Michelangelo and The Sistine Chapel Frescos Essay -- essays research p

On the 10th of May 1508 I signed a contract to agree to fulfill Pope Julius’commission on painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I had bad feelings about thewhole thing from the day Julius commissioned me to paint instead of sculpt. I am anarchitect and sculptor not a fresco painter. It is not that I doubt my ability’s to completesuch a task, but I believe that there are other artists that would be much better suited for the job than I. It is of course an honor to be chosen to paint such a ceiling and Julius isfar to stubborn to find anyone else but myself, so I will paint and I will make it one of thegreatest fresco paintings there will ever be.(Brandes, 254).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The scaffolding that was to be used for the work was horrible. Bramante haddesigned a scaffolding that required holes in my ceiling. How was I to paint a gloriouswork of art with holes in it! The first thing I did was have his scaffolding torn apart. Ithen designed a new structure; my ingenious scaffold increased its strength with the weight that was put on it. I mounted floor boards along obliquely running columns thatwere separated my wedges of wood. Maybe Julius has chosen the right man for the job   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I sent to Florence for a number of assistance to help me with the fresco’s and thetechnique since I am somewhat hazy with the technique involved. I started my work onthe cartoons for the frescos. These 12 Apostles that I am commissioned to paint are soboring I must find a way around painting them in such a dull fashion. As we started to paint the fresco’s I became very uninspired by the idea of the 12 apostles I was upset andconfused. I knew that this was not the right idea for the ceiling.(Redig De Campos, 170).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I talked with Julius today and we discussed the project. I told him that â€Å"It wasmuch to poor a thing to paint only the Apostles.† And when he asked why I repliedâ€Å"Because the Apostles, too, were poor.† He told me to paint as I please, and now I willthe only problem is I don’t quite know what is right yet.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I had a vision for the ceiling while outside daydreaming today. I will paint theCreation of Man and the Creation of the Universe, I will tie in the already existingfrescos on the walls to the ceiling frescos by painting events that preceded the two epochof Sub lege and S... ... (Brandes, 264).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I tried to keep my painting style very consistent from painting to painting on the ceiling. I was going for a watercolor effect for the whole project and I did this by avoiding some colors and using a variety of others. I avoided pure reds, blues, and whites. The whites that I used I gave a bluish, yellow, or sometimes a brown tint. I did this to avoid a pure color standing out in the whole painting and to avoid distracting the viewer. I also left out gold and instead simulated it with other variations of color. When Julius asked me why I didn’t use real gold I replied â€Å"The prophets I have painted were poor men; they had no gold.† Julius was very material and loved his jewelry andexpensive clothing, he did not understand the reality of being a poor man. (Brandes, 274).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is now complete and I will return to Florence to practice there. I believe that I have created something very special in this chapel. I have expressed my feelings and sent a message for all mankind to see. I owe this great piece of art to my imagination and am very pleased with the final product.