Art History Hotties: Ignudo

Art History Hotties
Michelangelo, Ignudo from Genesis Fresco, 1509

BY REMY JACOBS

This kind of work is what Michelangelo was known for. This piece, in particular, is located on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy. The pope at the time thought this to be offensive and said that a sacred place like the Sistine Chapel is not the appropriate place for art like that. So he decided to have it removed from the Chapel. 

Michelangelo's subjects during this time were thick, nude, and ripped men. Not only does the guy have the bod, he also has the hair. This guy isn't half bad. He definitely knows what he's got and knows how to flaunt it. Be careful ladies, just because he's aesthetically pleasing, doesn't mean he has a good heart or good intentions. On the other hand, he could also be a perfectly nice person. We just don't know. Besides all of that, he's still visually pleasing. 
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Magnificent Beards: God

Harper Truog
God from the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo, 1512
Magnificent Beards
By HARPER TRUOG

It is only fitting that God have an awesome beard. The beard looks like thunder clouds; he must have created clouds in his beard’s image. God’s face even has a stormy expression. The beard invokes power and majesty; it is full and poofy. A great beard is an aspect of the divine. Michelangelo wanted God to look like the all-powerful deity he is, so God had to have a beard. The image of God as a muscular, bearded, man is the default setting in Renaissance art and in western culture.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel features nine scenes from the book of Genesis, The Creation of Adam being one. The ceiling shows just how talented Michelangelo is at creating a mass of figures. The Creation of Adam is one of the most famous scenes from the Sistine Chapel and has been turned into a Renaissance icon. Replicas and parodies have been produced for years. The image of God and Adam’s hands almost touching has become the image of God reaching down and impacting human lives. 

Just like Michelangelo’s painting of God creating Adam is an iconic image, God’s beard reflects the characteristics of the western, Christian God. This picture is supposed to invoke a feeling of power and strength, and what better figure to give God than a muscular, white man. The beard only adds to the severity of his face and demeanor. It also alludes to God being immortal. He looks old and wise in the face, but his body is not one of an old man’s.
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Art History Hotties: The Dying Slave

Anirudh Vadlamani
 Michelangelo, Dying Slave,1513-1515
By ANIRUDH VADLAMANI

Oh my! How dominating, how erotic. One would never guess this was a Dying Slave. The only thing dying about this slave is them abs if you know what I mean. Could you believe that this work was unfinished? I didn't either until I looked down, which didn’t happen until about an hour of exposure, no pun intended. 

However, I can tell you, I was not looking at the legs. Yeah, you know what I was looking at. It was his beautiful face, bleeding with passion for Christ. The original work was to be placed around Christ's tomb. It was only ever rejected because it was too big to fit.  It was originally with its pair, the rebellious slave, but they say the two contrasted each other, but in my opinion, the other one got jealous. 

In contrast to the active struggle featured in the Rebellious Slave, the Dying Slave shows a more passive struggle, as he looks like he’s fallen victim to some kind of intoxicant, the intoxicant being the mirror he looked into this morning. Some would ask where his clothes are. However, the truth is, you don’t need clothes when you are that comfortable and that beautiful in the nude. 

The Dying Slave is a true artistic masterpiece. It insights the most voluptuous of emotions, but at the same time, demands respect. I would love to see the dying slave, even if it was unsuccessful in guarding the tomb of Christ. The seven-foot wonder, I think anybody would fall victim to its charm, male or female.

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Rebellious Soul: Dying Slave

Dying Slave
Rebellious Soul
A Walk on the Wild Side
Curated by Leo Yuan

Michelangelo, Dying Slave, 1515

Rather than as the title calls "dying," the piece to me more likely depicts a young man who is troubled by his uneasy dream. One could see the physical captivity from the cloth bands, but unlike the Rebellious Slave, where bands serve to indicate actual constraint, they only convey a symbol here, a hint that he is not free - not free from a inner prison.

In a seemingly unconscious state, the young man dreams. But what is he dreaming? Without any further proof, I always think as if the Rebellious Slave is the perfect manifestation of this young man's dream. As his body gesture expresses, an uneasy feeling, a little tormented perhaps, I can see a inner-self confined in some bondage, struggling to be free, and the body just unconsciously follows the action. But we still have to ask, what is this confinement? Fleming precisely puts it, "Here is the tragedy of the human race, limited by time but troubled by the knowledge of eternity; mortal but with a vision of immortality; bound by the weight of the body yet dreaming of a boundless freedom." We seem to see a Platonic idea embedded in this piece, one that says soul is confined in the bond of flesh; and for the sculptor, the only way to bring forth the soul of the work, is to carve off the stones--"the less of stone remains, the more that grows."

A non-sequitur: Never as brilliant a craftsman as Bernini, Michelangelo has his way to deliver his idea, one that has always grabbed me. If Bernini is often seen with astonishment, Michelangelo is read with profoundness. Skills are sometimes triumphed by emotions, passions and thoughts take over elaborated craftsmanship. Like his Creation of Adam, it only takes a divine touch for the artist to bring about the soul in a lifeless marble. And he surely did it.



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Rebellious Soul: The Rebellious Slave

Leo Yuan
Rebellious Soul
A Walk on the Wild Side
Curated by Leo Yuan

Michelangelo, The Rebellious Slave, 1513

Appearing in a distorting position, with his shoulder pushing down against the chest and legs half kneeling, the figure expresses a determined resolution of breaking free. He demonstrates the very definition of power and physical strength, yet still unable to free himself from bondage. One can't help but wonder what he is struggling against, this prisoner of mysterious constraint. 

Of course there is the physical constraint, for he is called a slave. But there is something more to it. Michelangelo placed the slave's body in a manner of an ascending spiral, which creates a sense of dynamic movement. The figure's head remains upward, for there is the direction of heaven. Adding this to the equation, his cause becomes a spiritual one. Perhaps it's the hope of reunion with God and liberating from the earthly troubles. Or, it's possibly Michelangelo's own wish, that he could attain an aesthetic, as well as a political freedom, manifested in his art. In either way, the Rebellious Slave communicates a strong feeling of discontent, and suggests that one should fight against such grievance, and search for solutions from the external world at all cost. It means revolt, perhaps death, but as long as something changes. In a sense, "Give me liberty, or give me death."

When I was lucky enough to see this piece in Louvre, I discovered that only couple steps away, stands another Michelangelo's work from his series of slave; one that's more smooth, handsome, and tranquil, but nevertheless, intrigues viewers with deep philosophical intentions.

Curator's note: Michelangelo took on the project of the tomb for Pope Julius II in 1505, and carved a series of sculptures on the theme of slave. Because of the change of the plan after Pope's death, these sculptures were no longer included. Michelangelo donated them to Roberto Strozzi, who later brought them to France. Two pieces are present in the collection, serving to demonstrate two different, yet equally symbolic aspects of Michelangelo's philosophy.


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Just Your Average Mental Breakdown: Awakening Slave

Drew Bierwirth
Just Your Average Mental Breakdown
Artists Losing It
Curated by Drew Bierwirth

Michelangelo, Awakening Slave, 1525-30

It's so unfinished. He can't escape the medium he's been brought out of, even his posture seems tense; like he's stretching to break free from the stone. But Michelangelo didn't get to free him and his five counterparts for Pope Julius's tomb, leaving him entombed in his own medium.

 Honestly, the piece conveys an incredible amount of emotion and meaning just as much unfinished as I think it possibly could finished - perhaps even more. The strenuous creation of Julius's tomb, continually being downgraded, further matches the unfinished creations meant for it, its planned grandeur never quite achieved.

 Michelangelo's talent for what he did has been analyzed by many, given far too many diagnoses - some ludicrous and others justifiable, ranging from depression to high-functioning mental disorders of all sorts - but this talent created some of the most living sculptures existing.

 He seems alive, like he's actually rising from the stone. But that's the thing about Michelangelo that's so fantastic. The figures in this series don't need to be out of the stone. They, by remaining inside it, tell their own story and express their own feeling - something that would completely change if they were removed from themselves.

 It's like taking them out of their skin.
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Tomb of Pope Julius II

Arsam Yazdani
Michelangelo, Tomb of Julius II, 1505-1545

Resting in its home in the San Pietro Vincoli in Rome The Tomb of Pope Julius the II was one of the most laborious tasks undertaken by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Built as the third revision, the tomb retains elements of its past like the three levels that separate it. On the bottom: man, weak unholy and impure. Michelangelo sculpted the slave statues that would surround base of the monument, a footing for the holy. The second tier: the prophets and saints where the gorgeous stature of Moses rests. The beautiful statue receives much controversy as some scholars argue that Michelangelo interpreted the story of Exodus incorrectly and gave him horns, while others argue that they are simply an accident. Either way the detail in his face as well as his intricate clothing is intense, explaining how one sculpture could take months and even years. The third tier: those who surpass the last judgment, home to the sculpture of Mary. The third tier originally had angels bringing down Jesus, but that was later done with as the marble became more scarce. The tomb was awe- inspiring despite its leap from the holy masterpiece it was originally destined to be.


Michelangelo's Original, 1505
Eight years before Pope Julius's death work on the grandiose tomb was to begin. Contracting Michelangelo to sculpt his dream, Julius had envisioned nearly an impossible feat. A massive free standing tomb surrounded by 40 of the finest marble states all sculpted by Michelangelo. The Shrine would adorn St. Peters Basilica in Rome, being the first tomb of its kind since ancient times to encase only one man. The project was set with a five-year deadline, a feat impossible for its dimensions 7 X 8 feet X 11 feet. The tomb would have three basic layers, the bottom for man the middle: prophets and saints the top: any who surpass the last judgement.Shortly after work had begun Michelangelo was called away on Papal matters - painting the Sistine Chapel.

Michelangelo's First Revision, 1513
The Pope's death in February 1513 drastically altered the course for the monument. Michelangelo realized the labor involved and re-wrote the contract to reflect a three-sided figure that would rest against the wall. The tomb was also moved to San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, its current home. A new problem arose -  massive amounts of stone were needed; and at a soaring cost, the marble did not come easily. Pleading with the heirs of Julius, Michelangelo was unable to secure more funding and saw his project fall apart.
Michelangelo's Second Revision, 1516
After four years of agony, a scaled down revision was approved for the tomb, detracting greatly from the original majesty of the structure. With money in hand Michelangelo continued the project. With each sculpture averaging several months in duration to carve, the task remained daunting and furthermore not pressing as the Pope had already died work on the town was at a snails pace. The statues at this point were being carved by apprentices simply to complete the order and move on. The tomb was finally completed in 1545, and now rests as the third revision of a tomb that was fit for a pharaoh. 

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Pieta

1498
Michelangelo, Pieta, 1498－1500
Created during the classical sculpture rage , Michelangelo, at a young age of 21, created this masterpiece-- often called his best work.   

Demolishing all opposition, Michelangelo wins for creating the most disproportionate sculpture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. With a lap wide enough to fit another three sons and a towering body structure enough to intimidate Gilgamesh, Michelangelo's Virgin Mary in Pieta is slightly off-balance, to say the least. Jesus, on the other hand, has the enviously petite, thin, and "ab-tastic frame" of a modern male teen model. Clearly Michelangelo had a faulty measuring tool or desperately needed a pair of corrective lenses. Nonetheless, he was still proud of his work, and when he overheard someone claiming his sculpture to be someone else’s, he immediately set to work engraving his name across the sash on Mary’s chest. Were Michelangelo applying for college today, two words that’d describe him would be talented and territorial.

And despite it all, Pieta radiates of incredible sorrow and soft, holy serenity. Viewers can easily look past the odd proportions of the sculpture and see the intricacy of each detail. Unlike a majority of other sculptures and paintings that portray Mary swooning or hysterically sobbing, Michelangelo somehow incorporates inexplicable sadness and resignation into one expression. With her left hand poised in a palm-upward motion, she seems to be beckoning to the viewer, perhaps to share her impossible pain. Jesus, also unlike a majority of other sculptures and paintings that preceded this one has a face, void of sufferings and pain. Rather it’s peaceful, as if his work has been done to his contentment.
True to his era, Michelangelo shows us an extremely human portrayal of the figures. Mary’s draping robe is simply gorgeous as it pools gently beneath the Christ, and though their figures in general are off proportion, the details of the face, hands, and body are exquisite.  

Mary's expression in this sculpture brings in a new type of art form, unheard of even in the Roman and Greek sculptures that Michelangelo based a majority of his works off of. Pieta is a gorgeous representative for Michelangelo's talents.
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Delphic Sibyl

Delphic Sibyl
Michelangelo, Delphic Sibyl, 1508-12
Michelangelo was a promising sculptor. His works were exquisite and his human forms were life-like and beautiful to look at. However, Michelangelo's paintings did not have the same characteristics. The human form in his paintings were bulky and hulkish. His females were especially masculine and possessed very little feminine attributes. The contrast between his sculptures and paintings becomes evident when comparing the two. He had become a sought out artist to create paintings regardless of his lack of skills in the human form.

Michelangelo's Delphic Sibyl  shows how his females had masculine qualities. Her face reaches a certain point of feminine qualities but her body is bulky, and I personally wouldn't want to get in a fight with her. The Sibyls were females who were thought to have foretold the coming of Christ. The Delphic Sibyl was the voice of Apollo. The colors in her garments represent Earth, water, fire, and wind. Apollo was the Greek god of music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine. She seems to be looking up from a scroll that tells the future as she looks into the future as well.

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The Awakening Slave

Camille O'Leary
Michelangelo, The Awakening Slave, 1525-30
The tomb of Pope Julius II, commissioned in 1505, was originally intended to be a grand, three-level, freestanding structure, adorned with more than thirty marble statues. However, due to difficulties with funding, Michelangelo's own difficulties, the interruption caused by the painting of the Sistine Chapel, and the death of the Pope a few years after the commission, the construction was gradually downsized into a much more modest work. The six statues that Michelangelo managed to complete did not fit into the final design.

Here, one of those six, The Awakening Slave, writhes its way out of the marble block encasing it as though it is forming itself from the rock before the viewer's eyes. The arched curve of his back and splayed limbs emerge and recede from the marble, their joining marked by a sharp and poignant contrast of textures between the rudely chiseled rock and smooth skin. Three of the five other Slaves follow this theme, displaying a thoroughly modern sensibility far ahead of Michelangelo's time. This work is the least defined of the six, and still retains much of the original shape of the marble. The rough, unfinished look, however, did not fit with the elegant, slimmed-down tomb after numerous budget cuts took their toll, and all six statues were left out of the final design. Two, Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave, now reside in the Louvre, and the others are held in the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence.

 The Awakening Slave may be interpreted in a number of different ways. Is the bearded man entombed within the rock struggling to free himself from his constraints in order to achieve a physical or spiritual enlightenment? Is the conflict and anguish on the man's face Michelangelo's own, a marble scream at the monumental commission he was unable to finish?

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Member Dismemberment - The Creation of Adam

1511

Member Dismemberment
A Look at Limbs 
Curated by Kate Sims


Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, 1511
"So God created man in His Own Image, in The Image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground - everything that has the breath of life in it - I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day." Genesis 1:27-31

Step inside the Sistine Chapel and try to look down, left, right, anywhere but up. It is impossible. You don’t notice the hundreds of other tourists, packed in like sardines. Their incessant murmurs become white noise along with the docents gentle “shhhhing.” You become enthralled by Michelangelo’s massive ceiling works. Their size, color, and raw passion capture both your attention and emotion. Nine scenes from the Book of Genesis dominate the ceiling, but one particularly breathtaking scene, The Creation of Adam, captures the attention of onlookers as well as its own spot in the Art History Hall of Fame.

In this collection, titled Member Dismemberment, I will explore the importance of limbs, specifically arms, and their contributions to the art world. Limbs display a specific emotion that viewers unknowingly relate to. I will begin, as seems fitting, with the beginning, or creation of humans. Viewing The Creation of Adam begins at the center of the painting, where God reaches out and Adam meets him halfway. This mirroring of arms represents the image of man created in God’s likeness. The hands are purposely not touching as God imparts the spark of life into Adam. Now, in regards to his arms, God’s right arm and hand of power is actively extended. While Adam, rather nonchalantly, slouches back, not seeking after God, and rests. His arm only extends to his knee where it rests. Adam’s drooping arm and limp wrist displays his reliance on God. The strength of one arm and weakness in another shows the relationship between God and man, and foreshadows the expulsion from the garden.

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The Last Judgment

Michelangelo
To Those Which They Never Turned Another Cheek: 
Admiration for Paintings with Major Authority Issues 
Curated by Shweta Vadlamani
Michelangelo, The Last Judgment, 1537-1541
History required power. Precedents were set by people who wielded that power. There was one point of time when people believed that the enthroned were the only ones who could oppose the forces of society to make a change. I now proceed to write about the artistic voices who actively refuted that claim. 

“They condemned all forms of nudity in religious art, yet Michelangelo still insisted on painting every form in The Last Judgment naked as the day they were born.” I laughed at the tour guide’s phrases while attempting to hide in the shade of St. Peter’s Basilica, anything to get away from the hot, midday Roman sun. At the time, the gravity of Michelangelo’s confidence and disregard for the church did not strike me as anything extraordinary. Painters were usually self-pompous narcissists, so why should I regard Michelangelo any differently?

I had not taken any professional training in Art History yet, so I found it absolutely extraordinary when the tour guide pointed to a figure on the bottom, left side of the painting and identified him as the Pope’s own Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena.

Cesena, with a concession of papal clergymen, visited Michelangelo while the artist was doing some edits to the top half of the painting. The figures, though now shown with clothes draped over their genitalia, were originally painted as completely nude. The papal men, struck with never before having seen a representation of God’s masculinity, quickly accused Michelangelo of being “insensitive to proper decorum” and disrespecting the sanctity of the Holy Church.

Then, Cesena added with a hot-tempered flourish, that “it was mostly disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamelessly” then suggested that Michelangelo scrap his work and move it rather to “the public baths or taverns.”

Michelangelo did not respond to them, only continued to paint his work.

When the painter asked the clergymen to return the very next week, however, Cesena was infuriated to find a portrait of himself, situated in the painting’s section of Hell, wrapped in a coiled snake and sporting a pair of donkey ears. Michelangelo then explained to the Master of Ceremonies that he should be honored with his inclusion in the painting, for he plays the role of Minos, judge of the underworld. Michelangelo explained that only the underworld would appreciate his quick condemnation of good souls.

Cesena complained to the pope, hoping to receive some sort of retribution. To his dismay, however, the pope only laughed and joked, "at least your managerial positions do not extend to hell… the portrait may remain all as it is.”

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