The Last Judgement

“Michelangelo followed the tradition of placing Christ at the center surrounded by the elect… Striding forward, he raises his arm and looks without emotion toward the damned; his gesture is not simply one of condemnation but of command… Rotating around the Apollonian Chris in his sun like radiance, the composition moves like the planets around the sun in the Copernican cosmology” (133, 134).  

 

In 1534 Michelangelo returned to Rome. It took him nearly five years from this time to complete the last judgment (132). The controversial altar piece was the artistic vision of Michelangelo himself, in which the reward and punishment after death was it main point- “an important tool of the Church to enforce obedience.” (132).  It is clear in his presentation that Michelangelo still loved for nude human form, but some forms of the painting are unique. There is no indication of the picture plane, bystanders are absent and there are even some who believe that the distorted Bartholomew is a self portrait of Michelangelo himself – since it is the only figure in which he signed his name underneath (135).

 

 The last judgment was not particularly popular upon its unveiling. From the beginning the nude forms were a source of cynicism. In 1545 Pietro Arentino wrote a letter to Michelangelo saying that the artist had made a spectacle of the scene. “The painter has made a spectacle of martyrs and virgins in improper attitudes, men dragged down by their genitals, things in front of which brothels would shut their eyes in order not to see them. Our souls need the tranquil emotions of piety more than the lively impressions of plastic art.” (189). Pope Paul had taken serious consideration into having the fresco destroyed- and had reportedly asked that Michelangelo “fix the nude forms.

        At this same time, Protestants declared that decoration of churches were of superfluous luxury and saw a better fit for money- towards the poor- instead of expensive art projects. The Catholics defended their images by relying on their importance to the illiterate.

       Michelangelo’s art was defended by Fabrini who justified the altar piece by saying that the Last Judgment, “embodies allegorical meanings of great profundity which few people arrive at understanding”. (192). If this understanding is true, it creates a paradox –to me- in the views of the Christian defense to the Protestant criticism.

 The article we read suggests that the last Judgment may be so controversial because of how copied it was. By printing- the work was able to reach a very broad audience who saw it outside of its original context. It was a constant source of inspiration for young artist- there were even 17 different versions made by the end of the century (192). It was probably the inappropriate responses that officially prompted the church to condemn and sensor the painting. Daniele was hired to remove the lewd portions of the painting by adding draperies, turning heads from their original position. Most of the nudes remained, however the overall tone of the piece moved a worshiper to laugh and shame- instead of devotion (192, 193).

 

 

The most interesting part of the reading to me was, Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" as Merciful Heresy. The article looked at the painting as being forwardly modern and de-Christianized. The artists and connoisseurs marveled at the foreshortened forms and technique, while the religious were nervous about the growing heresy in Europe (48). 

 

What I got from all the articles is this. The church hired Michelangelo anticipating the classical- idealized inspirations that drove the ceiling. However Michelangelo had aged, matured, and so did his ideas. He was becoming less concerned with a beauty that was fleeting and more so with our eternal selves- our souls. For a man who seemingly strived for perfection- this piece did not fit the bill for the time. It was used as an example of how to not do while painting sacred images. The over all intent of the message was also lost. The propaganda piece that the church thought they were commissioning seemed to loose its meaning as viewers were distracted by the figures and forms. However what I feel the piece did do was influence the future of art. The gestures, the figures the hidden meanings- it was just something that wasn't appreciated by the church at that time.