Sistine Chapel ceiling

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Image:Lightmatter Sistine Chapel ceiling.jpg Image:Sistine chapel ceiling diagram of areas.PNG

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City was painted by Michelangelo during the Italian Renaissance between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling is perhaps most famous for the image of the Creation of Adam. There are many elements to the ceiling; it has nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, seven Old Testament prophets; five sibyls, as well as four corners and eight triangular areas also depicted with scenes. Surprisingly for a painting inside a church at the time, the sistine ceiling uses much pagan imagery from Greek and Roman times, such as the sibyls which are not a part of the Christian religion. The seven prophets and five sibyls appear in the part of the ceiling which was originally planned for being the twelve apostles, but Michelangelo changed the original design.

Contents

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Nine scenes from the Book of Genesis

Michelangelo depicted nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Five of these are Creation stories. Closest to the altar of the chapel is the drunkenness of Noah with God separating light from darkness near the entrance. They were painted in this order, with Michelangelo said to have painted the last scene, the light and darkness, in only one day. They show Michelangelo using more freedom with his design as he painted them. They are designed to all appear the right way up when viewed from the entrance. However the scenes in chronological order are the reverse of this. This is the order of the scenes from the entrance end to the altar:

  1. The Separation of Light and Dark
  2. The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Planets
  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 Flood
  9. Drunkenness of Noah

God separates light from darkness

Creation of the sun and the moon

The Creation of Adam

Original sin

Creation detail

The sacrifice of Noah

The flood

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The Ignudi

The Ignudi (singular: ignudo; from the Italian adjective nudo, meaning “naked”) are the 20 athletic, nude, male figures that Michelangelo painted at each of the four corners of the five smaller scenes of Creation. Because they were not relevant to the themes of the piece, Michelangelo’s ignudi outraged several pontiffs. Template:Fact

Most of the figures are surrounded by many oak leaves and thousands of acorns. The most obvious reason for their abundance is that Pope Julius II, who commissioned the work, was of the della Rovere ("of the Oak") family. So this was perhaps Michelangelo’s way to include reference to his patron in his work.

There are many speculations about the meaning of ignudi. They are naked humans, perhaps representing the naked truth. Template:Fact

Considering that Michelangelo regularly employed male models even for his female figures, they could represent Michelangelo’s concept of the human potential for perfection. Again, this could be interpreted through classical Greek view that “the man is the measure of all things”. Template:Fact

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Seven prophets

Seven prophets from the Old Testament were depicted on the ceiling, with Zechariah on the entrance end, Jonah on the chapel end, Joel, Ezechiel and Jeremiah on one of the long sides; and Isiah and Daniel on the other. The four major prophets of Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel and Isiah are diagonally opposite each other in that order from the chapel end towards the entrance, while the other three are seen as more "minor" prophets. The sibyls are between the prophets on the long sides. The seven prophets shown are:

  • Daniel (text below reads DANIEL)
  • Ezekiel (text below reads EZECHIEL)
  • Isiah (text below reads ESAIAS)
  • Jeremiah (text below reads HIEREMIAS)
  • Joel (text below reads IOEL)
  • Jonah - on the opposite end to Zechariah
  • Zechariah- the first painting Michelangelo did, on the entrance end of the chapel

Daniel

Ezekiel

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Joel

Jonah

Zechariah

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Five sibyls

Five sibyls, characters from Greek mythology were depicted. Three of the sibylls are on one side (Libyan, Cumaean and Delphican) separated between them by the prophets Daniel and Isiah. The other two sibyls are on the other side (Erythraean and Persian) with the prophet Ezechiel between them. The sibyls are:

Delphic Sibyl

Libyan Sibyl

Persian Sibyl

Cumaean Sibyl

Erythraean Sibyl

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Corners

The corners or "Pendentives" show scenes which may relate to the people of Israel being saved, such as David slaying the Philistine Goliath, Judith cutting the head off Holifernes, Haman punished for a plot he had against the Jews, and Moses erecting the bronze serpent:

Haman's punishment

The Brazen serpent

David and Goliath

Judith and Holofernes

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Eight triangular areas

There are eight triangular areas or "webs" above the arched windows of the chapel, four on each side. They were painted with scenes:

Parents of future King Jesse

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Other

In addition, there were many minor figures around the chapel ceiling; each of the eight triangular areas have two orangish figures sitting on top of them, sixteen in all. There are ten painted columns on each of the long sides, two on each short side, each one having two white nude young male figures, making a total of 48 in all. Other smaller figures appear behind the prophets and sibyls. Further figures were painted lower down holding the tablets which have the prophets' and sibyls' names on them.

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External links

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