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“THE LAST JUDGEMENT”

by Michelangelo (1532-1541)

“The Last Judgement” is painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti in the year 1536-1541,

Renaissance period. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on March 6, 1475 in
Caprese, Republic of Florence, Italy. He was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and
poet. He exerted a nonparallel influence on the development of Western art. He was well thought
out the greatest living artist in his period of time, and on his whole life time he has been held as
one of the greatest artists of all time. Many of his works in architecture, sculpture, and painting
rank among the notable in existence. According to Gilbert, C. (2020), an article writer,
Michelangelo’s practice of several arts, however, was not unusual in his time, when all of them
were thought of as based on design, or drawing. Michelangelo worked in marble beaux arts or in
three-dimensional figure all his life and in other subject only during certain time period. The best

Zamora, Elizabeth O.
NR-13
 UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF NURSING
ART APPRECIATION

illustrious of his works today are the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City,
and one of these is the “The Last Judgement”. It covers the partition behind the Lord's table in the
Sistine Chapel, and the work interprets the second coming of Jesus Christ. It consist of over 300
figures. Michelangelo create it in his own inventive vision that dominate in this painting even
though he is distinctly inspired by the Bible. The painting give off in the heart of the figure, the
Christ, and he selected to render the various holy man included in the painting holding the tool of
their martyrdom instead the real view of distress. Michelangelo also give artistic liberty to paint
visual image from mythology and not only from the Bible. This shows outstanding faith in the
artist by his proprietor, Pope Paul III. Michelangelo, the artist and Pope Paul III were inspired by
the 1527 Sack of Rome when they thought with the content for “The Last Judgement”. Hence, Pope
Paul III wanted to send out a message to the soldiery making it distinct they would be rebuked for
their actions. It exposes an aspect of justice and penalty to the culprit. The retributive are being
rewarded with an invitation from Jesus Christ to spend eternity in heaven, whereas those who
acted wicked works during living are being acquittal to a timeless existence in hell.
“The Last Judgement” consists of different visual elements of art, it is the building blocks of all
art. First is the line, you can see different types of line in the painting: horizontal, vertical, wavy,
and diagonal. It is mark made upon the canvas and it is longer that it’s width. Next is the shape,
two categories of shape can see in the painting, organic and geometric. You can see semi-arc
shapes and cloud shapes in the painting. Then, the painting also uses space, the artist draw the
figures smaller to see the whole scenario, it deals with the deception of depth in the canvas. We
can see also the value in the painting, there are light and dark areas in the painting. Color of the
painting consist the three properties which are the value, intensity, and hue, it is the most
spectacular element of design. And lastly the texture, I can’t say what’s the texture of the painting,
but I think it is smooth, and slightly rough because of the paint.
Principles of design can also be seen in the painting. First is the balance, the distribution of
objects, color, texture, and space are balanced. Emphasis is can be seen at the center part of the
figure, where Christ is located. Next is the proportion of the figures in the painting, over 300
figures can be seen in the painting but it still has the feeling of unity. The painting also used

Zamora, Elizabeth O.
NR-13
 UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF NURSING
ART APPRECIATION

several elements of design, that is a variety. Unity can also be seen in the painting because there is
a feeling of harmony between the figures.
“The Last Judgement” is an exquisite painting for me, and I am astound of how each figure is
detailed by the artist. At first glance to the painting, it looks that it was not organized because of
different movements of the figures with different scenes. And it was like divided into three
scenarios, but I am not sure what scenarios were depicted. I noticed also that the artworks or
paintings from Renaissance to Neoclassical period, the human figures are mostly nude. For me,
nude paintings or artworks is not pleasant in the eye of the viewers. But, it was like the genre on
that periods are normally like that. By the explanation of different analysts of “The Last
Judgement”, I can see the message of the painting by looking and focusing on it very carefully, but
for me it is far from the description in the Bible. I can mostly feel the aura of mythology in the
painting rather than the real scenarios written in the Bible. But, it still shows the judgement for
the people in the world, it is based on
what they did in the world. There is one
part on the painting that caught my
attention, it is on the upper left. There
are group of person that is carrying a
cross, it reminds me the tradition every
holy week, which is the penitence. “The
Last Judgement” reminds me of a
painting by Hieronymus Bosch, “The
Garden of Earthly Delights”. I saw this painting on a documentary or movie entitled “Before the
Flood” by Leonardo DiCaprio. This painting shows the whole human experience from life to
afterlife in three-related canvases.
Overall, the fresco, “The Last Judgement”, shows one of the scenario in the Bible and it was
created because of the influence of the situation or an event in that period when it was created by
Michelangelo. This painting is one of the example that shows the different visual elements and
principles of design in arts. In just one painting, an artist can show different aura of an event,
mythological and biblical.

Zamora, Elizabeth O.
NR-13
 UNIVERSIDAD DE MANILA
COLLEGE OF HEALTH SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF NURSING
ART APPRECIATION

Resources:
Gilbert, C. (2020, March 2). Michelangelo, Italian Artist. Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelangelo
Finnan, V. (2008). The Last Judgement, Images of a Masterpiece. Italian Renaissance Art.
https://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Last-Judgement.html
The Last Judgement (n.d.). Artble.
https://www.artble.com/artists/michelangelo/paintings/the_last_judgement

Zamora, Elizabeth O.
NR-13