To what extent does the Sistine Chapel represent the spirit and accomplishments of Humanism and the Renaissance in the 1400s-1500s?
One of the defining philosophies during the Renaissance was humanism; the focus of human power and expression. There was a drift away from the notion of man existing under a supernatural force with no distinguishing potentialities to man being a complete moral and intellectual being capable of beauty. This new spirit was represented in the Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by Michelangelo, commissioned by Pope Julius II between 1508 and 1512.
The ceiling is painted with nine scenes from the book of Genesis, or the creation story as told in the Bible. It may seem that since the underlying theme is the creation of the world by God as perfect, and humanity making it fall into disgrace that we would think of ourselves as having to succumb to God for salvation, and having to render ourselves worthless in His sight. But Michelangelo painted one scene in particular illustrating God and man on the same plane of existence. The scene shows God actively reaching out his fingers to reach Adam, who is passively laying out his hand to receive God’s spark of life. The space between the fingers creates an energy that can be felt by all. This was the first time anyone had attempted to visualize God, and it created a sense of equality or tangibility. God was no longer a mysterious spirit creating fear, but an old man. Adam’s body is muscular and relaxed, showing that the human body and soul should be celebrated and appreciated as beautiful.
The facts that bodies were nude in the paintings were a source of conflict. It was thought that there should be no nakedness in a church, a place of sanctity. Pope Adrian VI described the ceiling as ‘a stew of naked bodies’. But in Michelangelo doing this, it represented the new wave of thought appearing. It conveyed the humanist vision that people should respond to people, social responsibility and God in a direct way and not through an intermediary such as the Church. Humanity is emphasized as noble and beautiful.
The focus wasn’t only on God anymore. Man was brought into the picture, and as not as insignificant but as powerful and noteworthy. Now we see the Sistine Chapel as an accomplishment and realization of humanism in the renaissance during the 1400s to 1500s. Gabriele Bartz and Eberhard König say "In a world where all experience was based in the glorious lost past of Antiquity, he made a new beginning. Michelangelo, more even than Raphael or Leonardo, embodied a standard of artistic genius which revealed a radically changed image of human beings and their potential..." Human dignity was becoming the norm; people were putting more faith in themselves and their own potentialities rather than an external force.
The focus wasn’t only on God anymore. Man was brought into the picture, and as not as insignificant but as powerful and noteworthy. Now we see the Sistine Chapel as an accomplishment and realization of humanism in the renaissance during the 1400s to 1500s. Gabriele Bartz and Eberhard König say "In a world where all experience was based in the glorious lost past of Antiquity, he made a new beginning. Michelangelo, more even than Raphael or Leonardo, embodied a standard of artistic genius which revealed a radically changed image of human beings and their potential..." Human dignity was becoming the norm; people were putting more faith in themselves and their own potentialities rather than an external force.
