ascanio Condivi:

“Don’t you know that chastity, holiness and incorruptibility preserve youth much longer. So what can change the body of the Mother of God, who never experienced the slightest lustful desire?.

Pieta took its current location in 1749. Over the centuries, Michelangelo's sculpture has been damaged several times, but the most significant damage occurred on May 21, 1972. On this Sunday, Pentecost, a 34-year-old Australian of Hungarian origin, Laszlo Toth, shouted “I am Jesus Christ, risen from the dead,” and rushed at the statue.

Before he was captured and neutralized, the mentally ill man managed to hit her several times with a geological hammer, causing serious damage. The left arm of the figure of the Virgin Mary was broken off to the elbow, the nose and eyelids were practically destroyed, and in total more than fifty fragments were broken off from the sculpture under the blows of the hammer.

Spectators who found themselves unwitting witnesses to the vandalism began to collect chipped pieces of marble, taking them for themselves as souvenirs, and although many of them were subsequently returned, the nose of the statue was irretrievably lost. Restoration began almost immediately after a thorough examination of the damaged sculpture by Michelangelo. Thanks to the existing plaster cast made in 1944 by Francesco Mercadali, the restoration work was carried out as accurately as possible, without arbitrary changes in dimensions.
Since then, the Pieta has been kept behind protective bulletproof glass. Today it can be seen in the first chapel from the entrance in the right nave of St. Peter's Basilica.

Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese. Lived until February 18, 1564. Of course, he is better known as Michelangelo - the famous Italian sculptor, artist, architect, poet and engineer of the High and Late Renaissance. The works of the great master had an unprecedented influence on the subsequent development of Western art. Michelangelo was not only the best artist of his time, but also the greatest genius of all time. He should not be confused with Michelangelo Caravaggio, whose paintings were painted somewhat later.

Early works of Michelangelo Buonarroti

The paintings, or rather the reliefs “Battle of the Centaurs” and “Madonna of the Stairs”, testify to the search for the perfect form. Neoplatonists believed that this was the main task of art.

In these reliefs, the viewer sees mature images of the High Renaissance, which were based on the study of antiquity. In addition, they were based on the traditions of Donatello and his followers.

Work begins on the Sistine Chapel

Pope Julius II planned to create a grandiose tomb for himself. He entrusted this work to Michelangelo. The year 1605 was not easy for both of them. The sculptor had already started work, but later learned that dad refused to pay the bills. This offended the master, so he left Rome without permission and returned to Florence. Long negotiations ended with Michelangelo's forgiveness. And in 1608, painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel began.

Working on the mural was a great feat. 600 square meters were completed in four years. The most grandiose cycle of compositions on themes from the Old Testament was born from the hand of Michelangelo. The paintings and images on the walls amaze with their ideological, figurative side and plastic expressiveness of forms. The naked human body has a special meaning. Through a variety of poses, movements, positions, an incredible number of ideas and feelings that overwhelmed the artist are expressed.

Man in the works of Michelangelo

In all of Michelangelo's sculptural and painting works, one single theme runs through - man. For the master this was the only means of expression. At first glance, this is imperceptible, but if you start to get acquainted more closely with the works of Michelangelo, the paintings reflect the landscape, clothing, interiors, and objects to a minimum. And only in cases where it is necessary. In addition, all these details are generalized, not detailed. Their task is not to distract from the story about a person’s actions, his character and passions, but to serve only as a background.

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel covers an area of ​​more than 500 square meters. Michelangelo depicted more than 300 figures on it alone. In the center are 9 scenes from the Book of Genesis. They are divided into three groups:

1. God's creation of the earth.
2. God's creation of the human race and its fall.
3. The essence of humanity represented by Noah and his family.

The ceiling is supported by sails, which depict 12 women and men predicting the coming of Jesus Christ: 7 prophets of Israel and 5 Sibyls (soothsayers of the ancient world).

False elements (ribs, cornices, pilasters), which are made using the trompe l'oeil technique, emphasize the bending line of the vault. Ten ribs cross the canvas, dividing it into zones, each of which describes the main narrative of the cycle.

The lampshade is surrounded by a cornice. The latter emphasizes the line of conjugation between the curvilinear and horizontal surfaces of the arch. Thus, biblical scenes are separated from the figures of prophets and sibyls, as well as the ancestors of Christ.

"The Creation of Adam"

Michelangelo's painting "The Creation of Adam" is certainly one of the most famous fragments of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Many people who have different attitudes to art unanimously assert that between the imperious hand of Hosts and the weak-willed, trembling brush of Adam, one can practically see the flow of life-giving force. These almost touching hands represent the unity of the material and spiritual, earthly and heavenly.

This painting by Michelangelo, in which the hands are so symbolic, is completely imbued with energy. And as soon as the fingers touch, the act of creation is completed.

"The Last Judgment"

For six years (from 1534 to 1541) the master again worked in the Sistine Chapel. The Last Judgment, painted by Michelangelo, is the largest fresco of the Renaissance.

The central figure is Christ, who executes judgment and restores justice. He is at the center of the vortex movement. He is no longer the messenger of peace, merciful and peaceful. He became the Supreme Judge, formidable and intimidating. Christ raised his right hand in a menacing gesture, pronouncing the final verdict that will divide the resurrected into righteous and sinners. This raised hand becomes the dynamic center of the entire composition. It seems that it sets the bodies of the righteous and sinners into violent motion.

If the soul of every person is in motion, then the figure of Jesus Christ is motionless and stable. His gestures represent strength, retribution and power. Madonna cannot bear to watch people suffer, so she turns away. And at the top of the picture, angels carry the attributes of the Passion of Christ.

Among the Apostles stands Adam, the first of the human race. Also here is Saint Peter, the founder of Christianity. In the views of the apostles one can read a formidable demand for retribution against sinners. Michelangelo placed the instruments of torture into their hands.

The fresco paintings depict the martyred saints around Christ: Saint Lawrence, Saint Sebastian and Saint Bartholomew, who displays his flayed skin.

There are many other saints here. They try to be closer to Christ. The crowd with the saints rejoices and rejoices at the upcoming bliss that the Lord has awarded them.

Seven angels sound their trumpets. Everyone who looks at them is horrified. Those whom the Lord saves immediately ascend and are resurrected. The dead rise from their graves, skeletons rise. A man covers his eyes with his hands in horror. The devil himself came for him, dragging him down.

"Cumae Sibyl"

Michelangelo depicted 5 famous Sibyls on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. These paintings are famous all over the world. But the most famous is the Kuma Sibyl. She prophesies the end of the whole world.

The fresco depicts the large and ugly body of an old woman. She sits on a marble throne and studies an ancient book. The Cumaean Sibyl is a Greek priestess who spent many years in the Italian town of Cumae. There is a legend that Apollo himself was in love with her, who awarded her the gift of divination. In addition, the Sibyl could live as many years as she could spend away from her home. But after many years, she realized that she did not ask for eternal youth. That is why the priestess began to dream of a quick death. It was in this body that Michelangelo depicted her.

Description of the artwork "Libyan Sibyl"

The Libyan Sibyl is the embodiment of beauty, the eternal movement of the living and wisdom. At first glance, it seems that the figure of the Sibyl is powerful, but Michelangelo endowed her with special plasticity and grace. It seems that she will now turn to the viewer and show the tome. Of course, the book contains the Word of God.

Initially, the Sibyl was a wandering soothsayer. She predicted the near future, the fate of everyone.

Despite her lifestyle, the Libyan Sibyl was quite categorical about idols. She called for abandoning the service of pagan gods.

Ancient primary sources indicate that the soothsayer was from Libya. Her skin was black, her height was average. The girl always held a branch of the Maslenitsa tree in her hand.

"Persian Sibyl"

The Persian Sibyl lived in the East. Her name was Sambeta. She was also called the Babylonian prophetess. It is mentioned in sources of the 13th century BC. The year 1248 was the year of prophecies that the Sibyl drew from her 24 books. It is claimed that her predictions concerned the life of Jesus Christ. In addition, she mentioned Alexander the Great and many other legendary figures. The predictions are expressed in verses that have a double meaning. This makes them difficult to interpret unambiguously.

Contemporaries of the Persian Sibyl write that she was dressed in golden clothes. She had an inviting, youthful appearance. Michelangelo, whose paintings always have a deeper meaning, imagined her in old age. The Sibyl has almost turned away from the viewer, all her attention is drawn to the book. The image is dominated by rich and bright colors. They emphasize the wealth, good quality and excellent quality of the clothes.

"Separation of Light from Darkness"

Michelangelo Buonarroti's paintings with titles are amazing. It is impossible to imagine what the genius felt when he created such a masterpiece.

When creating the fresco "Separation of Light from Darkness", Michelangelo wanted powerful energy to emanate from it. The center of the plot is Hosts, who is this incredible energy. God created the heavenly bodies, Light and Darkness. He then decided to separate them from each other.

Hosts float in empty space and endow it with cosmic bodies. Clothes them in matter and essence. He does all this with the help of his divine energy and, of course, the highest and great love.

It is no coincidence that Buonarotti represents the Supreme Intelligence in the form of a person. Perhaps the master claims that humans are also capable of separating the light from the darkness within themselves, thus creating a spiritual Universe that is filled with peace, love and understanding.

Studying the paintings of Michelangelo, photos of which are now available to everyone, a person begins to realize the true scale of this master’s work.

"Flood"

At the beginning of his work, Michelangelo Buonarroti was not confident in his abilities. The paintings and frescoes of the chapel were created after the master painted “The Flood”.

Afraid to begin work, Michelangelo hired skilled fresco masters from Florence. But after a while he sent them back because he was not satisfied with their work.

“The Flood,” like many other paintings by Michelangelo (as we can see, the genius had no problems with the names - they perfectly convey the essence of each canvas and fragment), was a place for studying the nature of man, his actions under the influence of disasters, misfortunes, disasters, his reactions to everything. And several fragments formed into one fresco on which the tragedy unfolds.

In the foreground is a group of people trying to escape on a piece of land that still exists. They are like a flock of frightened sheep.

Some man hopes to delay the death of himself and his beloved. The little boy hides behind his mother, who seems to have given herself over to Fate. The young man hopes to avoid death on the tree. Another group covers themselves with a piece of canvas, hoping to hide from the flow of rain.

Restless waves are still holding the boat, in which people are fighting for a place. The Ark can be seen in the background. Several people are banging on the walls, hoping to be rescued.

Michelangelo portrayed the characters in different ways. The paintings that make up one mural show different emotions of people. Some are trying to catch the last chance. Others strive to help loved ones. Someone is ready to sacrifice a neighbor in order to save himself. But everyone is worried about one question: “Why should I die?” But God is already silent...

"Noah's Sacrifice"

In the last year of his work, Michelangelo created the stunning fresco "The Sacrifice of Noah". Her images convey to us all the sorrow and tragedy of what is happening.

Noah was shocked by the amount of water that fell and at the same time was grateful for his salvation. Therefore, he and his family rush to make a sacrifice to God. It was this moment that Michelangelo decided to capture. Paintings with this subject usually convey family closeness and internal solidarity. But not this one! What is Michelangelo Buonarroti doing? His paintings convey completely different experiences.

Some participants in the scene demonstrate indifference, while others demonstrate mutual alienation, outright hostility and distrust. Some characters - a mother with a child and an old man with a staff - show grief, turning into tragic despair.

God promised not to punish humanity in this way again. The earth will be saved for fire.

There are so many artistic masterpieces, the author of which is the great Florentine, that one can talk about them for hours. Fortunately, today anyone interested in high art has access to photographs depicting Michelangelo’s paintings (we have introduced you to the names and brief descriptions of the most famous ones). Thus, at any moment you can start enjoying the creations of this Renaissance genius.

The High Renaissance, or Cinquecento, which gave humanity such great masters as Donato Bramante, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Santi, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Giorgione, Titian, covers a relatively short period - from the end of the 15th to the end of the second decade of the 16th century.

Fundamental changes associated with the decisive events of world history and the successes of advanced scientific thought have endlessly expanded people's ideas about the world - not only about the earth, but also about the Cosmos. The perception of people and the human personality seems to have become larger; in artistic creativity this was reflected in the majestic scale of architectural structures, monuments, solemn fresco cycles and paintings, but also in their content and expressiveness of images.

The art of the High Renaissance is characterized through such concepts as synthesis, result. He is characterized by sophisticated maturity, concentration on the general and the main; figurative language became generalized and restrained. The art of the High Renaissance is a living and complex artistic process with dazzlingly bright ups and the subsequent crisis - the Late Renaissance.

In the second half of the 16th century. In Italy, the decline of the economy and trade was growing, Catholicism entered into a struggle with humanistic culture, culture was experiencing a deep crisis, disappointment in the ideas of the Renaissance. Under the influence of external circumstances, there was an understanding of the frailty of everything human, the limitations of its capabilities.

The heyday of the High Renaissance and the transition to the Late Renaissance can be traced to one human life - the life of Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was a sculptor, architect, painter and poet, but most of all, a sculptor. He valued sculpture above all other arts and was in this respect an antagonist to Leonardo. Sculpting is carving by chipping and trimming stone; The sculptor, with his mind’s eye, sees the desired shape in a block of stone and “cuts” into it deep into the stone, cutting off what is not the shape. This is hard work - not to mention a lot of physical stress; it requires the sculptor to have an infallible hand: what has been broken off incorrectly cannot be put back again, and special vigilance of inner vision. This is how Michelangelo worked. As a preliminary stage, he made drawings and sketches from wax, roughly outlining the image, and then entered into single combat with a marble block. In the “release” of the image from the block of stone hiding it, Michelangelo saw the hidden poetry of the sculptor’s work.

Freed from the “shell”, his statues retain their stone nature; they are always distinguished by the solidity of their volume: Michelangelo Buonarroti famously said that a good statue is one that can be rolled down a mountain without a single part breaking off. Therefore, almost nowhere do his statues have arms that are freely retracted and separated from the body.

Another distinctive feature of Michelangelo’s statues is their titanic quality, which later transferred to human figures in painting. The mounds of their muscles are exaggerated, the neck is thickened, likened to a mighty trunk carrying the head, the roundness of the hips is heavy and massive, the blockiness of the figure is emphasized. These are titans, whom the hard stone has endowed with its properties.

Buonarroti is also characterized by a growing sense of tragic contradiction, which is also noticeable in his sculpture. The movements of the “titans” are strong, passionate, but at the same time, as if constrained.

Michelangelo's favorite technique is contrapposto, which comes from the early classics (Myron's Discobolus), reformed into the technique of serpentinato (from the Latin serpentine): screwing the figure into a spring around itself through a sharp turn of the upper torso. But Michelangelo's contrapposto does not resemble the light, undulating movement of Greek statues; rather, it resembles a Gothic bend, if not for its powerful physicality.

Although the Italian Renaissance was a revival of antiquity, we will not find there a direct copy of antiquity. The new spoke to antiquity on equal terms, like master to master. The first impulse was admiring imitation, the final result was an unprecedented synthesis. Having begun as an attempt to revive antiquity, the Renaissance creates something completely different.

Mannerists will also use the serpentinata technique, snake turns of figures, but outside of Michelangelo’s humanistic pathos these turns are nothing more than pretentiousness.

Another ancient technique often used by Michelangelo is chiasmus, moving balance (“Doriphorus” by Polycletus), which received a new name: ponderatio – weighing, poise. It consists of a proportionate distribution of force tension along two intersecting diagonals of the figure. For example, the hand with the object corresponds to the opposite supporting leg, and the relaxed leg corresponds to the free hand.

Speaking about the development of High Renaissance sculpture, its most important achievement can be called the final emancipation of sculpture from architecture: the statue is no longer dependent on the architectural unit.

Pieta

"Pieta", St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

One of the most famous works of Michelangelo Buonarroti is the sculptural composition “Pieta” (“Mourning of Christ”) (from the Italian pieta - mercy). It was completed in 1498–1501. for the chapel of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and dates back to the first Roman period of Michelangelo's work.

The very plot of the image of Mary with the body of her dead Son in her arms came from the northern countries and was by that time widespread in Italy. It originates from the German iconographic tradition of Versperbilder (“image of the supper”), which existed in the form of small wooden church images. Mary's mourning of her Son is an extremely important moment for Catholicism. With her immeasurable suffering (for the suffering of a mother who sees the torment of her son is immeasurable), she is exalted and exalted. Therefore, Catholicism is characterized by the cult of the Mother of God, who acts as the Intercessor of people before God.

Maria is depicted by Michelangelo as a very young girl, too young for such an adult son. She seems to have no age at all, to be outside of time. This emphasizes the eternal significance of mourning and suffering. The mother’s grief is light and sublime, only in the gesture of her left hand does mental suffering seem to spill out.

The body of Christ lies lifeless in the arms of the Mother. This sculpture is not at all similar to others by Michelangelo. There is no titanicity, strength, or muscularity here: the body of Christ is depicted as thin, weak, almost muscleless, it does not have that stonyness and massiveness. The unfinished contrapposto movement is also not used; on the contrary, the composition is full of staticity, but this staticity is not one about which one can say that there is no life in it, no thought. It seems that Mary will sit like this forever, and her eternal “static” suffering is more impressive than any dynamics.

Michelangelo expressed the deeply human ideals of the High Renaissance, full of heroic pathos, as well as the tragic feeling of the crisis of the humanistic worldview during the Late Renaissance.

Comprehension

Buonarroti's conflicts with the popes, acting on the side of the besieged pope and king of Florence, the death and exile of friends and associates, failure with many architectural and sculptural ideas - all this undermined his worldview, faith in people and their capabilities, and contributed to an eschatological mood. Michelangelo felt the decline of a great era. Even in his worship of human beauty, great delight is associated with fear, with the consciousness of the end, which must inexorably follow the embodiment of the ideal.

In sculpture this was manifested in the technique of non finita - incompleteness. It manifests itself in the unfinished processing of the stone and serves the effect of the inexplicable plasticity of the figure, which has not completely emerged from the stone. This technique by Michelangelo can be interpreted in different ways, and it is unlikely that one of their explanations will become final; rather, all explanations are correct, since by their multiplicity they reflect the versatility of the use of the technique.

On the one hand, man in the sculpture of the late Michelangelo (and therefore the Late Renaissance) strives to break free from stone, from matter, to become complete; this means his desire to break out of the bonds of his corporeality, human imperfection, and sinfulness. We remember that this problem of the impossibility of leaving the framework established for man by nature was central to the crisis of the Renaissance.

On the other hand, the incompleteness of the sculpture is the author’s recognition of his inability to fully express his idea. Any completed work loses the original ideality of the plan, the idea, so it is better not to finish the creation, but only to outline the direction of the aspiration. This problem is not limited to the problem of creativity: transforming, it goes from Plato and Aristotle (from the world of ideas and the world of things, where matter “spoils” ideas), through the crisis of the Renaissance, through Schelling and the romantics to the symbolists and decadents of the late 19th century. The non finita technique gives the effect of a creative impulse, brief, not completed, but strong and expressive; if the viewer picks up this impulse, he will understand what the figure should become upon incarnation.