Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican between 1508 and 1512 standing on a tall wooden scaffold with his head tilted back, not lying down as is often imagined. The ceiling, about 35 by 14 metres, holds more than 300 figures.

Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 1508–1512

The story behind the card

Pope Julius II commissioned the ceiling. Michelangelo saw himself as a sculptor rather than a painter and accepted reluctantly; the contract was signed on 8 May 1508. He rejected the first scaffold, which hung on ropes through holes in the vault, and had a freestanding one built instead. His early biographers Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi both say he worked standing, and Vasari describes the discomfort of painting with his head bent backwards for so long. The lying-down version comes from another writer of the time, Paolo Giovio. Michelangelo is thought to have joked about the strain in a comic poem to a friend, with a sketch in the margin of a figure painting overhead. The ceiling was painted in fresco, on patches of fresh plaster laid each day, and the modern restoration mapped each of these daily sections. It was unveiled on 31 October 1512.

Türkçe oku

Michelangelo, Vatikan'daki Sistina Şapeli'nin tavanını 1508–1512 yılları arasında, yüksek bir ahşap iskelenin üstünde ayakta durup başını geriye eğerek boyadı; sanıldığı gibi sırtüstü yatarak değil. Yaklaşık 35'e 14 metrelik tavanda 300'den fazla figür vardır.

Sistina Şapeli, Vatikan, 1508–1512

Tavanı Papa II. Julius sipariş etti. Kendini ressamdan çok heykeltıraş sayan Michelangelo işi isteksizce kabul etti; sözleşme 8 Mayıs 1508'de imzalandı. İlk kurulan iskele, tavandaki deliklerden iplerle sarkıtılmıştı; Michelangelo bunu beğenmedi ve yerden yükselen bağımsız bir iskele yaptırdı. İlk biyografi yazarları Giorgio Vasari ve Ascanio Condivi, onun ayakta çalıştığını yazar; Vasari, uzun süre başını geriye eğerek çalışmanın ne kadar zahmetli olduğunu anlatır. Sırtüstü yatma hikâyesi, dönemin bir başka yazarı Paolo Giovio'dan kalmadır. Michelangelo'nun bu zahmeti bir arkadaşına yazdığı esprili bir şiirde anlattığı, sayfanın kenarına da tavanı boyayan birinin küçük bir çizimini eklediği düşünülür. Tavan fresk tekniğiyle, her gün yeni sürülen yaş sıva parçalarının üzerine boyandı; 20. yüzyılın sonundaki restorasyonda bu günlük parçaların her biri tek tek belirlendi. Tavan 31 Ekim 1512'de ziyaretçilere gösterildi.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Sistine Chapel ceiling

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Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican between 1508 and 1512 standing on a tall wooden scaffold with his head tilted back, not lying down as is often imagined. The ceiling, about 35 by 14 metres, holds more than 300 figures.

The story behind the card

Sources and further reading

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