The Medici Tombs

The Medici Tombs
After the Sistine Chapels, Michelangelo undertook the project of the the Medici Tombs of the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo. The tombs called for two large wall tombs facing each other across the high, domed room. One was intended for Lorenzo de Medici, duke of Urbino; the other for, Giuliano de Medici duke of Nemours.

The tombs of the Medici were of a completely new form. Michelangelo abandoned the traditional archicture style. Michelangelo renounced Christian traditions in order to portray Humanity to our eyes. He gave names to the statues of the sarcophagi: Dawn, Dusk, Day and Night. These smbols represent the suffering mankind.

Work on the Medici Tombs continued long after Michelangelo went back to Rome in 1534.

A poem

The following poem Michelangelo wrote about the Sistine Chapel:

This comes from dangling from the ceiling–
I'm goitered like a Lombard cat
(or wherever else their throats grow fat)–
it's my belly that's beyond concealing,
it hands beneath my chin like peeling.
My beard points skyward, I seem a bat
upon its back, I've breasts and splat!
On my face the paint's congealing.

Loins concertina'd in my gut,
I drop an arse as counterweight
and move without the help of eyes.

Like a skinned martyr I abut
on air, and, wrinkled, show my fat.
Bow-like, I strain toward the skies.

No wonder then I size
things crookedly; I'm on all fours.
Bent blowpipes send their darts off-course.

Defend my labor's cause,
good Giovanni, from all strictures:
I live in hell and paint its pictures.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Temptation and the Sistine Chapel

One of the most famous stories of the Bible is the temptation of Adam and Eve. In this Biblical story, Satan is in the form of a serpent. He tempts Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit that will give her knowledge. She eats it and then gets Adam to eat. The following picture is Michelangelo's version of the story.
It seems at this point my blog is not allowing me to post pictures. Hopefully I can do that soon.

The Prophet Joel and the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo painted 12 different prophets from the Bible on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. One of the minor prophets that Michelangelo painted was Joel. He is famous for his scripture that reads, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your elderly shall dream dreams and your youth shall see visions"

Noah and the Sistine Chapel

Another of the biblical images Michelangelo painted was the Noah and the great flood. The Ark in which Noah and his family escapes the great flood is in the background. The people in front of the picture are the ones who are trying to escape the flood.

Adam and Eve of the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo painted three panels that included Adam and Eve that are found in the second and third chapters of Genesis.
The first panel is when God is reaching out to Adam about to give him life. This is the most famous and most recognized of the Sistine Chapel. The Central panel is God creating Eve from a sleeping Adam. The last panel shows Eve taking the forbidden fruit from the serpent, Satan and Adam taking the fruit from the tree. It also has the scene of Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden of Eve.

The Sistine Chapel

Blueprint of the Chapel



While Michelangelo was waiting to be paid for all his work that he had for the Catholic Church, the Church came to him and basically said, "if you don't do this painting for me, I will not pay you your money."Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512. The Sistine chapel is the location for Papal Conclaves and many important service.
It has been told that Michelangelo hardly ever left the Chapel while he was painting it. He would sleep on the scaffolding at night. He would also have his food brought to him and he would eat while he was painting. He hardly ever showered or change clothes. Supposedly, when he would finally take off his boots, pieces of skin would come off because he had been wearing them for so long.
The Sistine Chapel painting mainly consists of 9 stories from the book of Genesis, 12 prophetic figures, and the Last Judgment. The 9 stories from the book of Genesis are:

1. The Separation of Light and Darkness
2. The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Earth
3. The Separation of Land and Water
4. The Creation of Adam
5. The Creation of Eve
6. The Temptation and Expulsion
7. The Sacrifice of Noah
8. The Great Flood
9. The Drunkenness of Noah

(Pictures of some of these will be included in a later post)

The Twelve prophets are:

1. Jonah
2. Jeremiah
3. Persian Sibyl
   
4. Ezekiel
5. Erythraean Sibyl.
6. Joel
   
7. Zechriah
8. Delphic Sibyl
   
9. Isaiah
   
10. Cumaean Sibyl
    
11. Daniel
    
12. Libyan Sibyl