Conservation of the Frescos: The Sistine Chapel
"I live and love in God's peculiar light." -Michelangelo
Imagine what the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel would have been like had their creator really wanted the job.
As a sculptor who preferred above all else bringing life into cold, translucent slabs of marble from the quarries of Carrara north of Rome, it is clear that Michelangelo did not welcome the commission from Pope Julius II to paint ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
But Julius II, the nephew of the chapel's builder, Pope Sixtus IV, prevailed.
The Vatican's careful documentation, along with contemporary accounts and the artist's own correspondence, us a true portrait of the young Michelangelo Buonarroti's four-year effort to adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
That he painted the ceiling flat on his back is myth. That he worked mostly alone appears to be true. There were lapses in his work, too. At least one work stoppage occurred in 1510 while Pope Julius II traveled to Bologna remained there until the middle of the following year.
In general, however, Michelangelo's work during those four years can be described as steady and energetic. Using hog-bristle brushes, he covered nearly 1,300 square meters of ceiling and walls with frescoes. On October , 1512, the Sistine Chapel ceiling was unveiled to the public.
If ceiling viewers experience chaos at first sight, that's understandable. There are, someone counted, 336 figures up there. They are seated, standing, reclining or soaring in all directions in apparent disorder.
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