When finally Michelangelo accepted this very privileged commission, for the next four years he experienced artistic troubles, he suffered and… created. At that time, a great fresco was created on the vault of the chapel, from the name of its founder, Pope Sixtus IV called Sistine, while from very inconspicuous initial arrangements, a monumental, full of majesty and expression work was born. The artist created an enormous painting, struggling between exhaustion, euphoria and unwillingness while competing against time, since the pope had desired to see the finished work as quickly as possible – most likely the greatest monument of his pontificate. Such behavior of the rash and impatient Julius II should come as no surprise. According to his plan the vault was to be decorated with the figures of the twelve apostles and that is all… However this did not satisfy Michelangelo, who proposed a composition consisting of 343 figures, often depicted in breakneck poses, twists and movements. The pope gave in, but he did not give the sculptor any additional time to complete his work.

In the center of the vault the artist placed nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. On the sides there were figures of Old Testament prophets and ancient sibyls (the ones who announce the coming of a prophet). In the pendentives and lunettes above the windows there are ancestors of Jesus. The whole is supplemented by elements imitating architecture, among which there are anonymous, purely decorative nude figures. Acorns and oak leaves appear everywhere, being a reference to the coat of arms of the della Rovere family, from which Pope Sixtus IV, the founder of the building as well as his descendant and its greatest decorator – Julius II, came.

Principal scenes of the fresco:

Separation of Light from Darkness

Creation of the Sun, Moon and Stars

Creation of Water

Creation of Adam

Creation of Eve

The Temptation and Expulsion

The Sacrifice of Noah

The Great Flood

The Drunkenness of Noah

 

Michelangelo began his work with the scenes of The Drunkenness of Noah and The Great Flood – compositions rich in figures, the most narrative, created with the participation of Florentine painters, who helped him with his work in the first period. As time passed however, he no longer wanted their services. He remained alone, but his art gained from this. Since he was hard-pressed for time, following scenes became more and more concise, but also better – full of emotion and expression. The artist completed a titanic task, paid for by a stiff neck, headaches and problems with sight. In letters to his father and brothers he complained about lack of sleep, constant stress which he was subjected to, as well as delays in payment and the interruptions in his work connected with them. News of alleged or real intrigues of his competitors hurt him just as deeply. He was convinced that everyone in Rome is out to scorn and ridicule his work.

 

He worked daily from eight to twelve hours in a lying position. These were the so-called giornate (a day’s work) – this is as much time as he was provided by the fresco technique, meaning plaster on which he could work only until it dried. For example to complete the most famous scene, the Creation of Adam, the painter needed 16 giornate. The process of fresco creation was rather simple, but required speed. Cartoons with designs completed by Michelangelo in the scale of 1:1, were used to apply contours to the drawing. In the contour lines openings were created – drawings were applied to moist plaster and the openings were sprinkled with carbon powder. After the outlines was created in such a way it was then possible to fill them with paint, but still on moist plaster. As soon as it dried up, the plaster had to be chiseled off and once again a moist layer had to be applied.

 

The grand unveiling of the vault took place, to the pleasure of Julius II, on 31 October, 1512, while few months later the pope died. For the following centuries the fresco remained untouched, until the XX century, when it underwent conservation. It lasted ten years. It was completed by Italian conservators, with Japanese money (in exchange for the right to reproduce the restored paintings). From behind a grey, almost monochromatic layer, a true gamma of colors emerged, arising admiration and at the same time criticism – nobody had expected to see such a bright, nearly rainbow color scheme.

It is difficult to overvalue the work of the master from Florence. The vault created by him in Rome, fully figural and dramatic, set out the path which will be followed by interior decoration art for centuries. The fresco continued to inspire subsequent artists, who competed with one another to achieve the plasticity and illusion in depicting the space of vaults and walls.

Researchers have devoted volumes to Michelangelo’s painting, constantly interpreting his artistic message anew. The frescoes also became part of popular culture as no other work had previously done. Is there anyone who does not know this masterpiece or at least has not heard of it? It will be a subject of interest of not only art historians, which can be testified to by the fact that in 1990 at a conference of neurosurgeons in Rome, one of the participants found in the group accompanying God the Father in the scene of the Creation of Adam, the schematics of the human brain, while a gynecologist noticed a woman’s womb.

It is worth coming to Rome to simply see this work – but also to become aware of the fact, what great things are often created with a feeling of displeasure and non-fulfillment, as if in spite of their creator.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti, frescoes on the vault of the Sistine Chapel (1508–1512), Apostolic Palace