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Sistine Chapel Analysis

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Sistine Chapel Analysis
I apologize for my lengthy responses! I greatly enjoyed this section of the book, and found myself choosing several works of art that inspired me intellectually. I have a few panels within the Sistine Chapel that I was fond of. I will list them below along with my attempt to analyze them. Perhaps you can provide me with some insight and your overall opinion of this response. History commends Michelangelo for his renowned and acclaimed work on the Sistine Chapel. After careful inspection of the fresco, I noticed a few obscenities. Specifically within the panels consisting of prophets and sibyls. In addition to the chapel's interior surface, there is one distinct example of papal insult portrayed on the west wall's Last Judgement, but first I …show more content…
He was an ingenious innovator who surpassed the skills of many artists. After the Pope presented an idea of how the chapel's ceiling should be painted, the artist boldly decided to expand on what he thought was a mundane design. When reviewing the details of each panel, you can clearly see the artist's frustration with the church and in some instances Pope Julius II specifically. For example, Zechariah. Note the similarities between the prophet (Links to an external site.)and this portrait of Pope Julius II (Links to an external site.) painted by the artist Raphael. Moreover, pay attention to the hand gesture (Links to an external site.)of the overlooking putti. The cherub seems to be showing the prophet "the fig", a signal of great disrespect. Another example of Michelangelo's tense relationship with the Pope can be seen in the panel which includes Jeremiah; located directly opposite Zechariah (please see image below). The artist not only depicts the prophet showing the left side of his face while seated. The Italian word for left is sinistra, which stems from the Latin word sinister; meaning harmful, menacing, and evil. From this, we can imply that the artist was cleverly attempting to portray the Pope as evil. R. Douglas Fields mentions how Michelangelo's indignation and exhaustion towards the church come to a
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