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"When I Can"

© Meg Greene Malvasi

A creative genius and a demanding pope. This unlikely pair combined to produce one of the greatest works of art in history: the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Julius II first met the temperamental artist in 1505 when he hired Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) to create a tomb for him. Their relationship was stormy from the outset, often marked by quarrels, accusations, and threats. Nevertheless, three years later, in 1508, the pope commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Michelangelo reminded the pope that he was a sculptor, not a painter. Why not hire instead a talented painter like Raefaello Sanzio (known today simply as Raphael) to do the work? Julius refused. He would have Michelangelo or he would have no one.

Despite his objections, Michelangelo was a gifted painter. He had studied painting as an apprentice and on occasion had done paintings for wealthy patrons. In his heart, though, Michelangelo was a sculptor. But Julius had made up his mind. Michelangelo, as Julius was quick to remind him, could not refuse his pope.

The task facing Michelangelo was daunting. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel stood more than sixty feet high and covered 5400 square feet, roughly the size of two-and-a-half tennis courts. To complicate matters, the ceiling was also vaulted, or curved, which would make painting it more difficult. Michelangelo was angry at being forced to undertake a project that would take years to complete, during which time he could not accept other work. This commission also meant that he again had to answer directly to Julius, a prospect that he did not at all relish.

The technique that Michelangelo used on the Sistine Chapel ceiling is known as fresco painting. This process requires the artist to apply paint to wet plaster. The plaster and the paint dry together and the paint is absorbed into the plaster. The results can be magnificent, but the work is intricate and difficult. Each day new plaster must be applied to the area to be painted. If the plaster dried before the paint could be applied, the effect of the fresco was lost and the work had to be completely done over.

Michelangelo's first task was to cover over the the original ceiling which had been painted a dark blue and studded with metal stars to depict the heavens. He then proposed to paint on the ceiling, scenes from the Old Testament such as the Creation of Man, the Exile from the Garden, the Flood, and the confrontation between David and Goliath. Because Michelangelo had not painted using the fresco technique for nearly twenty years, he requested that a team of apprentices be sent to help him prepare the ceiling. To his disappointment, however, he soon found that his assistants were not up to his exacting standards and dismissed them in anger. He decided to do the work by himself. He began on May 10, 1508. By the time he finished, Michelangelo had spent more than 1600 days atop a scaffold to paint the more than 380 figures that grace the Sistine Chapel ceiling, many ten times larger than life size.

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