The Agony and the Ecstasy

I watched “The Agony and the Ecstasy” last night, which is a movie about how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  The movie started by introducing Michelangelo’s great sculptures such as David, St. Peter, Madonna and Child, the tomb of Giuliano, Moses, the Deposition, and so on.

In the movie, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo was asked to paint the 13 apostles on the chapel’s ceiling.  Yet Michelangelo felt painting 13 apostles was just like doing any other biblical paintings—nothing exciting and creative.  However,
the pope was adamant and left Michelangelo no choice but do as he was told.  But the war between Rome and France diverted the attention of the Pope, therefore, Michelangelo escaped from the chapel and hid in the mountains while the Pope’s subordinates searched for him.  One day, Michelangelo woke up in a cave by the dawn’s early light, and he went out standing on the top of the mountain where he saw the beautiful sunrise and the unique shape of clouds which gave him the inspiration to paint the chapel ceiling.  Thus, Michelangelo returned to the city and showed his plans to the Pope. The Pope was satisfied and allowed Michelangelo to return.  Michelangelo’s idea about painting the ceiling had many different scenes from the Bible including God giving life to Adam, the last judgment, the downfall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and God dividing the waters.  The cardinals argued about the nudity in the painting during Michelangelo’s work, and they tried to stop and make him change his painting.  Michelangelo, however, insisted to only do the work that he liked and wouldn’t change anything.  The Pope also had a different perspective than the cardinals, so he let Michelangelo continue his work.  The whole ceiling process was much more difficult than it looked; as a result, Michelangelo struggled by himself during that time.  

Finally, Michelangelo took four years to paint 12,000 square feet of the chapel ceiling, which he did from1508 to 1512.  Today the ceiling, and especially the Last Judgment, is widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievement in painting.

Although I knew about the Sistine Chapel before I watched the movie, I didn’t know much about the history of how Michelangelo painted the ceiling.  This movie was a great resource for getting a better understanding about Michelangelo.