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The Sistine Chapel..500th anniversary

kopiuncle

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[video=youtube_share;Fwl640Yc6JM]http://youtu.be/Fwl640Yc6JM[/video]

I was in Rome many moons ago and I was greatly impressed by this historical and iconic piece of art - The Sistine Chapel..

Sistine Chapel (Latin: Sacellum Sixtinum; Italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 1,100 m2 (12,000 sq ft) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling, and especially The Last Judgment (1535–1541), is widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievement in painting.

The chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters that included Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. These paintings were completed in 1482, and on 15 August 1483,Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass in the Sistine Chapel for the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new Pope is selected.
 

kopiuncle

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This grand masterpiece is a magnificient piece of god-inspired art - a must see if you are in Rome/ Vatican City....Truly remarkable.
 
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kopiuncle

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Why Did Michelangelo Paint These?

Pope Julius II (also known as Giulio II and "Il papa terribile"), requested that Michelangelo paint the chapel ceiling. Julius was determined that Rome should be rebuilt to its former glory, and had embarked on a vigorous campaign to get the job done. That such splendor would (a) add luster to the name of Julius II and (b) serve to supercede anything that Pope Alexander VI (a Borgia, and Julius' rival) had accomplished, were not unimportant considerations.

How Big Is the Ceiling?

It's about 40 meters (131 feet) long by 13 meters (43 feet) wide. These numbers are rounded off just a tad, but don't detract from the fact that Michelangelo painted well over 5,000 square feet of frescoes.

What Do the Frescoes Depict?

A lot! The main panels down the center depict scenes from the Book of Genesis, from the Creation, to the Fall, to shortly after Noah's deluge. Adjacent to each of these scenes, on either side, are immense portraits of prophets and sibyls who foretold the coming of the Messiah. Along the bottoms of these run spandrels and lunettes containing the ancestors of Jesus and stories of tragedy in ancient Israel. Scattered throughout are smaller figures, cherubs and ignudi (nudes). All told there are more than 300 painted figures on the ceiling. By the way, have you noticed the wealth of architectural members and moldings which dissect the ceiling? Most of those are actually two-dimensional, skillfully painted in by Michelangelo to demarcate separate compositions.
 

kopiuncle

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Say, Wasn't Michelangelo a Sculptor? Why Was He Painting?

Michelangelo was a sculptor. He referred to himself as such, and vastly preferred working with marble to almost anything else that life offered. Prior to the ceiling frescoes, the only painting he'd done was during his brief stint as a student in Ghirlandaio's workshop.

Julius, however, was adamant that Michelangelo - and no other - should paint the chapel ceiling. What Julius wanted, he usually got. Besides that, he'd been stalling Michelangelo on a prior, wildly lucrative commission (sculpting 40 massive figures for his tomb), and kept dangling that juicy prize as a reward for completion of the ceiling job.

How Long Did it Take Michelangelo to Paint These?

It took him a bit over four years, from July of 1508 to October of 1512. Michelangelo got off to a slow start, not having painted frescoes before. He intended to (and did) work in buon fresco, the most difficult method, and one which only true masters undertook. In addition to having to learn everything about the medium itself and making initial blunders in that area, he also had to learn some wickedly hard techniques in perspective. (Consider that his figures look "correct" on curved surfaces, viewed from nearly 60 feet below.)

However, ultimately it wasn't Michelangelo's fault that the ceiling took four years. (Once he got the hang of things, he painted like a man on fire!) The work suffered numerous setbacks, such as mold and miserable, damp weather that disallowed plaster curing. A primary cause of downtime occurred when Julius was off waging a war, or ill to the point that Last Rites were administered. The ceiling project, and any hope Michelangelo had of being paid, were both frequently in jeopardy while Julius was absent or near death. Small wonder that the artist complained so often and bitterly about the project, really.

Did Michelangelo Really Paint Lying on His Back?

No. Charlton Heston did in the movie, but the real Michelangelo didn't lay on his back to paint the ceiling. He conceived and had constructed a unique scaffolding system. It was sturdy enough to hold workers and materials, but began high up the walls of the chapel in order that Mass might still be celebrated below.

The scaffolding curved at its top, mimicking the curvature of the ceiling's vault. Michelangelo often had to bend backwards and paint over his head - an awkward position which must've made his neck and back ache, his arms burn painfully and, according to him, permanently screwed up his vision. But he wasn't lying flat on his back.

Did He Actually Paint These Frescoes All by Himself?

Michelangelo gets, and deserves, credit for the entire project. The complete design was his. The sketches and cartoons for the frescoes were all of his hand, and Michelangelo executed the vast bulk of the actual painting by himself.

But! The vision of him toiling away, a solitary figure in a vacant chapel, isn't accurate. He needed many assistants, if only to mix his paints, scramble up and down ladders, and prepare the day's plaster (a nasty business). Occasionally, a talented assistant might be entrusted with a patch of sky, a bit of landscape, or a figure so small and minor it is barely discernable from below. All of these were worked from his cartoons, though. And clever, temperamental Michelangelo hired and fired these assistants on such a regular basis that none of them could claim credit for any part of the ceiling.
 

kopiuncle

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The fourth scene in the chronological order of the narrative, the Creation of Adam, is depicted in the large field of the vault of the sixth bay, between the triangular spandrels.

Michelangelo's organization of the Sistine ceiling frescos represents perhaps the most complex composition in Western art. The space contains an intricate pseudo structure of architecture that frames the sculpture-like forms. Out of the nine narrative scenes depicting events from Genesis, the most sublime scene is this "Creation of Adam," in which his new vision of humanity attains pictural form.

It is scarcely possible to put into words the impressions roused by this marvellous painting; it is as though current passed from the painted scene to the beholder, who often feels that he is assisting at a hallowed world-shaking event. Michelangelo experiences the stages of creation within himself, retracing the way to the divine source by the double path of religion and of art. Now that, inspired by God, he has given form to Eve, elliptical and parabolic shapes begin to multiply; the number of orbits with two focal points increase. These were copied blindly during the following two centuries and became a decorative commonplace.

Precisely here, where man the microcosm and incarnate Word made in the divine image, the Adam Kadmon of Cabalistic doctrine, issues from the hand of God as the fingers of the Father and the son touch in a loving gesture, it is significant and convincing that the Eternal is circumscribed by the ellipse (symbolizing the 'cosmic egg') of his celestial mantle and angelic spirits, while Adam forms only an incomplete oval. Through the extended hands and arms the creative flash passes from one orbit to the other. Love radiates from the face of God and from the face of man. God wills his child to be no less than himself. As if to confirm this, a marvellous being looks out from among the host of spirits that bear the Father on their wings; a genius of love encircled by the left arm of the Creator. This figure has intrigued commentators from the beginning and has been variously interpreted as the uncreated Eve, or Sophia, divine wisdom. Be that as it may, this figure undoubtedly signifies beatific rapture.
 

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The second scene in the chronological order of the narrative, the Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants, is depicted in the large field of the vault of the eighth bay, between the triangular spandrels.

In this scene the figure of the Lord appears twice: on the right, as he is about to give shape, with his outstretched arms, to the incandescent disk of the sun and the cold one of the moon; and, on the other side, as, with an imperious gesture, he summons forth tufts of grass and the first bushes from the bare earth. The scene is divided unequally: the great disk of the sun - the only element of colour that stands out clearly from the more subdued tones of the clothes, flesh, and the greyish white background of the sky - is to the left of the central axis of the field, and the whole of the right part is dominated by the figure of the Creator who, surrounded by four children, moves impetuously toward the viewer.

On the left, in a more restricted field, and further back from the picture plane, the Creator is depicted once again - notably foreshortened and seen from behind - as he heads toward the earth, going away from the foreground. Together with the strong contrasts of light and shade, the movement in opposite directions of the two figures heightens the dynamic tension of the scene and conveys a sense of immediacy.
 

kopiuncle

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one of the most powerful countries in the world - if not the MOST POWERFUL!!!
 
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kopiuncle

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ROME (AFP) - The city of Rome has from Saturday barred private vehicles from using the main road to the Colosseum in order to protect the iconic monument that has been blackened by pollution and is in a poor state.

Cars, lorries and other private vehicles were barred from using the last trunk of the avenue Via dei Fori Imperiali, which links Piazza Venezia to the Roman amphitheatre.

Traffic has been diverted to an adjacent route and only public transport will be allowed on the old route.

The decision was taken by the new mayor of Rome, Mr Ignazio Marino of the leftist Democratic Party, who would like to eventually make the Via dei Fori Imperiali a pedestrian area.

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kopiuncle

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Rome's renovated and grand Trevi Fountain...Throw three coins and make your wish....It may come true!!!

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kopiuncle

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Rome’s Trevi fountain… is getting a facelift!...and it is more beautiful and magnificient as ever!!!The Trevi Fountain is a fountain in the Trevi district in Rome, Italy. Standing 26.3 metres (86 ft) high and 49.15 metres (161.3 ft) wide, it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world.

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kopiuncle

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The fountain was refurbished in 1998; the stonework was scrubbed and all cracks and other areas of deterioration were repaired by skilled artisans and the fountain was equipped with recirculating pumps.

In January 2013, it was announced that the Italian fashion company Fendi would sponsor a 20-month, 2.2 million euro restoration of the fountain; it will be the most thorough restoration in the fountain's history.

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kopiuncle

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The Roman Colosseum is a tremendous amphitheater, the embodiment of both the grandeur and cruelty of the great Roman Empire. Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum hosted spectacular games that included gladiator exhibitions, fights between animals, prisoner executions and - strangely enough - naval battles. Untold thousands of humans and animals met their ends within one of the most popular attractions in Rome.
 

kopiuncle

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If you are in Rome, you should not miss The Vatican City, the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain...

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