A History of European Art

Lecture 27: Mannerism and the Late Work of Michelangelo

With this closing act in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo gave the conclusion

to the theological sequence he had begun. The papal altar with its daily

symbolic enactment of sacri¿ ce and salvation at the Mass is at the foot of

the wall on which this Last Judgment is painted. At the top, above Christ

on the same central axis, is the prophet Jonah, symbol of the Resurrection,

who looks up at God, initiating the creation of the world. This is profound

Christian art at the center of Roman Catholic Christianity, but it should not be

thought of as inaccessible to the non-Christian or nonbeliever. Faith is for the

faithful, but the immense achievement of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

is accessible to everyone—it is an intellectual, emotional, and psychological

construct of unsurpassed power. Ŷ

Agnolo Bronzino:

Martyrdom of St. Lawrence, c. 1565–69, fresco, Church of S. Lorenzo,

Florence, Italy.

Rosso Fiorentino:

Deposition, 1521, oil on panel, 11’ 2” H (3.41 x 2.01 m), Pinacoteca

Comunale, Volterra, Italy.

Pietà, c. 1530–35, oil on panel transferred to canvas, 4’ 2” x 5’ 4 ¼”

(1.27 x 1.63 m), Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.

Michelangelo:

Last Judgment, c. 1535–41, fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Palace,

Vatican State, Rome, Italy.

Pietà, c. 1547–55, marble, 7’ 5” H (2.3 m H), Museo dell’Opera del

Duomo, Florence, Italy.

Parmigianino:

Madonna of the Long Neck, c. 1536–40, oil on panel, 7’ 2 ¼” x 4’ 5 ¼”

(219 x 135 cm), Galleria degli Uf¿ zi, Florence, Italy.

Works Discussed