Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel was a work of truly epic proportions that really defined the artist as an auteur. Today, a filmmaker for example is often described as an auteur (French for "author") if he is given or wields total control over the film from the visionary stages through to planning, production, shooting and editing: the work is considered the total product of his or her vision. Such recognized auteurs are rare and are considered not just as "authors" but also as authorities (the short list includes filmmakers like Terrence Malick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Christopher Nolan et al.). Their works are sprawling, complex, inventive, and original. Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel (both the ceiling and the Last Judgment painted on the altar wall) was truly one of the greatest works of epic proportions ever painted by a Renaissance artist ("Sistine Chapel Ceiling") -- a work that essentially set the bar for what it meant to be an auteur.

Michelangelo was given complete control over the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling -- and the result was that it took nearly 20 years for him to complete it. Like the works of many auteurs today, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel was a labor of love that turned into something of a life project. His vision was so grand and encompassing that it sought to express the whole of Christian philosophy, theology, history, and truth in painting while creating a unique architectural effect (the painting is framed by painted columns and contoured to address the effect of the curvature of the ceiling) ("Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel"). Michelangelo sought to represent in art the mysteries of the universe and of the Christian faith. He also incorporated the pagan visionaries into his narrative, suggesting that their prophecies add and support the overall Christian story of history. The result was a work that was inclusive, expansive, rich in detail and thought, and sumptuous in expression. Michelangelo's vivid recreation of the human form in painting was so unique that it inspired many other artists to learn in fine detail the anatomy of the human body so that they too could show their skills.

Part of what made Michelangelo's work come to life was the humanistic focus of the Renaissance: it was a time in Italy during which great wealth was pouring into the country and old, classical forms were being rediscovered (the works and myths of the pagan Greeks and Romans for example). Michelangelo turned his attention to the human ideal (he had already expressed this ideal form in his statue David): he wanted to show in painting what man was like before the Fall (Adam at the moment of creation) and how man was transformed after the Fall. He wanted to depict the effect of sin on man's soul and man's features -- which he did in the Last Judgment: there are images of men falling out of their skin -- their physical bodies separating from their metaphysical souls; demons from Hell reaching up and trying to pull souls down that are ascending towards Heaven. In this image, Michelangelo depicted the war between the forces of Good and Evil over the souls of mankind. In the center of the image is the vision of Christ, signaling to those who believe in Him and beside Him are the saints helping souls in their upward climb. It was a work that put into stark and shocking visual imagery the reality of the spiritual battle that all experience. Perhaps most shocking of all was that some of Michelangelo's own contemporaries were depicted in Hell -- but then the practice of infusing one's epic works with social commentary was not new with Michelangelo: Dante had done the same all throughout the Divine Comedy, letting his contemporaries know exactly what he thought of them by depicting them in the various stages of the afterlife -- in Hell, Purgatory or in Heaven.

The Sistine Chapel work was commissioned by Pope Julius II and while the altar wall tells the story of man's spiritual battle the ceiling tells the story of the Old Testament, supported in various side panels by the prophecies of the pagan sibyls and seers. The ceiling's central panels told the story of creation, fall, and the promise of redemption. While Julius II was restoring order throughout the kingdoms of Christendom, Michelangelo was in a sense reflecting this order in the spiritual realm by depicting on the ceiling of the chapel the very story of Heaven and of Earth, identifying Christ's central role in that story ("Michelangelo's Painting of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling").