Martina Jimenez

Historical Analysis: Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is a piece of art that has been considered magnificent for the last
centuries, yet the new, renovated Sistine Chapel differs on religious themes, yet similar on
artistic techniques.
The Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo is considered to be one of the most iconic
monuments of the Renaissance for its beauty and religious significance. This project was
painted from 1508 until 1512, by order of Pope Julius II. The technique used by Michelangelo
was wall frescoes. It consisted of mixing the colors with the stone and that would chemically
bond the two elements permanently. Although Pope Julius II wanted the ceiling to be with
geometric ornament and also, the appearance of the twelve apostles, Michelangelo proposed
to paint scenes of the Old Testament that will be explained later on the essay. Apart from
showing Christian theology, Pope Sixtus IV (the original pope that started the establishment of
the Sistine Chapel) also wanted to show the legitimacy of his papal authority. This is why there
are paintings of popes surrounded the ceiling. The new Sistine Chapel ceiling, on the other
hand, have no appearance of papal authority since we believe the popes have a corrupt
influence on the Church, therefore religion as well. Michelangelos chapel, in general, was a
hard project to accomplish, because of its immensity and also because of the physical and
mental effort Michelangelo had to deal with to create it. He was forced to paint by Julius II even
though Michelangelo was much better at sculpting than painting. He had to learn how to paint
wall frescoes, which is not necessarily an easy task. The artist had to be quick and patient in
order for the fresco to succeed. Still, he was able to design the entire chapel. Another problem
for Michelangelos was that he had to paint always with his neck up, which caused him pain and
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frustration. Paint was constantly falling on his face and one time, it felt on his eye, causing him
permanent eye damage, causing also his death. Besides constructing over bad conditions,
Michelangelo was paid for his piece of art. 1200 scudi, the currency of the Papal States, made
with silver, was his payment each year, according to Michelangelos Letters. Nowadays, that is
about $15000 the whole four years. If the Sistine Chapel was to be put a price today, it will be
at least, 1 million dollars according to art historians. This means, the inflation rate was about
656% of the scudi. Still, according to Michelangelos letters, Michelangelo did not keep the
money to himself. There is evidence that Michelangelo had 4-5 assistants or garzoni that
new about frescos, like Messer Giorgio Vassari. Michelangelo paid a constant salary of twenty
ducats (1 scudi and nine baiocchi) to his garzoni when needed in a certain condition, according
to William E. Wallace. At the end, whether it was completely Michelangelos own master piece,
when the chapel was finished, both the Church and the citizens considered it to be a true
Christian masterpiece. But for Michelangelo it was not, that is why he painted himself angry in
one of the scenes of the chapel.
On the other hand, our Sistine Chapel is something to be truly amazed of. The original
Sistine Chapel, consisting of one artist and five hidden artist doing it, differs to our project since
was created it by a talented known team of eight people. This team of eight people has each a
final payment, different from the Pope Julius IIs payment method of dividing it by year. The
lead painter and designer, Stephanie will receive $50,000, while other $50,000 will be split
between the other team members. The new Sistine Chapel was also created by wall frescoes, as
the original, and the artist hanging from the ceiling in order to paint it correctly. That, as the
original Chapel, was a major complication since two of our artists were in constant back pain.
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On the other hand, the religious themes that appear on the new chapel are a biblical Novena
appearing in the central plane of the chapel; on the twelve rounded shaped triangles, the
twelve Apostles appear and cherubs on each end. We followed the original need of Pope Julius
II of creating a place for the apostles. As Michelangelo did, we used the concept of creating a
blue ceiling. This differs to the Sistine Chapel of Michelangelo since he is telling the story of The
Creation of the Heavens and Earth, then The Creation of Adam and Eve, the Expulsion from the
Garden of Eden and ending with Noah and the Great Flood. We, on the other hand, wanted to
focus on events from the New Testament, meaning the life of Jesus and the people who
influenced his life the most. While Michelangelo painted the chapel in four years, we painted
ours in two days while maintaining the Renaissance concept of human anatomy and beauty,
just like Michelangelos representations. This human anatomy is based on bigger bone
structures on every person on the painting. Since we enjoyed creating this marvelous piece of
art, we represent four of our major painters, Maria Jose, Rafaela, Martina and Stephanie as
each cherub at the side. Concluding, our chapel is the most representative piece of art of the
Renaissance because of its Christian theology and the artistic anatomy over humanity, which
are the two most important aspects of this cultural movement.
Bibliography:
Buonarroti, M. (1963). The Letters of Michelangelo: Volume 1. Retrieved January 4, 2014 from:
http://books.google.com.ec/books?id=Mo2aAAAAIAAJ&q=payment#v=onepage&q&f=f
alse
How Michelangelo Painted the Sistine Chapel: Great Names in History (n.d) Great Names in
History. Retrieved January 15, 2014 from:
http://100falcons.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/how-michelangelo-painted-the-sistine-
chapel/
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Medieval Legend (n.d). Scudi, Retrieved January 4, 2014 from:
http://www.medievallegend.it/sito_1_00001c.htm
Sacred Destinations. (n.d.). Sistine Chapel. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-sistine-chapel
Sistine Chapel 3D tour. (n.d.). Sistine Chapel in Vatican City Vatican 3D Virtual Tours.
Retrieved January 19, 2014, from http://vatican.com/tour/sistine_chapel_3D
Sistine Chapel History - Rome About. (n.d.). Sistine Chapel History - Rome About. Retrieved
January 19, 2014, from http://www.tours-italy.com/rome-about-sistine_chapel.htm
The Sistine Chapel. (n.d.). The Sistine Chapel. Retrieved January 19, 2014, from
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN

Wallace, William E. (1995). Michelangelo: Selected Scholarship in English. Washington: Library
of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data.