5,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014
Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Art - History of Art, grade: 1,7, University of Essex (Art History), course: The High Renaissance in Italy, language: English, abstract: In 1508 Michelangelo began with his working on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he completed it four years later. His frescoes show stories of the Old Testament about creation and fall of humankind and give an anticipation of salvation through Christ. Michelangelo at first did not want to paint the ceiling because he saw himself as sculptor and thought of the commission as trap of his rivals. Moreover, it was unusual for ceiling frescoes to show narration, they were in general regarded as minor compared to walls. Michelangelo, undeniably, taught art history better, his artwork became a masterpiece of High Renaissance. This essay is going to examine Michelangelo’s concerns in decorating the ceiling, especially in regard to the representation of narration and how successful his attempts were.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Ähnliche
Impressum:
Copyright (c) 2015 GRIN Verlag / Open Publishing GmbH, alle Inhalte urheberrechtlich geschützt. Kopieren und verbreiten nur mit Genehmigung des Verlags.
Bei GRIN macht sich Ihr Wissen bezahlt! Wir veröffentlichen kostenlos Ihre Haus-, Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten.
Jetzt bei www.grin.com hochladen und weltweit publizieren.
Narrative on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling
In 1508 Michelangelo began with his working on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he completed it four years later.[1]His frescoes show stories of the Old Testament about creation and fall of humankind and give an anticipation of salvation through Christ. Michelangelo at first did not want to paint the ceiling because he saw himself as sculptor and thought of the commission as trap of his rivals.[2] Moreover, it was unusual for ceiling frescoes to show narration, they were in general regarded as minor compared to walls. Michelangelo, undeniably, taught art history better, his artwork became a masterpiece of High Renaissance. This essay is going to examine Michelangelo’s concerns in decorating the ceiling, especially in regard to the representation of narration and how successful his attempts were.
The structure of the ceiling is divided into various subsets: the centre is taken in by nine narrative scenes from the Book of Genesis, which are framed by illusionary architecture and nudes sitting on blocks of marble. The second zone is dominated by the monumental depictions of prophets and sibyls on stone thrones, framed by two pairs of small putti on each side, who seem to support the blocks above them like caryatids. Between the thrones are triangular spandrels with pointed arches, showing ancestors of Christ. Beneath them in lunettes are more ancestors. Above them in the entablature are so-called ignudi, male nudes, who appear as statues who came to life, „stretching, twisting and turning in a collective display of grace and elegance”[3]. In each of the four corners is a further spandrel which shows scenes from the Old Testament.
The main narrative in the centre of the ceiling consists of nine frescoes, which can be divided into three triads, the first showing the creation of the earth, the second creation of humanity as well as its fall from grace and the third the struggle of the humans on earth, including their final fall and sins. The size of the frescoes alternates, a small one follows upon a large one, overall there are four large and five small ones.
The first large fresco depicts the “Creation of Sun and Moon” and of the plants. The Genesis in general is not very detailed, which gives the artist a great freedom of which elements he wants to unify. God, in this depiction, is depicted two times, at one point seen from the front, accompanied by some infants, at the other from behind. In this “continuous style” (after F. Wickhoff), the events within the picture ‘flow’ into each other, showing an action over a longer period of time within a single image.
