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A conversation between Giuliani and

Michelangelo
Recommend

By David Lenefsky
Posted Apr. 1, 2001 at 2:00 AM
Updated Dec 15, 2010 at 3:29 AM
"Outrageous" and "anti-Catholic" are what Mayor Giuliani called a photograph of a nude woman
in Christ's place at the Last Supper, at an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He then said
he would appoint a commission to set "decency standards" to keep such work out of museums
that receive public funds.

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The mayor's aesthetics might benefit greatly, it is respectfully submitted, from a conversation
with Michelangelo. The conversation might go along the following lines:
Mayor: Can you deny, Michelangelo, that by placing horns on Moses' head, you are anti-Jewish?
Michelangelo: Are you kidding, Mr. Mayor? I made the statue of Moses for the tomb of Pope
Julius II. Both were great lawgivers and warriors. It was Julius II who cleansed the papacy of the
licentiousness practiced by some of his immediate predecessors and who battled the French out
of Italy. Yes, Mr. Mayor, it is true that when Moses descended Mount Sinai the second time, his
face was bathed in rays of light, and when St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, he objected
to describing anyone who predated Christ in light. And yes, St. Jerome displayed questionable
judgment by taking advantage of the Hebrew language in which rays of light could also be

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translated as horns.
But to say that Catholic artists, including me, are anti-Jewish because Moses is traditionally
represented with horns is outrageous. My Moses is one of the most powerful and dynamic figures

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Mayor: Well, Michelangelo, if your Moses isn't anti-Jewish, then look at your Sistine ceiling, the
next to last scene, "The Creation of Sun, Moon and Plants," can you deny that by depicting God
showing us his behind, you are anti-Catholic?
Michelangelo: Are you joking, Mr. Mayor? I am devoutly Catholic. Why do you think I painted and
sculpted all those beautiful nude figures? We are all naked before God, does not the Bible say
that in Hebrews 4:13? What I am most concerned about in my art is the life of the human soul
as it is expressed through the beautiful structure of the human body and its movements. It is all

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a function of divine intervention. And Mr. Mayor, you are too busy doing other things and not

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reading your Bible: The Lord told Moses in Exodus 33:22-23 that he, Moses, will see the Lord's
back parts but not his face!
Mayor: Listen, Michelangelo, you are obsessed with nudity and that proves beyond a reasonable
doubt that you are anti-Catholic. At the very least, the fact that the Vatican felt obliged to
commission your pupil to paint drapery over those shockingly nude bodies in your "Last
Judgment" creates a presumption of guilt.

http://www.recordonline.com/article/20010401/News/304019962[9/13/2015 10:00:39 AM]

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A conversation between Giuliani and Michelangelo - News - recordonline.com - Middletown, NY

Michelangelo: Are you joshing, Rudy? I started the "Last Judgment" in the Sistine Chapel some
25 years after I completed the ceiling. It was Counter-Reformation time; the church was

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competing with Martin Luther's Reformation and the Vatican was controlled by a group of worldclass prudes. Would you rather see my original "Last Judgment" or my work repainted by a pupil
whose name you would not even recognize?

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Mr. Mayor, let the public, with help from the art historians and critics, decide what is good art.
And remember, history is fickle. There are lots of artists we honor today who were once
forsaken.
Mr. Mayor, no one has taken your First Amendment rights, so you can express your views. But

STAY INFORMED

setting decency standards and denying public funds just because you don't like a piece of art

represents taking away the rights of others. I only wish Julius II was around when I painted the
Last Judgment so he could have kept the cardinals at bay as he did when I painted the ceiling.

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Mr. Mayor, do you really want the rabbis and ayatollahs telling you what good art is?
David Lenefsky practices law in Manhattan and lives, as often as possible, in West Shokan, Ulster
County.

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