“The Last Judgment” is one of Michelangelo’s most famous and mightiest compositions, painted between 1536 and 1541 in the Sistine Chapel.
This has a special position in the chapel of the Vatican Museums, above the altar, with strong Christian references.
Such religious connotations refer to the Second Coming of Christ and the verdict on humanity – that is, who will go to heaven and hell.
In this article, we bring forward the various aspects that went into painting this masterpiece for all ages.
History of the Painting
Michelangelo painted ‘The Last Judgment’ almost 25 years after he completed his work on the ceilings.
Pope Clement VII hired Michelangelo in 1534 to paint the Last Judgment on the altar wall, renovating the Sistine Chapel’s decoration.
Due to this, the frescoes from the fifteenth century were lost, including Perugino’s paintings of the first two episodes of the Stories of Moses and Christ and the altarpiece depicting the Virgin assumed among the Apostles.
Ultimately, the work on the altar wall started in 1536, during Pope Paul III, when Michelangelo wished to show the glorious return of Christ in the light of the texts of the New Testament.
Through his extraordinary artistic abilities, Michelangelo was able to convey the majesty and unseen beauty of God.
He transformed the Sistine Chapel into “the shrine of the theology of the human body,” drawing inspiration from the words of Genesis.
About the Painting
The painting covers the entire wall above the altar and starts from the top of the ceiling, providing a huge canvas of portrayal.
Its height is about 14 m (46 feet), ending up at the wooden wall panel and the altar.
The representation is in a circular fashion, with the events going one after the other.
About 300 deftly painted figures make up the fresco, which centers on Christ with his hand raised, delivering judgment to the damned who descend into hell.
The depiction of Christ with toned muscles, a beardless and youthful appearance, and a calm demeanor were all portrayed on purpose.
The Virgin stands next to Christ, her head turned in a sign of surrender, meaning that she can only wait for the outcome of the judgment and can no longer influence the outcome.
In the upper lunettes, Christ is encircled by symbols of his passion, including a crown of thorns, a lance, nails, and a cross.
Some significant saints stand in close proximity, waiting for the verdict –
- St. Peter, with the keys of Heaven,
- St Laurence with the gridiron,
- St Bartholomew, with his own skin,
- St Catherine of Alexandria with the cogwheel
- St. Sebastian with the arrows and kneeling down.
His overall composition circles in a flowing motion, with the angels of the Apocalypse waking the dead to the sound of long trumpets.
The risen take back their bodies as they ascend to heaven (the resurrection of the flesh) on the right side of the fresco, while angels and devils struggle to send the damned to hell on the left.
Inspired by Dante’s “Inferno” and “The Divine Comedy,” Michelangelo included Charon and other mythological characters at the bottom of this painting.
Michelangelo’s thoughts behind the painting
A popular subject during the Renaissance was the portrayal of God’s ultimate judgment of humanity and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, ‘Last Judgment’ was a popular theme of art in churches during that time.
However, Michelangelo painted his interpretation of the events by taking further inspiration from Dante’s “Divine Comedy” and “Inferno.”.
Not only that, the representation of Christ is different from how Christianity looked at him, with toned muscle and beardlessness.
Michelangelo created a sense of depth and space by overlapping his figures and further painting them to suggest spatial awareness.
He also did not paint with a frame, which gave the painting a sense of continuity, as evident from some figures around the edges being cut off.
This effect gives the composition an eternal sense of movement and action.
Another way of expressing his interpretation is by placing the painting on the altar wall.
This way, the painting would be directly in front of everyone entering the chapel, making it impossible to ignore the idea of Hell and the prophecy of Christ’s Second Coming.
It was almost like a reminder about justice against perpetrators.
Over time, Michelangelo delighted the public by inserting a number of hidden symbols.
The first is a St. Bartholomew figure with his own skin, a self-portrait of Michelangelo himself, with probable reference to his state while painting the Sistine Chapel.
Others are the portrayal of the seven deadly sins in the form of different visuals and implications.
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Criticism
Even though this masterpiece gained a lot of appreciation and accolades for Michelangelo’s genius and painting style, it was not free of controversy and criticism.
They did not like the abundance of nudity, and Michelangelo was criticized for mixing religious figures and mythology.
It is a shift away from the Italian Renaissance, where nude figures were not seen as problematic.
A number of critics believed that Michelangelo should have followed the biblical events more precisely.
A few pointed out that Christ should be depicted seated on a throne and that some of the flowing draperies are impossible because the weather was meant to stop on the day of judgment.
The Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, strongly criticized it, stating that it was “most dishonest” to have so many nude figures painted in such an “honored place” like a chapel and that it was not a work for the Chapel of the Pope but for taverns and stoves.
However, after Michelangelo’s death in 1564, painter Daniele Da Volterra was hired to gradually cover up visible nude figures with draperies over a period of years.
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Featured Image: Britannica.com