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Artists
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Michelangelo Buonarroti
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The Brazen Serpent new21/Michelangelo Buonarroti-443992.jpg ID de tableau:: 62902 |
1511 Fresco, 585 x 985 cm Cappella Sistina, Vatican The scenes painted in the pendentives at the sides of prophet Jonah are characterized by the use of pronounced foreshortening. This is the case with the tangled group of Israelites who, in the scene of the Brazen Serpent, writhe in the throes of death, and, above all, with the crucified figure of Haman in the Punishment of Haman. In the Brazen Serpent, the mass of bodies poisoned by the snakes occupies the whole of the right part, spreading toward the center. The survivors are grouped on the left, eyes and arms turned imploringly toward the salvafic image of the brazen serpent. The cruel punishment of the Israelites for having spoken against God and Moses occupies a large part of the pendentive, with bodies intertwined in an indescribable tangle. This presented the artist with an opportunity for virtuosic foreshortening and twisting of the bodies, and also depicting contorted, screaming faces. Much admired by Vasari, the group is a striking forerunner of the spectacular motifs that were, in the following decades, typical of the current of Mannerism comprising Giulio Romano and Vasari himself. The Biblical story (Num. 21 :4-9) The Israelites, discontented with life in the desert, spoke out against God and Moses. They were punished with a plague of poisonous snakes which only increased their hardships. Many died of snakebite. When the people repented, Moses sought God's advice how they should be rid of the snakes. He was told to make an image of one and set it on a pole. Whoever was bitten would be cured when he looked upon the image. Moses accordingly made a serpent of brass on a tau-shaped (T) pole, which proved to have a miraculous curative effect. Representation in Art The Israelites are depicted writhing on the ground, their limbs entwined by snakes. Moses, sometimes with Aaron, stands beside the brazen serpent. John's gospel furnishes the typological parallel: 'This Son of Man must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness.' Medieval art juxtaposed the subject with the serpent in the Garden of Eden entwining the Tree of Knowledge. Both probably derive from an ancient and widespread fertility image, the 'asherah', associated with the worship of Astarte, which consisted of a snake and a tree representing respectively the male and female elements. King Hezekiah destroyed the asherah, by inference the one made by Moses, at a time when the Israelites were relapsing into idolatry (II Kings 18:4). The presence and the identification of Moses in Michelangelo's fresco is debated. Artist: MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Title: The Brazen Serpent Date: 1501-1550 Italian , painting : religious | |
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The Brazen Serpent new21/Michelangelo Buonarroti-567366.jpg ID de tableau:: 62903 |
1511 Fresco Cappella Sistina, Vatican The cruel punishment of the Israelites for having spoken against God and Moses occupies a large part of the pendentive, with bodies intertwined in an indescribable tangle. This presented the artist with an opportunity for virtuosic foreshortening and twisting of the bodies, and also depicting contorted, screaming faces. Artist: MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Title: The Brazen Serpent (detail) Date: 1501-1550 Italian , painting : religious | |
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Last Judgment new21/Michelangelo Buonarroti-588655.jpg ID de tableau:: 62904 |
1370 x 1220 cm Cappella Sistina, Vatican This fresco was commissioned by Pope Clement VII (1523-1534) shortly before his death. His successor, Paul III Farnese (1534-1549), forced Michelangelo to a rapid execution of this work, the largest single fresco of the century. The first impression we have when faced with the Last Judgment is that of a truly universal event, at the centre of which stands the powerful figure of Christ. His raised right hand compels the figures on the lefthand side, who are trying to ascend, to be plunged down towards Charon and Minos, the Judge of the Underworld; while his left hand is drawing up the chosen people on his right in an irresistible current of strength. Together with the planets and the sun, the saints surround the Judge, confined into vast spacial orbits around Him. For this work Michelangelo did not choose one set point from which it should be viewed. The proportions of the figures and the size of the groups are determined, as in the Middle Ages, by their single absolute importance and not by their relative significance. For this reason, each figure preserves its own individuality and both the single figures arid the groups need their own background. The figures who, in the depths of the scene, are rising from their graves could well be part of the prophet Ezechiel's vision. Naked skeletons are covered with new flesh, men dead for immemorable lengths of time help each other to rise from the earth. For the representation of the place of eternal damnation, Michelangelo was clearly inspired by the lines of the Divine Comedy: Charon the demon, with eyes of glowing coal/Beckoning them, collects them all,/Smites with his oar whoever lingers. According to Vasari, the artist gave Minos, the Judge of the Souls, the semblance of the Pope's Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, who had often complained to the Pope about the nudity of the painted figures. We know that many other figures, as well, are portraits of Michelangelo's contemporaries. The artist's self-portrait appears twice: in the flayed skin which Saint Bartholomew is carrying in his left-hand, and in the figure in the lower left hand corner, who is looking encouragingly at those rising from their graves. The artist could not have left us clearer evidence of his feeling towards life and of his highest ideals. The painting is a turning point in the history of art. Vasari predicted the phenomenal impact of the work: "This sublime painting", he wrote, "should serve as a model for our art. Divine Providence has bestowed it upon the world to show how much intelligence she can deal out to certain men on earth. The most expert draftsman trembles as he contemplates these bold outlines and marvellous foreshortenings. In the presence of this celestial work, the senses are paralysed, and one can only wonder at the works that came before and the works that shall come after". Artist: MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Title: Last Judgment Date: 1501-1550 Italian , painting : religious | |
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Entombment new21/Michelangelo Buonarroti-659923.jpg ID de tableau:: 62905 |
1510 Tempera on wood, 159 x 149 cm National Gallery, London Both the attribution and the datation is doubtful. It is probable that the painting was executed by a pupil of Michelangelo with the active participation of the master. Artist: MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Title: Entombment Date: 1501-1550 Italian , painting : religious | |
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Study new21/Michelangelo Buonarroti-764364.jpg ID de tableau:: 62906 |
1525 Ink Casa Buonarroti, Florence The picture shows a study for the fortifications of Porta del Prato in Florence. Artist: MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Title: Study Date: 1501-1550 Italian , graphics : study | |
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