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 Juliuscommission on painting the cap of the Sistine Chapel. I had bad feelings about thewhole liaison 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 abilitys to completesuch a task, but I believe that there are other artists that would be much better worthy forthe job than I. It is of course an honor to be chosen to paint such a ceiling and Julius isfar to stubborn to go up anyone else but myself, so I leave alone paint and I will make it one of thegreatest fresco paintings there will ever be.(Brandes, 254).The support that was to be used for the deform 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 theweight that was put on it. I mounted floor boards along obliquely foot race columns thatwere separated my wedges of wood. Maybe Julius has chosen the right man for the jobI sent to Florence for a number of assistance to help me with the frescos 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 topaint the frescos I became very aseptic 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).I talked with Julius today and we discussed the project. I told him that It wasmuch to poor a thing to paint only the Apostles. And when he asked why I repliedBecause the Apostles, too, were poor. He told me to paint as I please, and now I willthe only problem is I preceptort quite know what is right yet.I had a vision for the ceiling while outside daydreaming today. I will paint theCreation of cosmos 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).I tried to victuals 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(p) out gold and instead simulated it with other variations of color. When Julius asked me why I didnt use real gold I replied The prophets I have variegated were poor men they had no gold. Julius was very material and loved hi s jewelry andexpensive clothing, he did not understand the reality of being a poor man. (Brandes, 274).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 supererogatory 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 desire and am very pleased with the final product.