The Impact of Patronage and Context - Essay Example

The Impact of Patronage and Context This essay will basically deal with the impact that patronage and context have on art. The painting chosen for this essay is The Last Judgment by Michelangelo. The renaissance patron chosen for this painting is Pope Paul III. Pope Paul III was the pope of the Roman Catholic Church from the year 1534 to the year 1549, when he died. Pope Paul III is chosen for this paper due to the death of Pope Clement. Pope Clement is said to have ordered Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, just a few days before his death. Pope Paul III, despite sharing certain traits with his predecessor, was a different man. With regards to visual arts he preferred works that were inspired and elegant but cool and unemotional. He called the Council of Trent during his time and it is said that he allowed Michelangelo’s fresco to be completed the way it is as he saw it as a way to express the ideas discussed in the Council.1 He is also chosen as the patron here, because he decided to change the artwork from The Resurrection to the Last Judgment. The Last Judgment was painted by Michelangelo between 1535 and 1541. The painting was constructed in a grand scale and adorns the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. The wall on which The Last Judgment is painted looms over the viewer, as it rises on the wall and was meant to instill fear, piety and respect for God’s power. The Last Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ or the coming of the apocalypse. As already stated the fresco adorns the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel, from bottom to the ceiling. Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment represents last judgment, heaven and hell all in one painting. The composition is realistic and looms over the viewer. It is composed of over life-sized, muscled figures, most of who appear to be heavily tortured. These muscled figures are much in contrast to the other frescos in the Sistine Chapel. The composition is organized in horizontal bands and gives way to a colorful, active visual with several individual scenes occurring simultaneously in the same picture, which somehow continue to form an integral part of the whole. The figures are awkwardly positioned and cool colors are utilized by the painter to convey his idea. Three very prominent figures can be noticed in the picture. The centre of the picture and the area that is most well lit by natural light streaming through the chapel windows is occupied by a beardless Christ, often considered as the Damning Christ who has come forth to pronounce judgment. Next to him is the Virgin Mary dressed in blue, who seems cowering before the power that God seems to be radiating. The third, but prominent figure is that of St.Bartholomew who was martyred by being skinned alive. The figure of St.Bartholomew holds a knife in one hand and a flayed skin in another. The face on the skin however, is not that of St,Bartholomew’s but that of Michelangelo’s. It is said that the figure of St.Bartholomew represents the satirist and erotic writer of that time, Pietro Aretino who tried to extract a valuable painting from Michelangelo, and the skin depicts Michelangelo himself, who is trying to convey the idea that he was victimized. The entire painting, despite having cool colors, looms over the viewer thereby inspiring fear, piety and respect. In all, the painting evokes emotions of fear and sadness in the viewer. The subject matter of the fresco The Last Judgment by Michelangelo was chosen by Pope Paul III, who is considered to be the patron of this painting. The subject depicted through the painting is that of the second coming of Christ, whereby the judgment of all humanity is in the hands of Christ.2 The primary message conveyed by the painting is that the state of a person’s soul determines whether they are destined to go to hell or heaven. This subject matter was chosen by the patron Pope Paul III because he lived in a time when the church was threatened. He was also concerned with reforms within the church.3 This kind of a theme reinforced the beliefs and ideas conveyed by the church as it talked of how one’s own personal faith through acceptance of the principles of the church can lead him to heaven and how his failure to conform to the principles and rules of the church could earn him hell and damnation. Pope Paul III knew the impact that such a painting will cause as at that time the people in Europe were torn due to the Protestant Reformation which challenged the ideas put forth by the Catholic Church. He in fact used this painting as a warning to all the Catholics and the painting was considered to be a part of his organized campaign to prevent the people of Europe from joining the Protestant reform movement and instead stay loyal to the Catholic Church and the beliefs and ideas that it put forth.4 In this context it is important to note that Pope Paul III was very learned man in the visual arts, Humanist tradition and one who enjoyed the company of poets. He also preferred classically inspired and unemotional art with cool colors. To view The Last Judgment as a reflection of his tastes is to see it as a mannerist style of art, although this particular style cannot be fully allied with that of Michelangelo’s. There were two main reasons why Pope Paul III wanted Michelangelo to do this painting in the Sistine Chapel. Firstly, he wanted Michelangelo to work exclusively for him and do only papal paintings. Secondly, Pope Paul III wanted to paint the subject matter in a style that was consistent with his previous works. Michelangelo had previously painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with the same fresco style and colorful expressions. Fresco is the art of painting on wet plaster. Pope Paul III wanted him to paint the wall behind the altar in a similar style. Despite the style of fresco and the menacing, muscled and over life size figures of the painting, Pope Paul III encouraged this style, as he was a lover of art. Despite him and Michelangelo having differences in opinions on styles, the Pope understood and accepted it as long as the subject matter was conveyed through the portrait. Through this he becomes a patron of the style and of the painting. He did not have any objection to the figures being painted in the nude either, as according to him the message to be conveyed through the painting was done effectively. It instilled in the viewer fear and piety for the power of God, as well as the Catholic Church. The style of a painting, the subject matter and the technique used are greatly influenced by the context and the civic location in which it is created. The painting was made on the wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. The painting extends up to the ceiling and looms over the viewer. The painting extends to all the four ends of the wall and the absence of an architectural frame emphasizes the impression that picture cannot be contained by the walls and the side walls of the chapel themselves extend up to infinity. The Last Judgment is considered to be a completion of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling itself not only represents an intellectual or theological program, it also represents a liturgical experience. The painting is not considered to be a story of a terrible judge; on the contrary it represents Christ as the centre of the process towards salvation. And since it is part of the process of salvation it rightly belongs to the alter wall of the chapel as sacrifice of the mass is considered to be the point of entry into salvation.5 The civic location, namely Rome in this case also played an important part in influencing the painting. The period during which this painting was done, was marked by the Protestant reform movement, by which many people in Europe were influenced and thus challenged the doctrines put forth by the Catholic Church. This painting was done as part of a campaign to prevent people from being influenced by the reform movement and going against the ideals put forth by Catholicism. The painting distinctly shows that those souls who believed in the Church were saved and those that dint were damned. Michelangelo has clearly depicted the saved souls and the rejected souls in separate scenes. Furthermore, this period was also marked by the full fledged beginning and use of the fresco style of painting and hence had a sizeable impact on it being used to paint the subject matter.6 The painting was quite effective and achieved its central object. It was successful in instilling fear and piety among the European people at that time, and continue to do so, which was the main aim of Pope Paul III in commissioning such a painting in the Sistine Chapel. It restored Catholic faith to a large extent and conveyed the essence of the subject matter. Since it followed a style that was quite well known in Europe at that period of time, it went well with the people who visited the Sistine Chapel. The play of colors and the style conveyed the message that Pope Paul III intended to convey. Michelangelo effectively combines death, final judgment followed by heaven or hell through a realistic composition that makes use of larger than life figures.7 The people who viewed it were mainly Europeans who were torn by the ideals of the Catholic Church and the ideals put forth by the Protestant reformation that occurred at that time. The visual in the painting, i.e. that of Christ passing the final judgment on souls thereby sending them either to blissful heaven or sending them to eternal damnation, was intended to restore Catholic faith in the Europeans who were torn by the reform movement. The message to them was that, if they faithfully followed the doctrines if the Catholic church and held on to their personal faith, they would enjoy blissful heaven and if they deviated from such a faith they were destined to be eternally damned in hell. The audiences had differing views on the painting. While some of them were uncomfortable with the level of nudity in the painting and openly opposed what according to them was obscenity, there were others in whom the painting instilled fear and piety due to its over sized figures and the tortured faces of the subjects in the painting. While some went against the church, there were some in whom faith was restored. Although the exact effects of the painting is unknown, it is a widely acknowledged fact that till this date it manages to instill a sense of fear and respect in all who view it. Thus from the above analysis it can be concluded that the patron, the context and the civic location play a very important role in influencing works of art. The patron in the case of The Last Judgment, namely Pope Paul III was not only a lover of art, who supported new styles and techniques, he also had an underlying purpose behind ordering the painting to be done, i.e. restoration of faith in the Catholic Church and the ideals taught. This purpose in-turn was influenced by the situation in Rome at that period, namely the Protestant Reform movement coupled by the development of fresco as an emerging style. These two factors had a major influence on the subject matter and style of the painting. The context in which the painting was done is a large contributing factor. It was intended as a continuation of the paintings in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. And as mentioned in the above sections the most effective completion would be a subject matter that deals with salvation. Furthermore, the civic location, namely Rome was also an integral part of the painting. Hence it is valid to conclude that patronage and context play a very vital role in shaping the subject matter, style and technique of art works. Bibliography Barnes, Bernadine Ann. Michelangelo's Last Judgment: The Renaissance Response. California: University of California Press, 1998. Dillenberger, John. Images and relics: theological perceptions and visual images in sixteenth-century Europe, Issue 7862. United States: Oxford University Press US, 1999. Gardner, Helen, Fred S, Kleiner and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardner’s art through the ages: the western perspective. Vol. 2. Michigan: Wadsworth Publishing, 2005. Paoletti, John and Gary M. Radke. Art in Renaissance Italy. London: Laurence King, 2001. Wallace, William. Michelangelo, Selected Scholarship in English: The Sistine Chapel Volume 2. London: Taylor & Francis, 1995. Walls, Jerry. The Oxford handbook of Eschatology. United States: Oxford University Press US, 2007. Read More