It was
noted in class today that in the Moses in Pope Juilus II's tomb had a small set
of horns on the head of the sculpture.
This has been debated by art historians that this could have possibly
been a secret way Michelangelo showed his disdain for the Pope. This sparked my interest and I decided to see
if there have been any other hidden messages in Michelangelo's work. One possibility could be in the paintings of
the Sistine chapel. The Separation of Light and Darkness
which was most likely completed around 1512 is a panel in the Sistine Chapel,
the entire ceiling took from 1508 to 1512 (I did take this information form
wikipedia, it was just the dates so I figured it would be okay). The painting of God represents a day in the
creation of the Universe. It shows the creation of light and separation from
darkness. 
One
highly unusual aspect of the painting is the neck of God. The neck is very irregular and shows many
different convolutions and exaggerations.
In addition there is a very defined fabric wrinkle running down the
chest of God from his neck down to his torso that eventually splits into two
cylinders. One theory that has been
suggested is that the neck is supposed to represent the human brain, and that
the fabric extending down the neck represents the optic nerve. Michelangelo was a huge enthusiast of anatomy
and it is very likely that this was a hidden message in his painting, however
we will never know with absolute certainty. This hidden message could mean several things. One suggestion is that it is a comment on the clash between religion and scientific observation (Fields).
Sources can be found here:
Author: R. Douglas Fields
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2010/05/27/michelangelos-secret-message-in-the-sistine-chapel-a-juxtaposition-of-god-and-the-human-brain/
I never knew about the hidden messages that Michelangelo used. It is interesting to note that for him, while he knew the sciences he functioned as an artist, specifically with quite a bit of religious art. This could lead to a break within his style because although he knew and understood religion, who knows what his actually beliefs were? This means that although we recognize him as a logical character he could be using connections to science in his religious art either as a further compliment (exemplifying God's understanding), or as an insult (exemplifying the Church's lack of understanding and acceptance of superstition to a degree).
ReplyDeleteWow this is so cool. And bravo for digging deeper and becoming so intrigued by Michelangelo. I agree with Jenn as well, i wonder what the his true meaning was behind this piece of master work.
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