The Sistine Chapel - Its History and Masterpiece.pdf

THE SISTINE CHAPEL Its history

and masterpieces

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PETER BEDRICK BOOKS NTC/Contempomry Publishing Group

NEW YORK

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THE SISTINE CHAPEL Its

History and Masterpieces

Text VlTTORIO GlUDICI Illustrations L.R.

Galante

EDIZIONI MUSEI VATICANI

PETER BEDRICK BOOKS NTC /Contemporary Publishing Group

NEW YORK

DoGi Created by DoGi spa. Florence.

Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of

Original

Giudici. Vittorio

The

Sistine

Chapel

history

its

:

and masterpieces

by Vittorio Giudici

text

/

by L R Galante.

illustrations

R Galante

and Sergio and page design: Sebastiano Ranchetti Picture research: Katherine Carson Forden Editing: Andrea Bachini Translation: Anthony Brierley ©May 1998 Ufticio Vendita Pubblicazioni e Riproduzioni dei Musei Visualization: L.R. Galante

Originally published: Italy

:

Edizioni

Musei

Vaticani, 1998.

Art direction

Includes index.

ISBN 0-87226-638-9 Capella Sistina (Vatican Palace, Vatican City)

1.

Text: Vittorio Giudici

Illustrations: L.

cm.

p.

La cappella Sistina

title:

Concept and

;

Italy

Title.

I.

N2950G58 2000 726.550945634—dc21

00-29250

Vaticani.

00120 Vatican

City

CIP published in 2000 by Peter Bedrick Books NTC/Contemporary Publishing Group, Inc.

This edition

A

first

division of

4255 West Touhy Avenue, Lincolnwood (Chicago).

©2000

Copyright All rights

by

No

reserved.

system, or transmitted

EB BR

60712-1975 U.S.A.

Illinois

Vendita Pubblicazioni e Riproduzioni dei Musei Vaticani

Ufticio

book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

part of this in

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of

J

the copyright holder.

N2950 .G5813 2000

Printed

in Italy

International

14

15

Standard Book Number: 0-87226-638-9 5 8 7 6 12 11 10 9

4

13

3

2

1

List of works Works reproduced

in their entirety are

indicated with the letter E; those of which

Only a letter

featured are followed by the

ik-t.ul is

D.

Miiianites,

Mooeo

cm (SC) Brvmante, Donato Montorio, Rome) 24

in this

here, with their date

(when known),

place

book are

listed

the

where they are currently housed, and

The numbers

the page number.

bold type

in

on page 48.

refer to the credits

D

14 E.

Florence) 23 E; 38. in

E

17. Resurrection of Christ,

43

between 1572 and

E

VM:

Museums

Vatican

SC)

21 E. D; 19. Angel Appearing

1.

Looeoon, 1st century A.D.. marble, height

bronze

of the Hellenistic

of"

Agesandros. Atenodorus and Polidorus. 2nd-

century B.C. (Octagonal Courtyard,

lst

VM)

9 K; 2. MarteUus

(Gallery of the Popes,

1481-82. fresco

I.

SC) 20 D;

3. Slxtus

1481-82. fresco (Gallery of the Popes, 21

4.

f);

I

V in

Sixtus

I.

SC)

/K1

A

Head

I>1

paper glued

Peri gino

Mic MILE ClONl)

of St Jerome, c.1460. lo

wood. 49

Palatina. Florence) 13 I)

with the assistance ok plm

1

ric

i

1

11(1

(>2. Stories

of Christ: Baptism tf Christ, 1481-

82. fresco,

335

x

550

cm (SO

15 E,

1

>;

63.

x 4

tempera on

cm

(Galleria

Contents 4.-

Leading Figures

6

-

Places

8

-

Rome

in the 15th

Century

10-SixtusIV 12 - The Florentine Workshop 14 -Life of Moses 15

-

Life of Christ

16

-

Life of Moses

17

-

Life of Christ

18 -Life of Moses 19 -Life of Christ

20

-

Gallery of the Popes

22

-

Michelangelo

24

-

Julius II

26

-

The Cartoons

28

-

A Day s Work

30

-

Fresco Painting

The Ceiling 34 - The Lunettes 36 - The Spandrels and Pendentives 38 - The Sibyls and Prophets 40 - The Central Stories 42 - Looting and Destruction AA - The Last Judgement 46 - The 20th Century 32

-

48

-

Index

Leading figures For

hundred years the Sistine chapel has been one most important places tor the Christian faith and

five

of the

for the entire history of art.

walls

and

The

paintings that cover the

unique masterpieces

ceiling of the chapel are

portraying the story of humanity as intended by God,

from the Creation

to the Last

Judgement. Many

prominent figures have contributed to the construction, Two popes of the Delia Rovere family, Sixtus IV and Julius II, more than

decoration and history of the chapel.

making the chapel into the building we know today. The artists who gave expression to their projects were some of the greatest names in 15th-century painting— Perugino, Botticelli, Signorelli and Ghirlandaio — but the real giant among them was Michelangelo Buonarroti, the creator of the ceiling frescoes and the Last Judgement. In recent years

anyone

else,

were responsible

for

The conclave In the 20th century

master craftsmen have contributed to restoring these

the Sistine chapel

frescoes to their original splendor.

has been the place used for the election

of the pope by the college of

cardinals.

Perugino, Botticelli

and Pinturicchio Perugino and

Pietro

Sandro

Botticelli,

two of the greatest Italian artists of the 15th century,

worked with Pinturicchio on

some of the frescoes representing scenes

from the Stories of Moses and Christ, paintings that were

commissioned by Sixtus rv.

Cosimo

Rosselli

and

Piero di Cosimo Receiving their training in a

artistic

Botticelli, less solid

tradition, these two artists also look

workshop that was different

pom

that of

Perueino and

but of no Florentine

in tin

/lie

pail

painting of

frescoed stories oj

Moses and

Christ.

Matteo da Lecce and Van den Broek In the second half of the 16th century these artists were

called to repaint two frescoes that

had

been destroyed.

The In

restorers

the second hcdf

of the 20th century,

and particularly the 1980s,

in

an

extensive cleaning

program was undertaken on the painted decoration of the chapel.

A lansquenet In 1527 Rome was Ghirlandaio

sacked by the troops

and Granacci Domenico

of the Emperor Charles V, an event

Ghirlandaio was

in which the Sistine

chapel was also

another of the great

involved.

Florentine masters of the 15th century

who

took part in the

early decoration of

the Sistine chapel.

Francesco Granacci

was a friend of Michelangelo;

he introduced him into Ghirlandaio

's

workshop and was his assistant in the Sistine decoration.

Julius n,

SixtusW and Michelangelo Pope Sixtus FV ordered the building

of the chapel after him.

named

His

nephew Julius

II

commissioned Michelangelo

to

Bartolomeo della

Sistine chapel.

Gatta, Signorelli

Raphael executed

and Raphael Two generations of

the cartoons for

Umbrian

are occasionally

artists

the tapestries,

paint the frescoes of

participated in the

hung on

the ceiling.

decoration of the

the walls.

which

Museums

in the world: the

The Papal Museums

Tapestry Gallery, the

Situated in the very

Gallery of Maps,

heart of the Vatican

Vatican

and

Galleries were

Raphael

formed over four

and

centuries

comprise various

Stanze,

behueen the Basilica,

the collection of

the Apostolic Palace

Modern

—

largest of their

's

and

Religious

the

Art and the

collections of

antiquities

Chapel

Sistine

the

ethnological

kind

collections.

museum complex.

Belvedere

Courtyard According to Bramante's original design (ca. 1505)

it

occupied the entire area between the Apostolic Palaces

and the summer residence (Belvedere)

which Innocent VIII

(1484-1492) had built to the north of

tlw Vatican

hill.

The

inner garden of Innocent's Palazzetto, ivhich

Bramante

transformed into a

square courtyard,

was

tlw world's first

open-air

museum

of

classical sculptures.

Walls of the Vatican City

St. Peter's

Built for the first

time by Leo

elliptical

space

encircled

TV

in the 9th century,

columns linked

are those that St. Peter's

Vhad

built in the

middle of the 15th century.

Place! is

situated in the very heart of the

Vatican City State, near plan

is

of a central-plan temple, conceived

and 43.5

hall

feet in width, the

in

famous barrel

vault;

and a large

The height of the edifice, the high windows and particularly the galleries

attic at the top.

along the sides of the appearance

was

tomb.

Paul V( 1605-1621)

Michelangelo's

into the Latin cross

we

Bernini

later

modified under'

project of returning

iuas designed in

to

allow a

number of

worshippers to see tlw

Pope during the blessing.

see today.

same

Jerusalem. The building that contains the chapel is divided into four stories: a basement; a mezzanine with nine barrel-vaulted rooms; the chapel itself, 67 feet at

position of the

cupola,

It

the 1 7th century by

greater

4th century over

attic give the building the

of a small fortress.

huo

porticoes.

groundmeasuring

proportions the Bible attributes to Solomon's temple

the highest point of the

as a base for

supporting the great

to the basilica by

St. Peter's Basilica. Its

extremely simple: a rectangular

131 feet in length

Bramante's idea

Basilica

St. Peter's

Sistine chapel

to

The original basilica was built by the Emperor Constantine in the

The

is

by four rows of

the present walls

Nicholas

Square

This vast

Outer view of the Chapel

Sistine This,

gives a

deara idea of the building's characteristic

appearance as a small fortified ions/ruction:

an outpost of the Vatican Pain,

,

j,

Michelangelo's ceiling

Above the third cornice, around the

windows and over the entire ceiling are

the figures frescoed

by Michelangelo.

The gallery ofpopes The

The guards The large attic above the ceiling of the chapel gave access to the side galleries

used

by the chapel

guards.

The LastJudgement On the end wall behind the altar

is

Michelangelo 's large

larger middle

cornice forms a gallery

along

three

sides of the chapel:

between the

windows

are

12 28

portraits of popes.

The 15th-century frescoes

Between the first

and second

cornice

of the side walls are the

12 frescoes

painted in the 15th century.

False drapery

According

to

15th-century

custom, the lowest part

of the decoration consists

of trompe Voeil curtains.

The chapel The pavement

is

made ofpolychrome marble.

A

screen

separates the two

areas reserved for the

congregation

and

the clergy.

The mezzanine Divided into nine rooms occupied by the offices

of the Masters of Ceremonies.

The basement This was divided up into nine rooms.

fresco representing the Last Judgement.

5

.-

Rome

J*h N .

-

began to appear among Rome's imperial architecture and pagan monuments. On the site of St. Peter's tomb, Constantine had the basilica dedicated to the Apostle built. In

the following centuries, despite the

tall

of

Rome

was even

Rescuing

enlarged. In the 15th century, during the papacies of

works of art

and the desertion of the

city,

the basilica

V

and Nicholas V, the city experienced a great revival and at the same time its ancient ruins were visited and studied by artists and scholars. This new interest in the past heralded one of the most remarkable Martin

at the foot of the

Capitol in Rome, a

Corinthian capital being cleaned.

is

human

periods in

..<

During excavations

culture: the Renaissance.

is

all that

It

remains

of a temple of

Concord from the C *!s?~^*^ *

4th century BC. It

will serve as

a

model for drawings,

mm

measurements and proportions.

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In the 15th and 16th century, after a long period of decline, the

and

city

's

I

'.

\

population

cultural prestige increased.

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X

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i.-:

^

Study and imitation

Rome, with

its

immense heritage of ancient ruins,

a gnat

nit) hi

it

i

W

-W

*iL-

• :l

as

hoi

pir aitists from the

in

i

h

1

5th century.

BruneUeschi and Donatella went

-]

therefrom Florence in 1402.

£&*

V

.

The ruins The remains of

Laocoon Excavated and

some Ionic columns that

carefully analysed,

may once

have belonged

the statues of to

antiquity attracted

a temple dedicated to

the attention of a

Saturn.

great

many

artists.

In 1506, a marble statue of the 1st

century

8 feet

"&CJN

high,

AD, was

found near

the

basilica of Santa

Maria Maggiore in Rome. It was the copy of a famous bronze of the Hellenistic period

representing

Apollo

5 priest

and

his sons being killed

by two serpents.

Vatican Museums,

Rome

The changes made by Christianity

Columns of the temple of Antoninus

and Faustina, which in the 11th century

was converted

into

Christian church,

San Lorenzo Miranda.

*'*\,»\".V

in

a

A cavity

Melozzo da

Forli,

SixttuIV.cn. 1480;

detached fresco transferred onto canvas, 370 x 350

cm

(12

1

2

ft.,

(t.,

1

6

x

in.

in.),

Vatican Pinacoteca,

Rome,

detail.

IV

Life of Sixtus

Francesco della

Rovere (Celle

1414-Rome was born into

Ligure 1484)

a

rvoble family

and

belonged to the Franciscan order of friars of

whom

he

was elected general in

Sixtus

This fresco by

1464.

Melozzo da Forli

Elected pope 1471, Sixtus

TV Nominates

Platina

in

(1438-1494),

IV was

today at the Vatican

a true Renaissance prince. In the

Pinacoteca, shoius

TV nominating

exercise of temporal

Sixtus

power he was autocratic and ambitious, and showed a tendency to favor members of

Platina prefect of the

his

own

the

He

family.

attempted to

European

Apostolic Library.

rally

states

against the

Ottoman Empire.

He

patronized

culture

He

and the

arts.

transferred the

Vatican library to

new premises, enriched

it

with

Greek, I-atm and 1

It-brew

works and

appointed as

its

librarian the

humanist scholar

Bartolomeo Sect hi, called Platina. In tin-

sphere

religion he

l

reformed

the mendicant

orders and conferred greatei

Sixtus

In the second half of the 15th century, an extraordinary period of cultural and artistic revival, Pope Sixtus IV

ordered the destruction of a 13th-century chapel that was used as the palatine or papal chapel. This was the place where the pope, the cardinals, the heads of the monastic and mendicant orders, as well as patriarchs

and bishops

Immaculate Conception.

visiting

during the year.

On

Rome, celebrated important rites the same site, between 1475 and

IV had the present building constructed alter him. In the beginning it had a wot old (unction, as palatine chapel and as a fortified

1480, Sixtus

solemnity to the celebration ol the

IV

that I

was named

outpost

ol the oldest

nucleus of the Vatican palaces.

Separates the floor of

The whole building was built of brick,

the attic from the

with dressed stones

vault under

(it

construction.

the vault.

the sides of

I

§

The Florentine workshop When work

on the building of the chapel had been completed, Sixtus IV turned his attention question of

its

interior decoration.

finally

to the

The ornamentation

of

Leonardo da Vinci

the great ceiling originally consisted of a simple starry-

Filtered

work attributed to Pier Matteo D'Amelia. For the more ambitious program was conceived and for this the pope looked to the artists of the Florentine school. The importance of the chapel and the short time

workshop in 1469

sky, a

at the

walls, a

Filippo Brunelleschi,

Cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, 1418-H36; Florence.

Florence second

In the

half of the 15th century Florence was one of the

experimentation with

new

enocchio 's

age of

seventeen. Here he

was fascinated by the

had to live prompted him to summon to Rome the most famous workshops and their masters. Most of the artists had trained under Verrocchio. Let us imagine entering his workshop around 1470. Here, we would have found Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Perugino and Ghirlandaio, together with illustrious collectors busy admiring the most varied work: paintings, sculpture, goldworking, and much the aging pope thought he

I

working of

•winches

still

and gear

mechanisms.

machines.

great centers of

European culture. About a century before, the plague

had swept through the continent had

The

A

client

workshop of

rich Florentine

Verrocchio.

merchant, art

to

city,

Wealthy Florentines

then later they

art

of the 15th century

became art

collector, visits the

often started by

collectors.

that

halved the

donating objects churches of the

patron

and

city's

population, but

Florence had reacted and had

continued to thrive as one of the

world's leading

commercial centers. In the 15th

century the city enjoyed a long period ol political stability, which corresponded to many years of

flourishing artistic activity.

was

Florence

m

the cradle of

Humanism and the Renaissance:

r

here Brunelleschi

and Masaccio produced their masterpieces; here, great banking and

merchant first

families,

among them

the Medici,

7

commissioned

I.

churches, palaces

•/

and hospitals to be built, and enriched Perugino

the city with

Recently arrived

works of art. The crowning glory of the city (

athedral

dome tize

to

ol

was

pom !

a

majestic

and beauty.

I

his native

mbria, Perugino

experimented with sculpture

'//

in terracotta.

//

The furnace Inside the workshop ivas

a fully-equipped

bronze foundry: an

iron-domed stone smelting furnace with air vents

and

a pouring spout.

Andrea

del

Verrocchio, Head of St. Jerome, ca. 1460;

tempera on paper glued to wood, 49x46 cm (19.3 x 18

Galleria

in.),

Palatina, Florence.

Verrocchio

The Florentine painting tradition

enjoyed a prestige

and level of achievement that

was

unrivalled,

from Giotto, the founder of Italian painting between the 13th and 14th centuries, to

Masaccio and the great masters of the 15th century.

However, we should not forget the important role

of lesser-known masters, those in

whose workshops the great masters

learned the basic principles of the

Florentine school.

Among them was Andrea

di Cione,

called Verrocchio

(Florence 1435Venice 1488), the master of Leonardo da Vinci

and many artists

ol those

whom

Sixtus IV

summoned

to

fresco the Sistine

chapel. Goldsmith,

of Renaissance

sculptor, painter, artists, the thirty-

year-old

draftsman,

Domenico

engineer,

Ghirlandaio engages

expert

in conversation

and

in the

are under forty,

assemble the marble

procedures of bronze casting, for the Venetian Republic Verrocchio executed the great

Antonio

but are masters of

pieces for the lavabo

equestrian statue

known

the two most famous

as Pollaiolo (seated

workshops in Florence.

with the older masters.

The masters Verrocchio receives a visit from

Benci, also

on

men

his

left).

Both

The lavabo Two workers

of the Old Sacristy in

San

Lorenzo.

of Bartolomeo Colleoni.

Life of Moses same size as the temple of Jerusalem, which was built by Solomon and burned down by the Romans in 70 AD. The iconographical program conceived by Sixtus IV was intended to be a comparison between the Old and New Testaments, between the lives oi Moses and Christ, and even between Solomon and Sixtus himself. It aimed to represent the continuity, but also to underline the evolution, of the Christian religion over Mosaic law. On Sixtus IV had the Sistine chapel built to the

Botticelli,

Stories of Mated, detail.

The two stories The twelve 5th-

the

left

wall of the chapel, looking towards the

1

right to

centuiy frescoes facing each other on the side walls, each

measuring 335 x 550

cm

(11

x 18

now

is

are scenes from the

for

modern

destroyed to

for

is

from

how

however, both

which were the Last Judgement.

on the end

make space

altar,

of Moses. This

visitors; originally,

cycles began with frescoes later

life

wall,

are

ft.),

grouped into two matching cycles.

The

it

left,

Perugino

and Pinturicchio

proceed

stories

1.

chronologically,

except at the beginning.

The

scene From the

Stories of Moses:

Moses with his Wife Zipporah

first

of

life

Moses, showing the episode ol his son's

in Egypt,

Circumcision of their Son.

circumcision refers to

(fig. 1),

events that

Botticelli

came 2. Stories

after those of the

second scene.

The decoration is intended to draw a comparison: the

first

between the Cinumcuion ofMated Sim (fig. 1) and the is

BaptLun (figs.

of Cbritt

3 and

3.1). In

the second of the

two

frescoes are

John

other scenes:

speaking of the

Messiah to the crowd, John descending into Jordan, and Jesus speaking of the Baptist.

The

Temptation q) Chrut (lig.

4)— with

Satan

conversing with Jesus, taking him to the roof of the

temple and

lastly

leading him to the

top

o(

a mountain

—

contrast with those ol

Moses

2.2), in

(figs. 2,

which the

prophet slays the

Egyptian

(fig. 2.2),

marries one of Jethro's daughters, ,ukI lastly sets out for

Egypt

to free his

people

(fig. 2.1).

of Moses:

The Burning Bush, Moses

Slays the

Egyptian, Moses Drives

Away the

Midianites,

Moses Departs for Egypt. In figures 2.1

and

2.2, two details.

Life of Christ On

the right wall of the chapel, from

left

to right,

is

the

life of Christ. Each scene of the narrative is matched by an episode from the life of Moses on the opposite wall. The inscriptions appearing on them invite

story of the

the congregation to dwell on the meanings of each pair of frescoes. Botticelli,

For example, the

compare the

rite

first

Birth of VeniLt,

1484-1486; tempera

on canvas, 1 71 x 278 cm (5 ft., 8 in. x 9

ft.,

1

in.), Uffizi,

with the

New

rite

of Baptism in the

over the Old

is

two stories Old Testament

scenes of the

of circumcision

in the

New. The triumph of

the

recalled to the congregation every

time differences are illustrated between the lives of

and Christ: that which

in the

Moses

Old Testament

is

Florence, detail.

represented as bloody, like the sacrifice of the animal, in the

The masters Pietro Vannucci,

known

New Testament is conveyed as something spiritual and

symbolic, like the Baptism

and the Eucharist.

as Perugino

(Castel della Pieve,

Perugia

ca.

1450—

Fontignano,

Perugia 1523).

He

frequented the

workshop of Verrocchio

in

Florence and

worked

in the

Sistine chapel

from

1481 to 1482. His

works include the Pieta (Uffizi,

Florence), the

Enthroned /Madonna

(Louvre, Paris),

Perugino

and Pinturicchio

and the Adoration of

3. Stories

the Magi (Galleria

Baptism

Nazionale dell' Umbria, Perugia).

of Christ. In figure a

Alessandro

known

Filipepi,

as Botticelli

(Florence 1445-1510). In his

home town

he had close links with the Medici.

His works include the Primavera the Birth of

A pupil Lippi,

and

Veniui.

of Filippo

and

later

of

Verrocchio, his art is

distinguished

by the prime importance given to the use of

drawn

outlines.

Bernardino di Betto,

known

as

Pinturicchio

(Perugia

ca.

1454-

Siena 1513). He worked with Perugino and was very successful in

Rome.

detail.

of Christ

3. 1,

Botticelli 4. Stories

of Christ:

The Temptation of Christ, The Purification

of the Leper.

Life of Moses

Cosimo

Rosselli,

qfModu,

Stories

detail.

The two stories The calling of Peter and Andrew,

who abandon

their

fishing-nets to

follow Christ, and of James and John (fig. 7.1)

are scenes from the Storied ofCbri.it

representing the calling of the first

apostles

(fig. 7).

The scenes the

face

Cro.uiinij of the

Ret)

Sea on the

opposite wall

(fig.

on the far the pharaoh

5.1):

right

holds council; then the Egyptian is

army

engulfed by

the sea

and the

(fig.

5)

Israelites

are saved.

The

events of the

Old Testament therefore

prefigure the later Christian

events. Thus, the Haiuhinj

Over of the Tabic of tbe

Law

(fig.

6)

corresponds to the Senium on I

be

Cosimo

(

of Moses:

Crossing of the

Red

Mount

Rosselli

5. 1 Stories

Sea.

In figure 5,

(fig. 8).

The harshness

(i

detail

of the images in the

first

of the

two frescoes — Moses's violent reaction to the idolatry ol his

people

—

corresponds

Cosimo in

the second Iresco to the image ol Christ's love

as he heals the leper.

and

Rosselli

Piero di Cosimo

6. Stories of I

Moses:

landing

(

)ver

of the Tables ol the aw, Adoration of the I

Golden

Calf.

;

Life of Christ:

Domenico Ghirlandaio Angel Appearing

to

Zacharicui, 1490;

250 x 450 cm in. x 14 ft., Santa Maria

fresco,

(8

9

2

ft.,

in.),

Novella, Florence, detail.

The masters Cosimo

Rosselli

(Florence

1439-1507). set up his own workshop at an early age and painted numerous

He

altarpieces, like the

Sacra Conversazione (Uffizi, Florence).

He combined an

interest in

perspective with

a great eye

Bigordi,

known

Cosimo

Ghirlandaio

and Piero

7.

for detail.

Domenico

Domenico

as

Ghirlandaio

Stories of Christ:

Rosselli

di

Cosimo

Calling of Peter

8. Stories

and Andrew.

Sermon on

In figures 7.1

Mount, Healing

and

of the Leper.

7.2, details.

of Christ:

the

(Florence

1449-1494).

He

trained in the

workshop of Verrocchio,

and was very popular in the later years of his life.

He

famous

is

for

having been the painter who most accurately

portrayed the habits

and customs

of his time, and for

having been for a short period the

master of Michelangelo. Piero di Lorenzo,

known

as Piero di

Cosimo (Florence 1461-1521).

A pupil of Cosimo Rosselli,

whom name

is

from

his

own

derived.

Q

Life of Moses.

Perugino, Storied of Christ, detail.

The two stories The comparison between the Old and New Testaments continues in the last frescoes

two

On

of the

side walls.

one

side, in the

Punishment

of

Korah, Dalhan, and Abiratn

(fig. 9.1),

the rebels are

shown being

Botticelli 9.

1 Stories

of Moses:

Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. In figure

9,

a

detail.

swallowed up by the earth

(fig. 9).

This is matched, in the Handing Over of the Key.' (figs.

and

11.1),

1 1

by the

idea of forgiveness

and salvation

in

Church of Christ. The last two scenes the

represent the Testament of Moses

(10 and 10.1) and the Iui.it Supper (fig. 12).

While

Moses hands over the staff of

leadership to

Joshua

(fig. 10.1),

Christ, in the Last

Supper, hands

down last

himself. The two scenes on

the entrance wall

of the chapel

represented the Resurrection Chri.it

l

by

Ghirlandaio, and the

/)i.i/>itle

over the

by Signorelh. Both paintings were Body

,'f

Mo.h;i

destroyed

when

the entrance wall

collapsed in 1522

and were replaced in

the late 16th

century by works that are described

on pages 42 and AT) ol this

book.

Luca Signorelh with the assistance

of Bartolomeo delta Gatta 10. Stories of Moses:

Moses Gives the Charge to Joshua, Death of Moses. In figure 10.1,

a

detail.

Xife of Christ?

Luca

Signorelli,

Holy Family, 1490-1500, oil on wood, diameter

cm

124

(4

ft.),

Uffizi, Florence.

The masters Luca

Signorelli

(Cortona, Arezzo

1445-1523).

ca.

A pupil of Pietro Perugino,

he also drew

11.1

inspiration from

the teaching of

Verrocchio. After a period

spent

in

Florence

at the court of

Lorenzo

de'

Medici, and

impressed by the preaching of

the

Dominican Girolamo

friar

Savonarola, Signorelli

painted his

masterpiece

— the —

Lajt Judgement

an apocalyptic fresco cycle in six large lunettes that

decorate the side wall of Orvieto cathedral.

Pietro Dei,

known

as

Bartolomeo della Gatta (Florence 1448-1502).

A friar of the Camaldolensian order, he also came from

Perugino 11.1 Stories of

The Handing Over Christ:

of the Keys. In figure 11, a

detail.

Verrocchio's circle. In the Sistine

chapel he worked

both with Perugino and with Signorelli.

A painter of great talent, he

seemed

to

draw

on many of the different styles

and tendencies of his time.

Cosimo

Rosselli

12. Stories of Christ:

Last Supper.

m

Urban

Anteros

Cornelius

Stephen I

Diotrysius

I

(260-268)

(254-257)

(251-253)

(235-236)

(220-230)

Rosselli

Botticelli

Botticelli

Perugino

Perugino

Eutychianus

(275-283) Ghirlandaio

The popes

Marcellus I

Popes Marcellus

(306-308) Unattributable

arranged on tlie

I,

side walls, in

Gaius, Marcellinus,

chronological order,

and Eutychianus

alternating from

are

on the entrance umll

right to left,ftvm the

of the chapel.

point nearest the wall

The oilier 24 an>

behind the

altar.

Gallery of the Popes Marcellinus

(296-304) Botticelli

In the

upper

fasciae of three walls of the Sistine

chapel, above the frescoes depicting the stones of

Moses and Christ, are 14 windows. At the sides windows are 28 false niches, about 250 cm high, each containing the portrait of a pope. The

of the

figures are painted in vivid colors of lively poses.

The completion

wanted by Sixtus IV

is

and

in a

range

of the decoration

therefore a celebration of

his earliest predecessors.

The

result

is

a perfect

accord between the use of the chapel for papal Gaius (283-296) Ghirlandaio

rites

and,

much

and the presence

later,

for the election of popes,

of a gallery dedicated to

them.

^l

I?

gj-

f!

I Pontianus

Felix I

Sixtus II

Lucius I

Fabian

(269-274)

(257-258)

(253-254)

(236-250)

(230-235)

Ghirlandaio

Botticelli

Botticelli

Perugino

Perugino

Zephyrinus

Eleutherius

Anicetus

Hyginus

SixtusI

(199-217)

(175-189)

(155-166)

Ghirlandaio

Perugino

Perugino

(136-140) Ghirlandaio

(115-125) Unattributable

The gallery ofpopes Executed by the same workshops that were

painting the fresco

Only

cycle below.

tivo

of the portraits,

which at

repainted

inere

a

Evaristus

later date,

unknown

are by

(97-105)

The sequence

artists.

Botticelli

ofpopes originally

began from the altar wall, today occupied

by the Last

Judgement.

Here

tliere

were

representations of

Linus

Christ, Peter,

and Anacletus. There

is

Clement I

an obvious

(88-97)

link between the

Ghirlandaio gallery of popes,

particularly the

martyred ones,

and

thefresco cycle

beneath.

The stories

of Moses

and

Christ

highlight the

theme ofpriesthood

and

the struggle

against

Anacletus

heresy, the

natural conclusion of which

is

(76-88) Ghirlandaio

the

glorification

of the popes. Figs. 1

Perugino,

and

details. Figs.

4:

2:

Urban

Cosimo

I,

3 and

Rosselli,

Dionysius;

Domenico Ghirlandaio,

Alexander I

Anacletus.

(105-115) Perugino

Callixtus I

Victor I

Soter

Pius I

Telesphorus

(217-222)

(189-199) Ghirlandaio

(166-175)

(140-155)

Botticelli

Ghirlandaio

(125-136) Perugino

Rosselli

Instructions for the

Michelangelo

quarrymen

— in —

Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect short, one of the greatest geniuses of the Renaissance

Tuscany in 1475, the same year in which it is believed Sixtus IV started the building of the Sistine chapel. Raised in the Florence of Lorenzo de' Medici, he devoted much of his time to the study of Figures in classical art, and nurtured a profound love of sculpture. For his own works he personally chose marble blocks from the quarries of Carrara. Michelangelo spent much of his long life in solitude — partly in Florence, where he worked in San Lorenzo and defended the Republic as a military architect, and partly in Rome where, patronized by several popes, he left his greatest masterpieces, including the new basilica of St. Peter s and its dome.

was born

in

Michelangelo supplied the marble

quarrymen with drawings of the blocks, indicating

the dimensions

and

the

of pieces

number to be

prepared.

This sketch, dating

from 1521 and conserved in the

Casa Buonarroti in Florence, relates to

supplies for the

facade of the Florentine church of San Lorenzo.

Marble Marble had been

preferred to ordinary

used for sculpture

a smooth and shiny

ever since classical times. It

In the

was

Apuan Alps

To choose the marble for his sculptures,

Michelangelo visited the marble quarries in the

mountains

above Carrara, on the northern coast

of Tuscany.

stone because

finish that

it

was

gave

well-

suited to statues.

The Tondo Doni This tempera on wood painting commemorating a birth (now at the U/Jizi, Florence)

was executed

by

Michelangelo

1504 and 1506 and has a diameter of 120 cm between

(4 ft.). It

is

perhaps

the only finished

Life

work on wood that

Michelangelo

the artist produced.

In

it

Buonarroti was

Miclielangelo

born

principle

known

of Ghirlandaio.

the balanced

artist also

the

sculpture, he joined

the circle of

a serpentine

—which

Lorenzo

the

de'

Medici. In 1492 he

used in

David and

by

Later, attracted

arrangement of bodies, arms and

line

in

was an apprentice in the workshop

(counterpoise)

legs in

Caprese,

1475. In 1488 he

as "contrapposto"

—

in

near Arezzo,

applies the classical

sculpted the Battle the

of the Centaurd and

figures of the Sistine

Rome

in 1496, in

chapel.

for the first time, he

sculpted the Bacchus. In 1504 he

executed the David for the Florentine

Republic, and in

1505 Julius

II

summoned him

Rome

to

to execute

Julius' funerary

monument. From 1508 to 1512 he

.;^**!<

frescoed the ceiling

of the Sistine chapel.

From

he worked

1516,

in the

Florentine church

The Captives The four marble

of San Lorenzo for

statues that

Medici. In 1534 he

Michelangelo

again

originally intended

for

for the tomb ofJulius

X de'

Pope Leo left

Florence

Rome. In Pope Paul

1536, III

have

commissioned him

been called "slaves"

to execute the Last

II della Rovere

or "captives

"

because they seem to be imprisoned in the

material from which

Judgement

1547 he was supervisor of works in the

they are carved. Left,

Bearded

Captive, 1513-20; height

8

in.

),

263 cm (8 ft., Galleria

dell'Accademia, Florence.

in the

Sistine chapel. In

new

basilica

He Rome on

of St. Peter's. died

in

February 15, 1564. Above, Raphael, School ofAtheru,

1509-10; fresco, base 770 Vatican

Rome,

cm

(27

ft.),

Museums, detail

of

the portrait ol

Michelangelo.

The tomb Michelangelo,

Tomb of Julius

II,

1512-45; marble,

San Pielm in Vineoli,

Rome.

The tomb was finally built after

33

\ears of endless

dispute.

Raphael, Portrait aj Julitu II.

1512; tempera on wood, 108.5x80 cm (42.75x31.5 in.), Uffizi, Florence, detail.

Rome in 1

the early

6th century

The Spanish had Kingdom

taken the

French

of Naples, the

the

Duchy of

Milan;

in

the middle

were

the Papal States with

Moses

the pope as the

Generally dated 1515, the marble statue

arbitrator of Italian

Julius

politics.

235 cm

II

successors were two

(1513-1521)

can

A visit Giuliano della Rovere was born in

Bramante

who

supported France. In Charles

"tempietto" (San

V

Pielm in Montorio,

ordered the sack of

Rome

in

Albisola, in 1443,

Dona to Bra mantes

symbols of the Titian, Pope

Renaissance, was

Paul 111

built in

with AuManoro and Ottavio oil

10

in.

on

Famue, 546; on canvas, 1

210 x 174 cm (6 x 5

ft.,

8

into the

c.

tlie site

Petri's

1502-10 of St.

martyrdom.

ft.,

as his uncle, Sixtus IV.

Like Pope Julius

from 1503

to

11,

1513,

he combined the qualities of a ivarrior-like

temperament,

in.),

Capodimonte

same

Ligurian family

Rome), one of the

1527.

a stmng

Julius II

will,

and

attitudes befitting

Gallery, Naples, detail.

1505 Pope Julius

nephew

IV called Michelangelo to Rome to design his monumental tomb. This ill-fated project, fraught with numerous difficulties and endlessly postponed, was to become the torment of the artist's life. At the court of the Renaissance pope, Michelangelo met the young Umbrian painter Raphael, but came into conflict with both the architect Bramante and Julius II himself. Before long he had returned to Florence, but the pope succeeded in persuading the Florentine Republic to send him back. In Rome, Julius II invited Michelangelo to take on the great project of In

II,

the

of Sixtus

frescoing the entire ceiling of the Sisrine chapel, replacing the starry sky

2j-

wanted by Sixtus IV

some

scholars,

of Julius

X

and-

papacy of Adrian VI — Clement VII

retaliation,

to

II that

safely be attributed to Michelangelo.

after the brief

(1523-34),

at the center of the

the only part of tlieTomb

it is

of the

Medici family: Leo

is

whole composition. According

and the French. His

members

(7ft.,

seated in the central niche,

fought against Venice

is

8.5 in.) high. The figure of Moses,

the

supreme

spiritual

and

political leader

of his time.

The scaffolding Bramante TJ^

had designed a

suspended platform, but Michelangelo replaced

it

with a

platform that was

tiered

and

on two

rested

sides

on beams

inserted into existing

openings

and

supported by other

beams resting on

the

cornice of the walls.

The cartoons May

In

more

1508, Michelangelo

— who considered himself — rather reluctantly

of a sculptor than a painter

accepted the commission he had received from Pope Julius

II

to decorate the lunettes

Sistine chapel.

He summoned

and

ceiling of the

various assistants from

months of work to the preparation of the cartoons. Cartoons are full-scale drawings of the Pinal composition, executed on large sheets of heavy paper. For convenience, the cartoons are cut into sections whose shapes coincide with the areas that are systematically painted to produce the overall work. In August the cartoons were taken to the top of the scaffolding, lying just under half the area of the vault, and work on the ceiling decoration began. Florence and devoted the

The "arriccio"

An

assistant applies

a first layer of rough plaster, 1

inch thick,

made of lime and pozzokma.

first

__

MM!

lay s

work

The main technique

for painting walls

and

ceilings was;

buonfruco, the laying on of colors to freshly applied; plaster.

which

As

plaster dries, calcium carbonate

fixes the pigments,

is

formed,

ensuring the colors will not

fade. Artists, therefore, could paint only a limited area of

plaster at a time, using the

few hours available before the

plaster dried. This painted portion (the Italian

word

for "day").

plaster, the arriccw,

Over

was

the

called a giornata

first

coat of coarse

Michelangelo's assistants applied a

smoother layer called the intonachino. Then the outlines of preparatory drawings were transferred to the plaster, either by pouncing or by cutting. At times, Michelangelo frescoed without the help of cartoons.

',

.

Pouncing The small

holes that

have been pricked along the outlines of the

drawing are

dusted with charcoal powder, which shows

up as a on

tlie

of dots

series

plaster

surface beneath.

This serves as a reference for the

painter.

Michelangelo Creation of Adam, detail.

Michelangelo's

workshop Fresco painting, a technique dating from antiquity, was taken up in Italy in the 13th and 14th centuries. Its

widespread popularity

coincided with the

establishment of Florentine

workshops, from Giotto's onwards. In the

there

workshops was close

collaboration

between the master and pupils. Painting

was shared among the pupils,

who

were sometimes asked to paint secondary figures

in

their master's

works. Restoration of fresco cycles often reveals the individual styles of different painters

who

participated in

a project.

This was not the case with Michelangelo.

At the beginning, in 1508, he called on artists who had trained in the

Florentine

workshop

of

Ghirlandaio

—

Francesco Granacci, Giuliano Bugiardini,

The "intonachino"

An

assistant applies

a final layer of smooth 7

/2

plaster,

inch thick,

made from a mixture of lime

and pozzolana.

Aristotele da

Sangallo, Agnolo

Donnino and Jacopo ih Sandro — but the di

painting he asked

them

to

do was

Fresco painting Michelangelo tackled the painting of the Sistine ceiling in

two

stages,

towards the

proceeding

altar,

that

is,

initially

in

from the entrance wall

the opposite direction to the

narrative sequence of the central stories.

The second

of the ceiling, painted between 1511 and 1512,

regarded as a more mature expression of his

is

style.

half

usually

This

-J/

is

and therefore small number, of daily sections (giornate) into which the painting is divided. During this stage, the cartoons were transferred to the plaster with the method of indirect incision. confirmed by the larger

size,

Michelangelo's great precision

is

reflected in his use of

measured brush-strokes and a careful choice of colors. He used pigments that were most suited to painting a fresco, avoiding those that were vulnerable to deterioration, and it is believed he made very limited use of retouchings a secco, traditionally

and

for highlighting details

when

used for corrections

the plaster

was

dry.

Lighting

The scaffolding

*

S

blocked out the

natural

from

light

the

coming

windows.

Michelangelo

worked by

the light

of candles

and .

,

oil-lamps.

A f,

A

%

,

V

v?/

1

1

I

f

Painting "a fresco"

six hours at his

In the Sistine chapel

The pigments mix

disposal, the two

some art scholars

with the lime of the

hours in the middle

have mistaken the

yielding the best

pigments and glues

plaster it

and dry

with

within a few

results.

hours, depending

on seasonal conditions. It has

,

Fresco

used by later

painting is one of the most difficult

secco " retouchings

techniques because

of Michelangelo,

no room for

been calculated that

it

a fresco painter has

error or rethinking.

leaves

restorers for the "a

which were in fact extremely limited.

Michelangelo, Creation of Adam, detail.

Michelangelo alone For a year Michelangelo and his assistants worked on the half of the

first

ceiling.

Cartoons

were transferred to the plaster

with the pouncing technique and retouchings a jecco were made. From 1509 the best assistants

returned to Florence and were replaced by less-

experienced apprentices. In his contract

with Julius II, Michelangelo had been granted the freedom to choose the subject matter for the

and in was he who

decoration, fact

it

modified the pope

s

original idea of

portraying the

twelve apostles.

The

artist's

preference for

freedom of action

was

also

in his

shown

work. The

surfaces oi the

gwrnate became larger

and as a

result their

number

diminished. After overcoming further tensions

with the pope,

Michelangelo returned to

Rome

alter a spell in

Florence and rapidly completed the work.

It

Nudes Flanking the five

youths with oak leaves

and

acorns,

smaller panels in the

symbols of the

renter of the ceiling

poiuerful Delia

are pairs of nude

Rovere family.

The central stories Xine panels in the

architectural bands,

separated by

center of the ceiling

are occupied by

four larger ones and

episodes from the

five smaller ones,

Book of Genesis.

Medallions

nude youths passes

In the cornices of the five smaller panels

through the rims of ten bronze medallions

containing the

representing episodes

central stories, the

drapery behind the

The

from

tlie

Old

Testament.

ceiling

The decoration of the lunettes and ceiling of the Sisrine is composed mainly of scenes drawn from the Old Testament. How free was Michelangelo in his choice of the subject matter? Certainly he was a cultivated man, involved in the political and theological debates of his time. But probably he was also influenced by the need to continue the decorative program already started by Sixtus IV and by the advice of contemporary theologians. The surface frescoed by Michelangelo is divided into three areas: the high part of the walls occupied by chapel

the lunettes; the outer fasciae of the ceiling occupied

by the spandrels, prophets and sibyls, and pendentives; and the central part of the ceiling occupied by the nine panels representing episodes from the Book of Genesis.

Pendentives In the pendentives

Spandrels

in the corners of the

The

ceiling are four

spandrels above the

biblical episodes

lunettes represent

representing the

the ancestors of

eight triangul/ir

ilium ulous

Christ, as listed in

salvation of the

the Gospel according

chosen people.

to St.

Matthew.

E

'"T?

Key

Sibyls

and prophets

The frescoed surface Adding up the

Lunettes

areas frescoed by

I Pendentives

i.>

names appearing

in

the

works or those

titles ol

of the captions)

A Abraham 34

Esther 37 Eucharist 15

Jethro 14

Orvieto 19,43

Gallery ol

Accademia di San Luca 43 Adrian VI, pope 24, 43 Agnolo di Donnino 29

Europe

Joel 39

Ottoman Kmpire 10 P

Innocent's palazzetto 6

Pinacoteca

Paris,

Raphael's Stanze

Alhissola 24

F

Ale/io 43

Florences.

12

Eutychianus, pope 20 Ezekiel 39

Alps Apuan 22

18,32.36,38,39,45

Temple)

12. 13. 15, 17,

Jonah 39 Jordan 14 Joshua 18 Judas 34

19,22,26,31,43

Judith 36 Julius

Louvre

-

Tapestry Gallery 6

pope 10

Paul

II.

Paul

III,

pope

Paul V, pope 6

St.

Andrew, apostle

della Rovere) 4, 5, 23, 24,

Persian sibyl 38

St.

James, apostle 16

26,31,42

Peru 43

St.

John

Perugia 15

St.

John, evangelist 16

St.

Matthew, evangelist 34

St.

Paul 42

pope (Giuliano

-

Casa Buonarroti 22

-

Galleria dell'Accademia 23

Apollo 9

-

Galleria Palatina 13

-

San Lorenzo

Artaxerxes, king 37

-

Santa Maria Novella 17

Law, age of the 40

-

B

-

Republic of 22, 23

Leo

Perugino (Pietro Vannucci)

Baptism 15

-Uffizi 15, 17, 19,23,24

Leo X, pope

Fontignano 15

Leonardo da Vinci

23

Bartolomeo

della

Gatta

Lorenzo 6

Bible

6,

38

Botticelli

Filipepi)4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18,

Genesis 32

M

Ghirlandaio (Domenico

.Malines

4. 5, 12, 13, 17, 18,

Giotto 13,29,44

Brussels 42

Giovannino de' Dolci,

Bugiardini, Ciuliano 29

Goliath 36

C

Gospel according

Perez)

.Matthew 32, 34,44

Castel della Pieve 15

Gregory XIII, pope 43

5,

I

24,42 Clement VII, pope

24,

44

Colleoni, Bartolomeo 13

Constantine, emperor

6,

26,27,28,29,30,31,32,

Umbria

Miranda)

-

Capitol 8

12

Urbino 43

V

Milan,

-

St. Peter's Basilica 6, 8,

-

-

St. Peter's

-

San Lorenzo

in

-

San Pietro

Montorio 24

-

Santa Maria Maggiore 9

Venice 13,24

-

Saturn, temple of 9

-

-

Vatican

43

Br era

Moses

E

Jeremiah 39, 40

Noah

Jerusalem 6

O

temple

47

N

29

Nicholas

-

18,24,37,

14, 15, 16,

40, 42, 43, 44,

Jechonias 36

38

U

Tuscany 22

Innocent VIII, pope 6

Donatello 8

sibyl

temple of (see San Lorenzo

emperor 8

Isaac 34

-

Erythrean

Titian 24

St. Peter,

Italy

14

Tiberius,

24,31,42,43,44,46 Antoninus and Faustina,

8. 10, 12,

Concord, temple

J Jacob 34 Jacopo di Sandro 29

Egypt

15,22,23,

in

ol (sec

Naples 43

Capodimonte

New

Solomon's

Testament V,

Gallery' 24 14, 15,

pope

6,

18

8

of 8

Square

in

23

46

6, 8,

Museums

6,

14, 15, 16,

Vatican City 6 Vatican

hill

Republic

6

ol

13

diCione)

12. 13, 15, 17, 19

Z

Modern

Zechariah 39

Zorobabel 36

Octagonal Courtyard 9

Credits Abbreviations: a, above; below; c, center; r, right; Illustrations:

b, I,

left.

All the illustrations in the

book and on the front and back covers were executed (or DoGi spa by L. K. Galante: 1996, 1997 and 1998 by I

)oGi spa, Florence.

Reproductions of the works: (The numbers refer to those ol the list ol works on p. 3):

Archivio DoGi, Florence: 16, 39,

9,

47, 52, 75; Archivio

74; Archivio Fotografico dei

Musei Vaticani/A. Bracchetti/P.

DoGi, Florence (Foto

Zigrossi: 13,

Quattrone): 19, 76; Archivio DoGi, Florence (Foto Serge Domingie, Marco Rabatti): 31, 37, 64, 73; Archivio DoGi, Florence (Foto Saporetti): 4; Archivio Fotografico dei Musei

46, 48-51,63, 69, 71; Archivio

V.iiicam/T.

Okamura:

Archivio Fotografico

Fotografico dei Musei

Musei

Vaticani/A. Bracchetti: 15,70,

Photos of interiors and i

\

i

triors:

(The numbers refer to the pages ol the book): Inside: Archivio DoGi,

Vaticani/A. Maranzano: 62;

Florence: 12

Archivio Fotografico dei Musei Vaticani/M. Sarri: 17. 29,30; Archivio Fotografico dei Musei

Fotografico dei Musei Vaticani/A. Bracchetti/P.

Vaticani/P. Zigrossi: 2, 3, 5-8,

I;