TODAY ~ November 1st In 1512 the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel opens to public. The Sistine Chapel is probably the most renowned chapel in the Apostolic Palace, located in Vatican City. We can thank the legendary Michelangelo for the amazing frescos that cover the ceiling and interior. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born March 6, 1475 and lived to the ripe old age of 88, passing on February 18, 1564. Fresco means fresh, and is a mural painting technique. The earliest record of fresco dates back to 1500 BC in Greece, on the island of Crete. My personal favorite fresco of Michelangelos, in the Sistine Chapel, is The Creation of Adam. There are many theories behind its composition. Probably the most noted theory is as follows: Several hypotheses have been put forward about the meaning of The Creation of Adams highly original composition, many of them taking Michelangelos well-documented expertise in human anatomy as their starting point. In 1990, an Anderson, Indiana physician named Frank Meshberger, M.D. noted in the medical publication the Journal of the American Medical Association that the background figures and shapes portrayed behind the figure of God appeared to be an anatomically accurate picture of the human brain. Dr. Meshbergers interpretation has been discussed by Dr. Mark Lee Appler. On close examination, borders in the painting correlate with major sulci of the cerebrum in the inner and outer surface of the brain, the brain stem, the frontal lobe, the basilar artery, the pituitary gland and the optic chiasm. Alternatively, it has been observed that the red cloth around God has the shape of a human uterus (one art historian has called it a uterine mantle), and that the scarf hanging out, coloured green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord. According to Enrico Bruschini, (2004) This is an interesting hypothesis that presents the Creation scene as an idealised representation of the physical birth of man. It explains the navel that appears on Adam, which is at first perplexing because he was created, not born of a woman.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 15:05:53 +0000
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