contemporary biographer, said so, but because Nicodemus was thought to
have been a sculptor and could, therefore, serve as a patron of sculptors.
Moreover, the man has been carved with the features of Michelangelo.
Shortly before his death, Pope Clement VII ordered Michelangelo to paint a
Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. It was not a welcome
commission, and when the pope died unexpectedly, Michelangelo tried
to escape from the agreement. But the new pope, Paul III Farnese, was
eager to have Michelangelo complete the commission. Let’s look at this
Last Judgment (c. 1535–1541, Sistine Chapel, Vatican). The tempo of the
composition is slow and measured, partially because of the weight apparent
in the painting. The blessed must be hauled up physically into heaven, while
the damned sink under the weight of their sins or are pulled down. In the
upper center is Christ, but with the appearance of a Classical Apollo, a
common Renaissance equation. There were originally many nude ¿ gures in
this work, but later in the 16th century, another painter was ordered to paint
drapery on some of them. The detail of the damned soul shows “terror in the
face of annihilation.” This phrase applies to his stricken face, but it has been
applied to nearly the whole of this painting.
Michelangelo’s features are seen on the À ayed skin of St. Bartholomew.
Michelangelo may have equated himself with Bartholomew because
the saint’s motto in art was Credo in Spiritum Sanctum (“I believe in the
Holy Spirit”). This motto is compatible with Neo-Platonic thought, which
was widespread at that time and may have formed an important part of
Michelangelo’s theology and philosophy. Sloughing off the outer skin of
mortality to free the inner core of the spirit is a Neo-Platonic concept.
The pessimism of the aged Michelangelo is clear in a poem he wrote:
What avails it to try to create so many childish things
If they’ve but brought me to this end, like one
Who crosses o’er the sea and then drowns on the strand.
Precious art, in which for a while I enjoyed such renown,
Has left me in this state:
Poor, old, and a slave in others’ power.
I am undone if I do not die soon.