Tuesday 29 May 2012

The Deep Inclination



"The very heavens, as much as his own desire, pulled him irresistibly to art, so that he could not stop himself from drawing, whenever he could steal a moment, and from seeking the company of painters.”-Ascanio Condivi on Michaelangelo.

There are moments in human history which are as refreshing and as welcome as a cool breeze on a balmy day. 

October 31st, 1512, would prove to be just such a day.
For the first time, the world was able to see something extraordinary. Rightly declared "a lamp for our art which casts abroad lustre enough to illuminate the world" - the wonder first witnessed on that day was the finished ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Containing some 300 figures, the work depicts the drama of the creation, fall and redemption of humanity from the pages of Genesis, providing a visual vista of some of the key moments of the book on a panoramic scale.

In the 1530's, Michaelangelo would again return to the chapel and produce another astonishing work - the staggering fresco of the last judgement. Once more, the piece would be filled with images of the human form, for it was here, both in his sculpture and his painting, that the artist truly found the core theme of his work - a mirror which truly reflects the divine.

And so, we have these masterpieces to enjoy today....

Well, that's not the whole story.

Some years after the work was finished, the Roman church decided that such an explicit display of naked glory had to be censored. It was ordered that the nudity was to be covered, and that one of Michaelangelo's students would work to cover all genitalia. Most of the nudity was covered, and stayed so for the next 400 years.

Thankfully, those of us living today are amongst the first to once more see the great work as it was originally created, due to a monumental restoration work at the chapel in the 1980's &90's.



As with our own times, it wasn't that nakedness when associated with vice wasn't in vogue (the medieval church had a huge catalogue of sexual misdemeanour's entitled the penitentials), but it was when nudity 'spoke' of something deeper that there was trouble.

Michaelangelo gave the world something momentous.  He understood that because of God's work in Christ, there was no longer any place for a dichotomy between truth and art, and that we should use our gifts and talents to convey this, particularly when it came to understanding the fallen nature and true intent of humanity. In seeking to express such essential truths, He became the target of an equally deep passion amongst some - to deride and tarnish any expression of such splendour, and rob the world of beauty which speaks all too closely to us for some to bear.

It's extraordinary to think that many of those in authority in those times would like to have seen nothing less than these great works white-washed, but the same appears to be true regarding fine art today. Over the last several months, many fine artists have vanished from blogging forums and popular art platforms purely because of the unceasing verbal violence constantly unleashed against their work in extolling the splendour of the human form. Those who have remained are tending to 'gate' their sites so access is given to friends only. The loss is already becoming palpable, and I wonder if, as with Michaelangelo's work, we will find in our times that much of this work will become blocked to the public arena as internet censors and vandals marginalise access to such beauty.


We cannot afford to let such a cardinal need to connect to the deeper and richer - both in the creation and enjoyment of such art - to become stifled and silenced. The glory expressed in these works resonates in us, that we are indeed part of something truly profound. Let us do all we can to express and share such a glory.




Models: Allegra & Magenta. Images by Howard.