Michelangelo's David. Michelangelo. Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo, Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, fresco, 1534-1541 (Vatican City, Rome) Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris, Dr. Steven Zucker About 25 years after painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and many years after the death of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo is asked to paint the wall behind the altar with a fresco of the Last Judgment by Pope Clement VII. Michelangelo is not the same man he was when he painted the ceiling. The Last Judgment is a very old subject in art history represented by many artists. Christ separates the blessed (those who will go to heaven), who he gathers on his right, from the damned (those who will go to hell), who he gathers on his left.
Here, Michelangelo shows us Christ in the center and below him to his (Christ's) left are the damned who are being pulled down to hell and shipped to hell where they are tortured by demons. On either side of Christ directly are important figures, like Eve, and also Saints, many of whom died particularly painful deaths. Sistine Chapel Ceiling. About Executive Editors Awards & Conferences Contributors Create & Teach All Videos Blog Time Ancient Cultures Medieval Era Proto-Renaissance Renaissance in Italy & the North End of the Renaissance and the Reformation The Baroque Age of Enlightenment Industrial Revolution I Industrial Revolution II Age of Global Conflict Age of Post-Colonialism Style Paleolithic Roman 2nd Style Wall Painting Neolithic Sumerian Art Sumarian Art of Akkad and Ur Babylonian Art Assyrian Art Neo-Babylonian Art Art of the Persian Empire Old Kingdom, Egypt Amarna Period New Kingdom, Egypt Ptolemaic Period, Egypt Northern Qi dynasty (China) Geometric Greek Archaic Greek Classical Greek Yuan dynasty Hellenistic Greek Etruscan Art Ancient Rome Negoro ware Roman Republic Buddhist Art Roman Empire Early Christian Saljuq Islamic Art Anglo Saxon Byzantine Islamic Art: Early Caliphates Ottonian Carolingian Romanesque Islamic Art in Spain Gothic Medieval Islamic Art Ilkhanid Later Islamic Empires Pre-Columbian Maya Art Italo-Byzantine Proto-Renaissance in Siena Burgundian Mannerism.
The Pietà. Below, a video by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker - standing in front of the Pietà, in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. Michelangelo, Pietà, marble, 1498-1500 (Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome) Speakers: Drs. Beth Harris and Steven Zucker Michelangelo sculpted this when he was in his early 20s! The Pietà was a popular subject among northern european artists. Look closely and see how Michelangelo made marble seem like flesh, and look at those complicated folds of drapery. When we look at the extraordinary representation of the human body here we remember that Michelangelo, like Leonardo before him, had dissected cadavers to understand how the body worked. (1 of 4) Michelangelo - Private life of a Masterpiece.
(2 of 4) Michelangelo - Private life of a Masterpiece. (3 of 4) Michelangelo - Private life of a Masterpiece. (4 of 4) Michelangelo - Private life of a Masterpiece. Michelangelo by Ben Pollitt on Prezi.