In 1508 Pope Julius II commissioned him to fresco the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Michelangelo worked on it alone. He finally finished it four years later in 1512. The fresco is over a thousand square metres and contains over 300 figures. In his letters written at the time he spoke of bitterness and utter dejection. "I am wasting my time" " This is not my profession. "
The best known section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling is the Creation of Adam, the centre of the nine scenes from Genesis. It is impossible to adequately describe Michelangelo's masterpiece, to give it the merit it deserves. It stands as one of the most amazing pieces of artwork in the world. On the 31st of October 1512 the Sistine Chapel was opened to the public, four months later Pope Julius was dead. The Pope only had four months to contemplate the masterpiece that had caused so much pain and mental torture to Michelangelo.
Michelangelo died in 1564, one of the greatest artists the world has ever known. |
