Michelangelo | Suite101.com

Posted by
Mary Welling-Bonney
Jun 21, 2006

He was actually one of my favorite artists. He was temperamental and quirky but never dull. During the Renaissance period artists generated a living by being patronized by either the rich aristocracy or the church. Michelangelo was commissioned by the Vatican to paint the Sistine ceiling as an insult and a punishment. He was not a people person and angered people regularly. Michelangelo was a sculptor and had never painted. During that time, ceilings were painted dark with stars in chapels to symbolize the heavens. Michelangelo came up with his own design and decided if he had to paint the ceiling, it was going to be his way. He also painted the Altar wall. It isn't nearly as famous but just as fascinating. He used everyday people as models. This angered some of the priests as some of the everyday people he knew were not what the church would consider honorable due to their behavior or profession. Michelangelo fought often with many of the bishops, priests and cardinals of Rome. Within his paintings at the Sistine Chapel, most especially on the altar wall, he painted the persons symbolizing the devil or evil characters using these priest, bishops and cardinals as unwilling models. One in particular is over the door on the altar wall. The bishop went to the Pope and complained that he would be visually condemned to hell for all eternity. The Pope ordered it to remain intact. Makes you wonder what the bishop was really like.