The Great Dome of St Peters.

Category: My latest Europe trip | Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:05 am

Michelangelo was also instrumental in the construction of the the Great Dome of St Peters at the Vatican.

Here is a pic from a distance.

Another one closer.

Some history on Michelangelo.

In 1504 Michelangelo met, upon request, with the then Pope to sculpt his tomb. After discussion, Michelangelo set about with preliminary drawing. Upon seeing the drawings, the Pope cancelled his contract. Michelangelo stormed out, followed by 5 of the Popes men. He had, unbeknown to the Pope, already embezzled the money he would have received and bought a farm, so he fled to Florence out of reach of the Pope.

The Pope sent word to Florence asking that the people of Florence insist upon his return and offered him the job of painting the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo blamed Raphael for swaying the Pope. "I am a sculptor" he said "not a painter!" as he had already sculpted the Statue of David, the most famous statue in the world.

The Vatican architect, Romanti, was also involved, he said. No love was lost between Michelangelo and Romanti. However, he complied. He returned to Rome to begin this work. First he needed to address the issue of the scaffolding. How could it be sufficiently stable. He came up with the idea of bracing it between the walls.

Al Fresco painting - which was a lime based ceiling, which absorbs the pigments. Needs to be aged before use. Cannot be used fresh. So it must be left overnight, at least, preferably longer, before it will adequately absorb the pigment.

It has been often observed that Michelangelo largely painted male figures. Even the female figures have been said to be "Male figures with breasts". He said "The male body is a paragon of beauty. To me it is Gods clay in which He moulds his own image". This had led some to assert that Michelangelo was homosexual. We are unsure. There is not enough evidence either way. However, it was common in his day.

Furthermore, it was difficult for Michelangelo to gain clarity of detail and perspective working so close to the ceiling. Also, mildew appeared on his first attempt as the ceiling was too damp. He destroyed his first attempt and started again.

Painting the ceiling was hell. He composed a poem, arguably one of the finest odes to pain ever written. After 2 years of painting the Pope came to view what he had done. The Pope was mesmerised. However, Michelangelo was unhappy with the figures in the flood. They were too small. He had miscalculated their size, being as close to the ceiling as he was.

This caused Romanti to ask the Pope to allow Raphael to finish the work. The Pope disagreed.
By 1511 Michelangelo could see the light at the end of the tunnel. But he was completely exhausted.

Michelangelo painted himself in a scene in the last Judgement. He is the the flailed person, below, who is hanging in the bottom right hand corner.

In the end he painted over 500 sq metres. At first the Pope said he was pleased but then he wanted changes. He wanted more gold, more aquamarine. But Michelangelo said "No way!".
He was only 37 Y.o. Within months of finishing Pope Julius 2 died. Michelangelo would return and paint a final scene. In 1513 he returned to Florence and started on 4 sculptures simultaneously. The one he finished was "The Moses" which is the central figure in the Pope's tomb.

In 1518 he went upon request to the Medicci family. He was asked to build an imposing front for the church in Florence. Entirely built out of white marble, chosen by Michelangelo himself from the quarries. Out of the blue, in 1520, his commission was cancelled. They said they had run out of money.
In 1537 Michelangelo returned to the Sistine Chapel to paint The Last Judgement. The Master of Ceremonies criticised his work, particularly what the subjects were wearing (or not wearing). Michelangelo laughed. "Here we are at the last Judgement, and he is worrying about what we will wear. He should be concerned for much more weighty matters than this!" Michelangelo included himself in the picture. He also included the Master of Ceremonies as consigned to hell! By now he was in his 70's.

Michelangelo was asked to take over the design of the Great Dome of St Peters. He vowed to refuse all payment, preferring to do it to get closer to God. However, he was paid around 1000 ducats per year.
The Great Dome of St Peters is considered one of the architectural wonders of the world. The largest self-supporting dome in the world. Michelangelo died in 1564, nearly 89 y.o.

A final pic of the interior of the Great Dome of St Peters.

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Gardenstew wrote on Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:28 pm:

That was a great read Craig. Michelangelo sure was an interesting character. And he lived until 89, with all the stress of those projects I'm amazed he survived so long.

I'm enjoying these history lessons immensely, and I've never enjoyed history in school :)