Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

As a young person, I began to learn about Michelangelo's painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel through watching the film, "The Agony and the Ecstasy." Later, I read the Irving Stone novel that had been the basis for the Hollywood treatment of the story. In 1996, in a visit to Rome, I was able to behold the legendary ceiling with my own eyes. When I learned that the writer and researcher, Ross King, had written a book about the painting of the ceiling, based on his assiduous and painstaking assessment of thousands of documents and interviews, I knew I had to read the book. I had already been delighted and informed by King when I read his account of the building of the Duomo in Florence, "Brunelleschi's Dome." This account of the struggle between Michelangelo and Pope Julius II also includes a cast of characters from rival artist Raphael to Martin Luther. Although carefully annotated to lead serious students to primary sources, the narrative is written in a very readable and enjoyable way. King debunks much of the Hollywood hype and the misconceptions that have surrounded the legend of the painting of the Sistine Chapel. The true story is no less intriguing than the myth that had been built up over the centuries, brush stroke by brush stroke. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the personal styles of Michelangelo and Raphael, who worked and lived in close proximity to each other at the Vatican. Raphael was almost always surrounded by an entourage of young artists and assistants whom he was mentoring and teaching. Michelangelo, in contradistinction, used assistants only grudgingly and never took them under his wing as protégés. It seems to me that God often singles out the least likely vessels to contain and to serve as conduits for his most glorious treasures and works of genius. I think of Mozart, as well as Michelangelo, and am reminded of the word of the Apostle Paul: "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show us that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:7) However flawed Michelangelo may have been in his humanity, his artistry and the works of his hands remain to inspire and to induce awe in those of us fortunate to behold them. King's treatment of the artist and his work in the Sistine Chapel frames beautifully the man and the magic of his work. Enjoy. Al

I bought this book because I so completely enjoyed Brunelleschi's Dome by the same author. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, is also a well-researched and thorough history of the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. However, as another reviewer described it, this book is ponderous to the point that I put it down several times or skipped through some of the minutia that added nothing to the story. The parts of the book that fascinated me the most included the artistic creation itself: The obtaining and mixing of pigments; The very method of painting fresco which is far more difficult than an artist painting a picture on a wall. It was so difficult that an Italian term was used to describe being in a fix or a mess: "stare fresco." The method involved painting on wet plaster called Intonaco which was a smooth paste made from lime and sand which provided a permeable surface for the pigments, first absorbing them and then sealing them in the masonry as it dried. The design was transferred to this patch of wet plaster from a drawing made by the artist called a cartoon. The description of how the paintings were completed by the artist himself, Michelangelo in this case, and many, many assistants, was all new information to me. It was the execution of the art that held my interest. Since Ross is an historian, he included the background of Pope Julius's constant war with other Italian City States as well as with France, his wicked temper and his many brushes with death. He included detailed descriptions of Michelangelo's family members and how their behavior and financial difficulties affected Michelangelo and at times caused him to be frantic and distracted from his work. The reader was given details about artists whose work influenced the likes of Michelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael as well as boring (to me) information about the many assistants who came and went on the job which took more than four years to complete. The book also discussed in great detail the competition between Michelangelo and the much younger, handsome Raphael. Raphael's work on the frescos in the Pope's apartments were also highlighted so the reader was introduced to yet another genius. In general, I enjoyed the book, learned a great deal about art, politics and life in16th Century Italy and liked Ross King's easy writing style. The book was not written like a textbook but in a far more casual and readable format. I just found it verbose with far more facts and many more characters than the average reader could possibly absorb.

Pope Julius II was a fastidious man whose eye for the arts was always set on his lofty standards of beauty and perfection that few artists could satisfy. So when the pope saw the Pieta whose beauty surpassed the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures adorning the tomb of a French cardinal, he wanted the same awe-inspiring adornment for his tomb, whereupon one Michelangelo Buonarroti from Florence was summoned for the commission for the work. From then on, that’s how Michelangelo at age thirty-three reluctantly embarked on his Herculean task of frescoing the vault of the Sistine Chapel. This book by Ross King recounts such background stories of the making of the Sistine Chapel frescoes and descriptions of the personal traits of Michelangelo. Michelangelo’s work on the frescoes resulted from part Divine Providence of endowing the humanity with an awe-inspiring masterpiece of art to delight the senses of mankind through the ages and part secular ambitions to mark the names of both the commissioner and the artist themselves. Pope Julius II also wanted to renovate the Sistine Chapel that had been used as a living quarter for the guards, a fortress against papal enemies, and a jail. As no one pours new wine into old wineskins as said in the bible, the pope’s plan to revert the chapel to its original place of worship, which made him drop his tomb project, was met by his idea of frescoing the vault in its entirety. Michelangelo, who was a breadwinner of his family, accepted the commission with sumptuous amount of salary and commenced four-year of labor of woes and dramas on the vault of the chapel. There are revealing truths that should be known concerning the process of frescoing the Sistine Chapel as follows: Contrary to popular belief that Michelangelo did the work while lying prone on his back, he worked with his upper body bent backward like a bow. Also, it wasn’t done by solely by Michelangelo but a work of concerted efforts made by a contingent of his assistants chosen by Francesco Granacci, a close friend of Michelangelo. Michelangelo was innately a solitary worker who had a strong distrust of others who worked with him. As a matter of fact, Michelangelo was never a jolly fellow whose sociability would have endeared him to all, as in the case of his contemporary Raphael Sancti. It is also interesting to pay special notes on the figures Michelangelo used for the frescoes, which shows his ingenuity of selecting unique subject matters distinguished from his contemporaries. To illustrate, he used 7 prophets from the Old Testament and 5 sibyls from pagan myth to decorate the Sistine vaults. He was fascinated with prophetic knowledge of the sibyls who dwelled in sacred shrines and predicted the future in fits of inspired madness. This offered a compelling link between the sacred and the profane, the church and the esoteric pagan culture by reconciling pagan mythology with orthodox Christian teachings. From this book, readers will find that the position of a painter/sculptor was not esteemed highly; he was more of a skilled laborer, a craftsman, given exact orders how to produce his work by his commissioner or patron. As a matter of fact, the image of a solitary genius who would wield his brush and pallets to portray his world of imagination from the fathoms of his soul was a romantic fable. In Michelangelo’s time, an artist’s creativity was fettered by the demands of marketplace or his patron. Nevertheless, Michelangelo often disagreed to the pope’s own artistic direction and even had a temerity of broaching the shipping charges incurred in transporting the marbles from Carrara for the aborted tomb project at a dinner table with the pope . Michelangelo was said to be a man of aesthetically unpleasing appearance without sociability; his direct altercation with Leonardo da Vinci as described in this book was amusing to discover. Both of the masters of the arts did not like each other publicly, but it was on the part of da Vinci who instigated such heated feud. He disregarded sculptors, including Michelangelo, as mechanics in the appearance of unkempt bakers. King’s research into this daunting subject matter is indeed impressive and highly laudable. Reading his account of how Michelangelo worked on his frescoes enabled me to envision the scene very vividly. The descriptions of the streets, alleys, and the Sistine Chapel are realistically rendered as if they were pictures. However, I could not help but feel a subtle tone of anti-papacy or even a remote sense of anti-Catholicism in this book. Evidently, there were corruptions among the church officials, clerics, not to mention the laypersons. But I wonder if King should have spent several chapters about Pope Julius II to discern just what kind of person he was in a negative shadow, the fallacy of his character, of the papacy in general. I ascribe such tendency to culturally transmitted anti-Catholicism in England, a home of the Episcopal Church, from the time of Henry VIII because this is not the first time I recognize such sentiment in English writers. Notwithstanding the above sentiment, the book has its magical way of transporting readers to Italy in the early 16th century and invites readers to meet with Michelangelo as he was in his disheveled hair and untidy outfit dripped with colors from the unfinished fresco. Despite all his personal foibles, he is indeed a person bizarre fantastico whose muscular nudes in frantic but graceful gyrates have both the beauty and the sublime that produce in the spectator a kind of astonished wonder so formidable and so fantastic throughout the ages.

I am an admirer of the magnificent artist, Michelangelo, and truly appreciate this book which has given me a great insight into the creation of one of his masterpieces, the fresco on the Sistine Chapel vault. The events leading to it, the inter-play of people involved and the on-going battles even as the masterpiece is being painted are information which is truly revealing and remarkable. Equally educational is the technical details which King has given behind the painting of the fresco, even to the chemical component of the paint itself. With his words, King has made the main characters live once again. Michelangelo's relationship with Pope Julius II and rivalry with Raphael is well written and embellished with witty remarks. Michelangelo and Pope Julius II may not like but certainly admire each other and yet these two men are so alike in their demeanors and temperaments. On the other hand, Michelangelo and Raphael share nothing in common except for their great gifts in art. Michelangelo is moody, despondent, anti-social, suspicous even arrogant and definitely not handsome while the younger Raphael is endowed with beauty whom everyone liked. And who can forget fiery Pope Julius II, battling for territories and fighting the French. This book is not merely informative. It has a great story to tell. At the end of the book, Michelangelo is no longer just a name to an exalted sculpture, painting, structure or poem. He is at once a great genius and a man with character.

There are many who have either viewed in person, watched a program on, or read something about the Sistine Chapel, and in particular about Michelangelo's ceiling. To stand beneath this recently restored masterpiece is an experience like no other but to delve into the history around, the personalities involved in and the techniques around this masterpiece takes one to a new and important level of appreciation. I am an unashamed history buff and should I have had the opportunity to choose my career all over again, albeit I have thoroughly enjoyed the one I have had, it would be in one which delved into Renaissance history, so it is no wonder now that with the time I have to indulge this particular love I am immersing myself in reading all that I can. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King (Penguin Books, 2003) is my latest read. King focuses here on the four years Michelangelo spent labouring over the ceiling, but he places this immense work within the context of the politics and rivalries which abounded in Italy during those years. With a particular characteristic style (his other works include Brunelleschi's Dome) King walks us, sometimes with painful reality, through the trials and tribulations of Michelangelo, much of which can be attributed to his own personality, in first of all, accepting (reluctantly) the commission for the ceiling, his overwhelming frustration of dealing with Pope Julius II, and his rivalry with the brilliant and personable Raphael. Whilst these issues are highly intriguing in themselves, King takes the reader on a journey through Michelangelo's preparation and techniques, changing as he developed the skills necessary to complete this monumental work, so that the reader can glimpse into the genius yet tormented mind of a man whose only real objective was to create in marble the final resting place of Julius II, something he never was able to achieve to the extent he had envisioned. The characters which King weaves through his book are extensive - Julius II, Erasmus, Martin Luther, Louis XII, the Buonarroti family, Cardinal Alidosi, and of course, Raphael (just to name a few) - so one gains something of a contextualized image of the world of this four years for Michelangelo and those around him. The enjoyment of the reading of this book comes not only from it's content, but the style of King makes this a rewarding read, even for those who may not have a love of Renaissance history as I. It moves with a pleasing pace, can be put down (if you can) and picked up again and the continuity does not suffer. If you have ever had an interest in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and you want to read a book that puts this masterpiece at the centre of the dialogue, then this is a must read. Highly recommended indeed.

This book is very difficult to find on CD. But, if you can, you will be so very thankful you did. Its an incredibly great story and it is written by an incredible author! Do not miss this story. Because there are so many Italian names and terms, it is best to hear it than to try to read it if you dont speak fluent Italian. Its almost like music hearing this book! One of my all time favorite. I have listend to it several times and it is precious to me.

The topic of this book is an artistic and historic blockbuster: Michelangelo's famous frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The author tells the story in great detail -- arguably in too great detail. Every artist and assistant artist and many of their relatives and patrons are given, along with their towns and some of their history -- often with little relevance to the story. This is a lot to wade through and is more than is necessary. Their names are long and hard to pronounce, at least for a non-speaker of Italian. There is a fair amount of repetition as well. For example, we are told at least three times that, contrary to (supposed) popular belief, Michelangelo did not do his painting solo and while lying on his back (as in Irving Stone's "The Agony and the Ecstasy"): He built elaborate scaffolding to make his work and that of his assistants easier. We are told about the sexual reputations of not just Michelangelo (meh) and Raphael (stud), but of many of their friends and associates. This sounds promising but is actually not that explicit and hence a bit disappointing when the book could have used a bit of pizzazz... Arguably, the person who has the most developed and interesting character is not the artist but the man who commissioned him: Pope Julius II -- a domineering and vain and aggressive person, who was perhaps more interested in the power struggles among the Vatican and the Italian city-states (and against France) in the 16th century than in the finer points of the Catholic faith. We never get a definitive idea of how Michelangelo himself felt about Julius -- though it seems negative in balance. We also don't get much info on Michelangelo's attitude toward religion, though it is suggested that he was a believer (with little supporting evidence). Although the book is about Michelangelo as a painter, he considered himself primarily a sculptor (and is perhaps remembered that way). Yet there is not much about his work with stone and its relation to his painting. One of the book's major shortcomings is the lack of good illustrations. There are just a few color plates and not that many black and white ones. I had to go to the Wikipedia entry on the Sistine Chapel to get decent close-ups so I could follow the descriptions in the text. The author should have included at least this link (and probably others that might be even better). The author's analysis of the frescoes artistic features does not seem authoritative and at times seems sketchy. Of course, to be fair, there are plenty of expert analyses to be had. I had previously read the author's "Bruneleschi's Dome" which is more streamlined and easier to digest. "Pope's ceiling" was, though interesting, rather ponderous. Sometimes less is more as they say.

In 1477, Pope Julius II gave a commission to Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. The book, Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling, by Ross King, is the story of the four years that it took Michelangelo to complete the task. The story is fascinating, and if you are interested in well told history, art, the Catholic Church, biography, or good story telling, this book should interest you. King also wrote Brunelleschi's Dome and Leonardo and the Last Supper, and while I found all three books to be excellent, I consider the Michelangelo book to be the best of the trio. According to King, Michelangelo often taxed the Pope’s patience, and the exasperated Pope wanted to fire Michelangelo and hire Raphael to complete the chapel painting. Michelangelo had insisted that no one should see the work until it was completed, and until that time, no one other than the Pope and Michelangelo had seen the painting. The Pope took Raphael to the Chapel, and after Raphael had seen the work, he told the Pope that no one but Michelangelo should complete the painting because he was doing things in painting that no one else had ever done. I gave this book five stars.