For my Christmas present, my very clever sister gave me "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling", by Ross King - a fascinating account of how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Along the way, he paints a picture of the politics of Italy and the Church at the time, and the dynamics between the Pope, Julius II. and the artistic community.
But what I really enjoyed was the description of how Michelangelo learnt the art of fresco as he painted the ceiling, how he grew in confidence over the course of time, and especially the author's insights into Michelangelo's creative thought process as he worked on the different panels of the painting. I like how he also integrated the story of Raphael, who was working on the frescos for the Pope's study and rooms around the same time.
I had of course visited the Sistine chapel just about one and a half years ago (as recorded in a previous post) and craned my neck looking up at the ceiling the whole time. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos :-( But I recall looking at the ceiling and thinking that there was such a contrast between one half of the ceiling, where the panels appeared to be more crowded with smaller figures, as opposed to the majesty of the other half, where the masterpieces of God creating dark and light, and the creation of Adam (with the famous finger) were. The book explains that the more crowded panels were painted first. Thereafter, the scaffolding for that half of the chapel were removed and Michelangelo got his first look at the frescos from the floor of the chapel. He realised that they were not impactful due to the size and composition, and thereafter increased the size of the figures and simplified the composition for the second half of the ceiling.
These, and more insights, can be found in the book. I do recommend it for any art lover planning to visit Rome/the Sistine Chapel. The only downside is that there were not enough colour plates in the book. I would have loved more. Instead, I had to look at the paintings online on the Vatican Museum's website - the virtual tour of the chapel - whilst reading the relevant section in the book.
