The Making of a Masterpiece: Perfection Was Not Enough

It was customary to work with one or more assistants on large projects, but the Maestro decided to go
solo with the massive project after dismissing six assistants he had summoned from Florence to help him
with a technique that was new to him.
He had learned enough and decided to fire them after mastering the fresco techniques. He worked in
complete solitude and secrecy until the project was completed.
Through the affresco technique of the time, Michelangelo single-handedly painted the doctrine of the
Catholic Church he painted roughly 300 figures across the Sistine Chapel ceiling to illustrate narrative
scenes from the Book of Genesis to the Last Judgment.
For the pope it turned out to be a matter of life and death. Julius II never lived to witness the masterpiece
and died before it was completed. Pope Paul III oversaw the work which commenced in 1536 and was
finished in 1541 with the Last Judgment.

The Unveiling and The Scandal

What should have been Michelangelos shining moment became his darkest hour. A scandal descended
upon the Vatican when the work in the Sistine Chapel was finally revealed. Michelangelos heaven had
no rage nor hell had fury like the Vaticans wrath. Saints and sinners with nothing on but their skin were
scattered across the sacral walls and ceiling, the fresco seemed better suited to a bathroom or roadside
wine shop than to a chapel of the Pope said at the time a papal master of ceremonies. The maestros skill
in anatomy was all too obviousy. The unclad figures resembled classical pagan gods and there was little if
anything of the canonical biblical figures that had been painted elsewhere in the Vatican by other well
known painters of the time like Raphael.
Michelangelo did not seek inspiration from the established representations of sacral art of the time but
from infinite readings and interpretations of the Old Testament. The nude figures had a symbolic meaning
that was largely misunderstood by Church officials who called the artist inventore delle porcherie
(inventor of obscenities). Michelangelo's artistic output reflected a reconciliation between Christian
theology and classical rationalism. There was no room in Michelangelos heaven and hell for clothes but
only for souls awaiting their fate.
Michelangelo was accused by Vatican officials of immorality and obscenity. His nudity was not only
indecent, it was also considered heresy.

The Fig Leaf Campaign

Cardinal Carafa and Monsignor Sernini initiated an aggressive censorship campaign, but the pope
resisted. After Michelangelos death in 1564 the Church State decided that it was time to give the
Maestros work a makeover. Daniele da Volterra, was asked to cover the exposed genitals on the figures
with fig leaves and perizomas. The Fig Leaf Campaign took off full force starting with Michelangelos
work. It then proceeded to make amends of all other works of art with too much exposure.
The fig leaves were finally removed during one of the most important works of restoration of the 20th
century from 1980 to 1999. The restoration work gave the fresco back a previous beauty without causing
any harm.