Is it true that Michelangelo left secret messages on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? Creative suffering and platonic love of Michelangelo Buonarroti: Several fascinating pages from the life of a genius; summer hard labor on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel.
MOSCOW, February 4 - RIA Novosti. Italian scientists analyzed portraits of Michelangelo Buonarroti and concluded that he suffered from degenerative arthrosis of the hands, which, however, did not prevent him from creating thanks to the fact that his tendency to constantly work slowed down the destruction of bones, according to an article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Michelangelo is rightfully considered one of the greatest artists and sculptors of the Renaissance and of all humanity in general - during the 89 years of his life he created many of the greatest masterpieces, many of which, such as the fresco "The Last Judgment", the statues "David" and "The Dying Slave", determined the development of European culture for decades and centuries to come.
One of the main secrets of Michelangelo remained, according to Davide Lazari from the University of Florence (Italy), how the great artist worked in his advanced years if, according to the recollections of his nephew Lionardo Simoni, he suffered from serious problems with joint mobility, which most biographers of Buonarroti consider to be a consequence of the development of gout.
Lazzeri and his colleagues doubted this and carefully studied what the master's hands looked like in the last years before his death, and also re-analyzed all known sources about his life, including portraits of the artist, autobiographies of other contemporaries and memoirs of relatives and friends.
Thanks to portraits made at different periods of Michelangelo's life - at 60, 65 and 70 years old - the authors of the article were able to reveal what the artist actually suffered by comparing how the maestro's left hand looked in them. According to them, Buonarroti did experience serious pain in the joints, but the cause of their appearance was not gout, the accumulation of urea crystals, but degenerative arthrosis.
This is supported by special deformations in the joints of the thumb, metacarpal bones and a number of other elements of the hand, as well as the absence in the vicinity of these bones of visible traces of inflammation, which are usually associated with the development of gout. The destruction of these joints as a result of degenerative processes deprived Michelangelo of the ability to write, as his thumb effectively ceased to bend.
Considering that the great artist lived for at least another 15 years after painting these portraits, the question arises, how did he manage to fight the disease? According to Lazzeri and his colleagues, Michelangelo was both helped and hindered by his desire to constantly work - all the time working through pain, the artist slowed down the destruction of the joints and adapted to the constant limitation in their mobility.
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Even if you've never looked at the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, at least 1 of the 9 frescoes is familiar to you (especially if you've owned a Nokia feature phone): hands reaching out to each other have become a recognizable symbol all over the world. The author of this work is Michelangelo Buonarroti, who managed not only to create a real masterpiece, but also to encrypt in it a meaning that changes the understanding of the famous biblical story.
website carefully studied the fresco “The Creation of Adam” and is in a hurry to reveal the artist’s idea, which can deprive one of sleep.
Let's start with the fact that Michelangelo was set up: he was assigned a job that he should not have been able to handle.
Before you begin to decipher one of the most famous frescoes, it is worth getting acquainted with the history of its creation and with the artist himself. Michelangelo Buonarroti is better known as a sculptor, and his statue of David eclipsed all ancient, Greek and Roman sculptures. So cooperation with the Pope (Julius II) began not with the order of frescoes, but with a personal tomb for the head of the Catholic Church. But the artist’s ill-wishers decided to leave Michelangelo without work and informed the pope that building a tomb during his lifetime was a dubious undertaking and could lead to trouble. The task was postponed, but the envious people did not calm down. They pointed out to Julius II the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and hinted that it needed updating, advising that Buonarroti entrust this task. As planned, Michelangelo, who had no experience in painting, was supposed to fail the order and leave Rome humiliated. But the artist was not so simple: he himself chose the materials, designed the scaffolding and began to work.
The frescoes on the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel evoke amazement even today, and it is difficult to believe that a person is capable of creating such things. The master really had a hard time: after 4 years of painting the ceiling, Michelangelo developed arthritis, scoliosis and an ear infection due to the paint that got on his face. And the church turned out to be a capricious customer: dad forgot to pay for the materials on time, but at the same time he constantly urged the artist and interfered in the process with the demand to correct the colors to make it look richer.
When the work was finished, Julius II was satisfied, and the frescoes with scenes from Genesis made church visitors speechless. The fourth painting, entitled “The Creation of Adam,” received the greatest popularity.
Version No. 1: Michelangelo encrypted the human brain in the fresco
“And God created man in His own image,” says Genesis 1:27. U Michelangelo there was his own interpretation of this phrase, and, according to the popular version, the artist depicted Adam and God in the same fresco placed another important participant in the creation of an intelligent being- human brain. Buonarroti seems to be hinting that a person is capable of looking complete (like Adam in the fresco), but he will not be able to approach the Creator without the ability to think. Or, what sounds even more provocative, everything is created by man, and God is the fruit of his imagination (after all, this ability is the main difference between man and animal). And such a theory already runs counter to religious ideology.
We remind you that the year was 1511 and for speaking about the origin of man from the point of view of science you could lose not only your job, but also your life. The artist was also famous for his interest in anatomy and was involved in autopsies. And not only did Buonarroti confess his love for his hobby, but he also did it on the ceiling of the church in the Vatican.
Since the artist knew the human structure in detail, nothing stopped him from applying anatomy in his works:
- Many scientists have noted the similarity of the outlines of God's cloak with the contours of human brain.
- Side crack Silvio- This is a very deep groove that separates the temporal and parietal lobes.
- The lowest angel, who holds God, with its outlines resembles brain stem.
- Responsible for the endocrine system pituitary, and in the fresco he is depicted as the foot of an angel.
- Right Hand of God passes through the prefrontal cortex, which is the seat of human intelligence, imagination and creativity.
- Female silhouette under the hand of God shapes supramarginal gyrus.
- The angel who is at the feet of the Creator forms the outlines angular gyrus.
- Flowing scarf - vertebral arteries, which have a sinuous shape.
- Angel's Bent Knee - optic chiasm where the fibers of the optic nerves partially intersect.
- Myself Creator is located on the site of the limbic system, which is the emotional center of the brain and the anatomical analogue of the soul.
The greatest master and thinker of the High Renaissance - Michelangelo Buonarroti, who lived a long and fruitful life, always thought that all his creations were not worthy of the Lord God. And he himself is not worthy to end up in Paradise after death, because he did not leave behind any offspring on earth, but only soulless stone statues. Although there was an extraordinary woman in the life of the great genius - a muse and lover.
Bringing creative projects to life, the master could spend years in the quarries, where he selected suitable blocks of marble and laid roads for their transportation. Michelangelo tried to do everything with his own hands; he was an engineer, a laborer, and a stonemason.
The life path of the great Buonarroti was full of amazing labor feats, which he performed, mourning and suffering, as if not of his own free will, but forced by his genius. And distinguished by a sharp and extremely strong character, he had a will harder than granite itself.
Mike's childhood
In March 1475, the second son of five boys was born into the family of a poor nobleman. When Mika was 6 years old, his mother, exhausted by frequent pregnancies, died. And this tragedy left an indelible mark on the boy’s psychological state, which explained his isolation, irritability and unsociability.https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/219410677.jpg" alt=" Italian painting of 12-year-old Michelangelo: the earliest work." title="Italian painting of 12-year-old Michelangelo: the earliest work." border="0" vspace="5">!}
Having reached the age of 13, Mike told his father, who wanted to give his son a decent financial education, that he intended to study artistic craft.
And he had no choice but to send his son to study with the master Domenico Ghirlandaio.
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0024.jpg" alt=" Madonna of the Staircase. (1491). Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti." title="Madonna at the stairs. (1491).
Already in 1490, they began to talk about the exceptional talent of the still very young Michelangelo Buonarroti, and he was only 15 years old at that time. And two years later, the beginning sculptor already had the marble reliefs “Madonna of the Stairs” and “Battle of the Centaurs” to his credit.
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0022.jpg" alt="A statue of the prophet Moses, intended for one of the papal tombs of the Vatican Cathedral." title="A statue of the prophet Moses, intended for one of the papal tombs of the Vatican Cathedral." border="0" vspace="5">!}
Michelangelo's statues, like titans preserving their stone nature, have always been distinguished by their solidity and at the same time grace. The sculptor himself claimed that “A good sculpture is one that can be rolled down a mountain and not a single part will break off.”
The only masterpiece of a genius with his autograph
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0010.jpg" alt="Fragment.
He made this signature in a fit of anger at temple visitors who attributed his creation to another sculptor. A little later, the master repented of his attack of pride and never signed any of his works again.
4 years of hard labor on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel
At the age of 33, Michelangelo will begin his titanic work on the greatest achievement in the field of painting - the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. The painting, with a total area of 600 square meters, was taken from the scenes of the Old Testament: from the Creation of the World to the Flood.https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0011.jpg" alt="Michelangelo Buonarroti." title="Michelangelo Buonarroti." border="0" vspace="5">!}
At the end of the work, the master was practically blind from the fact that the poisonous paint constantly dripped into his eyes while working, and its fumes completely undermined the health of the great master.
“After four tortured years of making over 400 life-size figures, I felt so old and tired. I was only 37, and all my friends no longer recognized the old man I had become.”.
The artist's personal life is shrouded in secrets and speculation.
There have always been many rumors surrounding the personal life of the famous sculptor.Biographers stated that due to the fact that Michelangelo was deprived of maternal love, he did not have relationships with women.
But he was credited with various close relationships with his sitters. To support the version of homosexuality, Michelangelo said only the fact that he had never been married. He himself explained it as follows: “Art is jealous,” said Michelangelo, “and demands the whole person. I have a wife to whom everything belongs, and my children are my creations.”
Some researchers believed that Michelangelo generally avoided physical sex, whether with women or men. Others considered him bisexual. However, as an artist he preferred male nudity to female nudity, and his love sonnets, dedicated primarily to men, clearly contain homoerotic motifs.
The first mentions of a romantic nature will appear only when Michelangelo is already over fifty. Having met a young man named Tommaso de'Cavalieri, the master dedicated numerous love poems to him. But this fact is not reliable evidence of their intimate relationship, since divulging this to the whole world through love poetry was dangerous at that time even for Michelangelo, who in his youth was twice subjected to homosexual blackmail and learned caution.
But one thing is certain, that these two people were connected by deep friendship and spiritual closeness until the master’s death. It was Tomasso who sat at the bedside of his dying friend until his last breath.
When the artist was already approaching 60, fate brought him together with a talented poetess named Vittoria Colonna, the granddaughter of the Duke of Urbana and the widow of the famous commander Marquis of Pescaro. Only this 47-year-old woman, distinguished by a strong masculine character and possessing an extraordinary mind and innate tact, was able to fully understand the mental state of a lonely genius.
For ten years until her death, they constantly communicated, exchanged poems, and carried on correspondence, which became a real monument to the historical era.
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0029.jpg" alt=" Michelangelo at the tomb of Vittoria Colonna, kissing the hand of the deceased. Author: Francesco Jacovacci." title="Michelangelo at the tomb of Vittoria Colonna, kissing the hand of the deceased.
Her death was a great loss for the artist, who until the end of his days regretted that he had kissed only the hand of his beautiful beloved, and he so wanted to kiss her on the mouth, but he "не смел осквернить своим смрадным прикосновением её прекрасные и свежие черты". !}
He dedicated a posthumous sonnet to his beloved woman, which became the last in his poetic work.
Death of a Genius
https://static.kulturologia.ru/files/u21941/buanarotti-0006.jpg" alt="Buonarrotti's tomb in Florence." title="Buonarotti's tomb in Florence." border="0" vspace="5">!}
Michelangelo was revered by fans during his lifetime and enjoyed enormous popularity, which many of his colleagues did not have.
Thus, the crowning achievement of the brilliant Renaissance master, transformed from a 5-meter block of damaged marble into a masterpiece, glorified him throughout the world and is still considered one of the most famous and perfect works of art.
Nearly 500 years after Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, young medical student Franz Meschberger was preparing for exams in the anatomy theater of the Indianapolis Medical School, and until then he did not realize how close he was to deciphering a message from one of the world's greatest artists. .
Usually he dissected the same corpse, which gave off the cloying and unpleasant smell of formaldehyde, an aroma very familiar to him, but that day he had a new subject for analysis - a fresh brain.
On the table in front of him were drawings by the famous medical illustrator Frank Netter. Meshberger approached the task very responsibly, making several drawings before dissecting the brain, comparing them with Netter’s illustrations, then making another series of drawings himself. After spending three hours of intense labor, as was always the case when he worked in the anatomical theater, he realized that he needed to take a break and change his occupation.
Almost immediately, the student began reading a book about Michelangelo and, turning the pages, came across a three-page spread of “The Creation of Adam,” a scene that adorns part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The fresco depicted God (surrounded by angels and with the unborn Eve under his arm) extending his hand to Adam. Adam leans back and also reaches out his hand to God with a casual gesture.
Meshberger's head, filled with images of the human brain, was determined to see what no one had been able to see before.
“I was immediately struck by the shape of the outline that surrounded God and the angels,” he recalls. “It was exactly the same as the item I had been working on all day!”
Without a doubt, this shape resembled a cross-section of a human brain. “I was overcome with a sense of déjà-vu,” says Meschberger, who admits that at the moment of discovery, goosebumps ran through his body.
The first thing that caught his attention was the hem of the green tunic, which represented the vertebral artery, spiraling up towards the pons. "Then I noticed the elongated leg at the base of the picture. I saw in it the anterior and posterior parts of the pituitary gland. The angel's leg was not five, but two-toed. Then I distinguished a shape reminiscent of the arterial groove and the lateral fissure of the cerebrum, separating the frontal and parietal lobes .
The symbolism of this image is obvious: Adam receives a gift from the Lord God. But this is not a gift of life, because he already lives. H.V. Janson in the book “Fundamentals of Art History” notes that “(Creation) is not a modeling of Adam’s body, but rather the transference to him of the divine breath - the soul.
Since the seat of the soul is the mind, there is a hidden message within the circuits of the brain: God gives Adam a mind. “And the mind is God,” adds Dr. Meshberger.
Dr. Meshberger almost forgot about his discovery. He became an obstetrician-gynecologist, opened his own practice, and helped deliver more than 3,000 babies before returning to the discovery and putting all the elements together into an acceptable theory.
But from time to time he casually asked his friends and acquaintances: “Do you know that Michelangelo’s fresco contains a secret message?” Three years ago, when he became convinced that no one had heard of his theory, his interest in it revived. “I wanted to know whether my observation was a common interpretation of the image or something new.”
He continued, in his free time from work, to research the life of Michelangelo and the result made him think. Born in 1475, the artist, who was called the "divine Michelangelo" at the time he sculpted the Pieta of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, was 24 years old. This work made him instantly famous, and the sculpture of David, completed five years later, cemented his reputation as a genius. In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned him, a sculptor by profession, to paint the entire vault of the Sistine Chapel with a total area of 1,768 square meters. The fact that a master who had almost no experience in fresco painting created a masterpiece in just four years speaks volumes of his genius. The fresco depicts more than three hundred characters and many scenes, only one of which is “The Creation of Adam.”
Dr. Meshberger's enthusiasm grew as his research continued. He never found any mention of the fact that the fresco depicts the outline of a human brain. He began to study the image even more closely and the idea came to his mind to superimpose a slide of the fresco on a transparent drawing of the human brain made by Frank Netter. The result was amazing. “The drawings matched almost completely,” he says, adding in a low, measured, almost graveyard tone: “I just felt creepy.”
It was obvious that the fresco hid much more than Dr. Meshberger thought. “The overlay of slides led me to understand that the back of one of the angels corresponds to the pons, and the lower leg and thigh correspond to the spine.” But that's not all. The right two-toed leg of the angel, bent at the knee (the legs of God and other characters had five toes) represented a cross-section of the optic chiasm, the thigh was the optic nerve, and the leg itself was the optic tract.
These undeniable facts were clearly not mere coincidence. And all of Michelangelo’s work is imbued with soul-touching symbolism. Experts know that his works are fraught with countless mysteries that have not been clarified to this day. They will probably remain this way forever. But is the assumption that in the outlines of the brain Adam receives from God the gift of reason compatible with the life philosophy of Michelangelo himself?
Obviously yes.
Born during the heyday of the Renaissance, the artist adhered to the philosophy of Neoplatonism and, as Dr. Meshberger notes, followers of this school of thought believed, among other things, that “the divine part that man receives from the Creator is reason.” Michelangelo stated this more than once, both in his poems and in conversations with friends.
If his philosophy coincides with the meaning of the message of the fresco, then what about his knowledge of anatomy? Those who challenge Dr. Meshberger's theory doubt that the master had such advanced anatomical knowledge. Without a doubt, his paintings and sculptures indicate that he knew well the structure of the human body, but we must not forget that the creator devoted a lot of time to dissecting human corpses. The rector of the Florentine church of Santo Spirito placed at his disposal several premises for this purpose. At the time, such activity was illegal and punishable by death unless sanctioned by civil authority. Away from human eyes, Michelangelo could thus safely dissect the brain and study it.
“Macroscopic anatomy,” explains Dr. Meshberger, “consists of removing the entire brain from the skull for the purpose of observing it. And, since you believe that this organ is the seat of the mind, then to depict this function you will draw the brain.
Frescoes are painted on fresh plaster, which absorbs water in which the pigments are suspended. The image thus becomes an integral part of the wall. The plaster itself dries quickly, so a small surface is painted at a time. To avoid costly mistakes, artists prepare detailed sketches on cardboard or paper and redraw them on a surface prepared for painting.
"I believe that's exactly what Michelangelo did," says Dr. Meshberger. “His sketch was an outline of a brain, within which he placed images of people, God and angels.”
There is no doubt that the artist was endowed with inspiration, and many of his contemporaries considered him to be a divine creation himself. He could create with deep penetration into spheres not only artistic and philosophical, but also scientific. He had the art of putting rich symbolism into his works more or less explicitly and always did this with impeccable technique.
In the Sistine Chapel, he created scenes of enormous complexity, working in a technique about which he openly said that he did not like it.
450 years after his death, experts are still scratching their heads over deciphering all the symbols that he introduced into this fresco.
This time the curtain has been lifted on the secret message contained in the most famous scene of the Sistine Chapel ceiling painting.
