THE LAST JUDGMENT MICHELANGELO SKIN

In this manner it seemed possible to Bramante and other rivals of Michelagnolo to draw him away from sculpture, in which they saw him to be perfect, and to plunge him into despair, they thinking that if they compelled him to paint, he would do work less worthy of praise, since he had no experience of colours in fresco, and that he would prove inferior to Raffaello, and, even if he did succeed in the work, in any case it would make him angry against the Pope so that in either event they would achieve their object of getting rid of him. And they persuaded his Holiness that on the return of Michelagnolo, he should cause him to paint in memory of his uncle Sixtus the vaulting of the chapel that he had built in the Palace. When the Pope had returned to Rome and Michelagnolo was at work on the statue, Bramante, the friend and relative of Raffaello da Urbino, and for that reason little the friend of Michelagnolo, perceiving that the Pope held in great favour and estimation the works that he executed in sculpture, was constantly planning with Raffaello in Michelagnolo's absence to remove from the mind of his Holiness the idea of causing Michelagnolo, after his return, to devote himself to finishing his tomb saying that for a man to prepare himself a tomb during his own lifetime was an evil augury and a hurrying on of his death. IX' by Giorgio Vasari, orginally published in 1550: The following is an excerpt from 'The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors & Architects, Vol. I guess Michelangelo spent some time in the ladies room as well. But then, someone smart came along during the '80s and demanded that all these leaves be struck off! Consequently, quite a few figures thought to be men were revealed to be women. The painting was later censored though, during the “Fig Leaf Campaign” which basically meant all genitalia got covered up by foliage. Michelangelo, in painterly revenge, painted Cesena with his nut-sack getting stung by a snake. Cesena lost his sh*t when he saw all the full-frontal nudity and complained to the Pope. This fresco was considered too risqué by some, and one of these critics was Bagio da Cesena, the Pope’s master of ceremonies. People certainly don’t appear to be having fun down there…what with being flayed alive and all. There’s some pictorial hierarchy in the painting, which basically means the lower you go and the scarier the faces get, the closer you’re getting to Hell. Wearing a loosely draped cloak of sorts, he truly seems like he can’t wait to punish the non-believers! Mary, on the other hand, is kind of shying away (maybe because she’s the only one fully dressed?). Of course, Jesus looks ready to roll heads. Michelangelo obviously shook his head to this classist perspective on who should go to Hell. Earlier on, in medieval paintings of the scene, people were judged according to rank and only the 1% got to go to heaven. That’s right, kids! Your Gucci handbag ain’t gunna get you out of this one. All human beings were naked on the Day of Judgment because clothing could be an indication of rank.

THE LAST JUDGMENT MICHELANGELO SKIN

Skin was supposed to be the great equalizer in this fresco. But these nude dudes and dudettes were stripped bare not for erm…stimulating reasons. Yup, you can always count on this turtle to deliver a healthy amount of skin for Renaissance Italy.

He added this wall twenty years after he was done painting the rest of the chapel, and went all out with this finishing feast of flesh. Probably the fleshiest wall you’ll ever see (architecturally speaking…) is Michelangelo’s final touch to the Sistine Chapel, known as The Last Judgment.

The last judgment michelangelo