4Real Forums: Michelangelo and Faith

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Topic: Michelangelo and Faith

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JennGM
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Posted: May 28 2010 at 7:41pm \| IP Logged

Article on anatomical illustrations in Sistine Chapel art

It's this paragraph that I'm doubting:

And despite being a devout Catholic for much of his life, Michelangelo was eventually condemned for his diverging beliefs -- in particular, the idea that one can commune with God without using the church as medium.

Catholic Encyclopedia makes no mention of this.

I haven't read anything else on it from a reliable source. Anyone have any information on this?

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guitarnan
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Posted: May 28 2010 at 9:29pm \| IP Logged

I took a class on Renaissance Europe's cultural and intellectual history in college and no condemnation was mentioned. We studied Michelangelo extensively. I just checked Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King - no mention there.

Historians seem to agree that Michelangelo was profoundly affected by Savonarola's meteoric rise to prominence in Florence and his subsequent downfall and execution. His art was also influenced by events of his time, including the sack of Rome and the heavy-handed rule of the Medici in Florence after the death of Il Magnifico, Lorenzo de Medici, his first patron. This series of events is shown artistically by Michelangelo's transformation from a Renaissance artist to a Mannerist (elongated limbs on sculptures, distortion of proportions, etc.).

I looked at the guest blog entry at Scientific American's website by Dr. R. Douglas Fields. In it he says that Pope Paul IV had the Last Judgment painting changed to hide certain body parts because the painting was sacriligeous (implying this happened right after it was painted). This is contradicted by historical evidence - the Pope defended the painting and it was not changed until after Michelangelo's death.

Also, Dr. Field gratuitously states that, "According to the artist’s wishes, Michelangelo’s body is not buried on the grounds of the Vatican, but is instead interred in a tomb in Florence." This sentence is intended to show that Michelangelo had fallen out with the Church, but that does not follow logically at all. Michelangelo was first and foremost a Florentine, and all who knew him realized that he was happiest in Firenze, the city he grew up in. He did not enjoy spending time in Rome, even though he received many papal artistic commissions. The most logical interpretation of this fact is that Michelangelo wanted to be buried in the city closest to his heart. (Besides, how many other artists are buried "on the grounds of the Vatican"?

)

I can see that it's possible to extrapolate anatomical details, like a drawing of the brain, if you look closely at the painting cited in the article and the Scientific American blog post. But this is like trying to interpret literature. How do we know (or will we ever know?) what an artist or author really intended? Did F. Scott Fitzgerald really create a system of color symbolism for The Great Gatsby, or is that coincidence? Wishful thinking? I made a great argument in a term paper that Ernest Hemingway chose the names of the main characters in The Sun Also Rises for their symbolism, but did he?

Even the SparkNotes bio of Michelangelo contradicts Field's assertion that the artist faltered in his beliefs. In fact, the bio mentions Michelangelo's "increasing religious piety" during the later part of his life.

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JennGM
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Posted: May 28 2010 at 11:32pm \| IP Logged

Thanks, Nancy. I thought it sounded like a bunch of falderall, but I was hoping (and I was right) that someone would have more "proof" to clarify.

I've often read and heard about Michelangelo's deep spiritual nature.

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