Il pensieroso di michelangelo biography list
Partirei da una lettera a Giorgio Vasari: «Messer Giorgio, amico caro. In questa lettera del 19 dicembre , Michelangelo sembra entrato in una dimensione involutiva. Il che ci conduce a un ulteriore collegamento con l'arte del Novecento, con uno dei grandi artisti italiani, il milanese Adolfo Wildt Come Michelangelo, Wildt trasfigura la materia in altro, intende raggiungere, nella materia, una dimensione spirituale.
The mouse rat is his vahana — i. Statues of many Indian gods have their own vahanas for the same purpose, but Ganesha because of his elephantine head is easily recognisable anyway. But artistic depictions of the mouse of Ganesha and the mongoose of Kubera obviously look very much alike.
Il pensieroso di michelangelo biography full: Michelangelo further emphasized the feeling of introspection and melancholy by partially obscuring his face with his left hand and with the shadow cast by his helmet. This figure is deserving of its nickname, Il Pensieroso, “The Thoughtful One.” Provenance of The Bust of Lorenzo De Medici by Michelangelo. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarotti.
Ganesha is the God of wisdom and success. The mouse serves as his magic vehicle. It can usually be seen under his arm or foot, or in its considerably overblown proportion as his carrier. Sometimes, Ganesha holds in his hand a pot filled with jewels ratna kumbha. We found the statuettes of Ganesha where this treasure pot was seen offered by a mouse.
Throughout our stay in Nepal, where the mixed Hindu-Buddhist tradition has been preserved in the same form as it existed in the Hindustan Peninsula one thousand five hundred years ago, we have discovered that, according to the generally accepted belief, Ganesha's mouse merges with and plays the same role as the mongoose depicted usually in the left hand of Kubera, the God of wealth and prosperity his Buddhist name being Jambhala.
Both animals produce disgorge precious stones thereby symbolising the creator of affluence. Such images may be found on traditional Buddhist tanks — the icons drawn on paper or silk. During our meeting with a former Buddhist monk Lama Tsonamgel who currently owns the famous art painting workshop in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, which produces tanks, we have found out that the image of Ganesha's mouse as a symbol of the wealth producer is very similar or even the same to the mongoose of the God of wealth and prosperity Kubera.
On the tanks, the mongoose of Kubera Jambhala looks much like the mouse of Ganesha the Tibetan Tsog Dag , and both are seen disgorging jewels. Lama Tsonamgel explained to us that it was a graphic tradition very typical of Nepal and Tibet. Metaphorically, this correlates with Michelangelo's habit of developing encrypted, elaborate iconographies So we can see that the idea of connection between the statue of Lorenzo and some ancient god has already been discussed.
We suggest considering a possibility that Michelangelo, as well, might have been aware of the mouse being a symbol of prosperity and wealth, and that he could have used the images he observed on the Indian tanks or statuettes brought to Florence. Someone may raise a doubt that Michelangelo could hardly ever see any images of Oriental deities.
To assuage such doubts, we would like to mention that Indian warriors were visiting Ancient Greece as part of the Persian troops already in BC. Also, in his description of the role of different gods of Hinduism, he makes a reference to a tank dated 5th century AD. Tanks and sculptures from India could have been brought to Italy with other Oriental products, and Michelangelo might have been familiar with them; he could also have met the people who could have told him of Indian sculptures and images on tanks.
Later, in the 4th century BC, surving soldiers of Alexander the Great were sure to bring back home from India the statuettes of Hindu deities made of ivory, gold and silver. The Indian-Buddhist tanks had been known in Europe since the 7th century AD, while the bustling trade with India made across the Mediterranean Sea in the days of Michelangelo was very likely to bring to Europe great varieties of Indian statuettes and silk tanks.
Socrates was described to engage in a dialogue with an Indian Brahmin, and there is a provoking historical concept according to which Pythagoras had acquired most of his scientific and philosophical ideas in the 6th century BC when he was travelling across India. Incidentally, the distance of the Ancient Greek towns in Asia Minor from India exceeds but slightly their distance from France.
Neo-Platonism, which had become the state ideology of Florence during the reign of Lorenzo the Magnificent of the time of Michelangelo's maturity, is deeply rooted in ancient Alexandria of the first century — a large city already known to host the Hinduist and Buddhist communities at that time. We should bear in mind that Buddhism is six centuries—and Hinduism is almost three millennia—older than Christianity.
The exchange of pieces of art between India and Europe might have provoked a respective exchange of ideas and artistic concepts that could have laid the basis for discussions at the Platonic Academy in Florence, which might have been attended by the young Michelangelo: especially the discussions with participation of such renowned philosophers as Pico della Mirandola, Ficino, and Policiano.
We hope that researchers of the Medici Chapel would pay more attention to the symbolic significance of the mouse-like animal under the arm of the statue of Lorenzo, and that our materials might become helpful in further studies of this matter. For almost five centuries, it has been giving rise to a multitude of different interpretations.
The insignificant Lorenzo was transformed by the magic of his genius into a hero. He wears a suit of Roman armor, in accordance with his career as a general in the wars with the Duke of Urbino, whose title he took. His helmet is pulled well forward over the brow, the head is bent, the cheek rests upon the left hand, the elbow supported on a casket placed on the knee.
With finger laid thoughtfully upon the lips, he is thinking intently. The right hand rests, palm out, against the knee in a characteristic position of inaction. His mood is not that of a dreamer lost to his present surroundings. Rather he seems to be keenly aware of what is going on; his meditations have to do with the present.
It is as if, having given an order, he awaits its execution, his mind still intent upon his purposes, satisfied with his decision, and calmly expectant of its success. This fully explains the lack of portrait similarity. Michelangelo usually stated his authorship by introducing a self-portrait sometimes, in a grotesque form into the composition.
The altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. A fragment of the fresco with Michelangelo's alleged self-portrait.
Il pensieroso di michelangelo biography
In this connection, it may seem appropriate to reflect upon the possibility of an assumption, that in the statue of Day the sculptor presented his heroic image and did his grotesque image in the mask just beneath the figure of Night. Irving Stone saw a self-portrait of Michelangelo in the figure of Dusk , assuming that the sculptor had modeled this statue after himself [5].
If Stone was right, then both of the male images and the grotesque mask should reflect facial features of our sculptor. This shows how personal this work was for Michelangelo.
Il pensieroso di michelangelo biography wikipedia
Besides, the mask may remind us of the Faun from the Medici Gardens — the first sculpture Michelangelo created in his life. Speaking about the Medici Chapel, we should immediately note that even the technically perfect imagery cannot serve as a substitute for one's physical presence in that place. This concerns not only the aura and the general atmosphere of the complex, but also the effect produced by each of its statues.
There, it becomes obvious that the three female statues: Dawn , Night and the Madonna dominate the whole Chapel, creating a magical triangle, inside of which your heart falters and your breathing accelerates. English scientist Kenneth Clark remarks that the Medici Chapel stands apart from other sculptural creations by Michelangelo, since two of the four main figures are female.
But why should he forget about the statue of the Madonna? Besides, the Pope had never seen the work of Michelangelo, being unable to visit the Chapel; and, as for Alessandro De'Medici, the then ruler of Florence, the sculptor merely did not let him inside the Sacristy. Such situation allowed Michelangelo to create the Chapel the way he wanted, while preventing him from disclosure of his true intentions.
It is known that, when Vasari after many years asked Michelangelo about the plan, which the latter had incorporated in the Medici Chapel, the elderly sculptor answered that he could not remember it. At the same time, Michelangelo had effortlessly drawn an accurate sketch of his plan of the Laurentian Library's principal staircase.
Il pensieroso di michelangelo biography summary
This story makes us strongly doubt the truthfulness of his answer to Vasari. What was that Michelangelo wanted to conceal? In the last 13 years, I was privileged to visit the Chapel many dozens of times, with the total time spent in it well exceeding a couple of days, including many hours, almost a solar day, of being there alone. The personal feeling sometimes could help but obviously one cannot deny it when speaking about art.
Its pure magic and a multitude of inconceivable impressions it leaves you with are impossible to describe. The similarity between the images of Dawn and Night in my perception was augmented by the similarity of both of these, especially the former, to the Madonna. I asked several artists, good friends of mine, to tour the Chapel, and they all confirmed my observation.
Every work of art needs to be peered into very closely. Its meaning can reveal itself under the heat from our eyes. The sculptor had incorporated his original meaning or several meanings, some of which might have been added subconsciously. There may be just one solution or a whole multitude of them. The first concept, based on the striking similarity of female images, was a rather presumptuous idea that in the statue of Dawn , which on a fine morning gets lit by direct beams of sunlight, Michelangelo had represented the Immaculate Conception.
In fact, the Dawn's face may not necessarily represent a difficult awakening, but, on the contrary, it may display a carnal languor of a satisfied desire, which can hardly be confused with anything else. Such interpretation of the statue has some obvious grounds. According to this concept, all three female statues of the Chapel reflected different images of the Virgin, and the statue of Night may be an image of the Mother of Christ, tormented by the travails of Crucifixion, who has fallen into leaden but already tranquil slumber after the Ascension of Christ.
Christian imagery was also low on positive images of secular power. Therefore, we would like to present another concept that appeared somewhat later, but, unlike the previous one, has a substantial, though indirect, scientific rationale. My favorite sculptor is Michelangelo, and my favorite painter — Botticelli.
Another thing to be noticed just as easily is that the naked body in Botticelli's The Calumny of Apelles by the way, the last nude he had painted in his life also resembles the image from The Birth of Venus , though a bit deformed and aged one. This is a known fact. Yet nobody has ever tried comparing all these three images—the enigmatic female triad of Botticelli's—to one another.
The triad of Michelangelo from the Medici Chapel alongside the triad of Botticelli. November 7, , was the day when a significant event for the future Florentine Renaissance took place.
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On that day several Florentines dug out an ancient statue from the ground. It was the same Greek statue of naked Venus, which had been already unearthed a few years earlier in Sienna. Then, the righteous citizens of Sienna had not stood the test of her naked beauty and, on the above-mentioned date, had secretly buried it in the ground, but on the territory controlled by the Florentines, thus hoping to jinx the enemy.
But, in fact, this sortie brought good luck to Florence. Petersburg, , p. The convergence of the ancient image of Venus and the contemporary Christian morals coincided in Florence of the mid-fifteenth century with the convergence of the Christian female saints imagery and the ancient idea of nudity. For example, in a painting by Fra Carnevale, the Virgin Mary was shown fully naked, while taking a bath, and another character — St.
Anne — depicted topless [8]. Clark mentioned that Botticelli used the same head for his Madonnas, and this circumstance, quite shocking as it may seem at first, shows to those who are able to understand the highest degree of human thought, a shining halo in the pure air of imagination. He said that the fact that the head of our Christian goddess, with all her innate ability to sympathize with people, with all her rich inner life, can be set up upon a nude body, without looking alien or out of place, proves the ultimate triumph of the Celestial Venus [9].
The same may and should be said about the statue of Dawn and that of the Madonna in the Medici Chapel. To explain the statue of Night as an image of Venus-Aphrodite, we need to draw another parallel with Botticelli's art. He writes: At first blush, she reminds Venus, but practically everywhere the required flowing smoothness appears to be broken.
Instead of the classical oval of the Venus' figure, her arms and head fit into a zigzag rhomboid medieval pattern. A long lock of hair entwining her right thigh purposely refuses to follow its form. The hand of Botticelli draws firm and graceful lines, but in each curve we feel his utter rejection of the thrill of lust Probably, this was because Botticelli had created these works in different creative periods, lying many years apart.
Our concept presumes that Michelangelo in his Medici Chapel decided to recreate the above-mentioned Botticelli's triad. Michelangelo had been creating the Medici Chapel as an artistic entity.
He started his work at the age of 45, being already recognized as the best sculptor and painter in Rome in Rome, though, but not in Florence! There, Botticelli was still reigning as the sovereign of painting but already with certain reservations. Michelangelo could not be unaware of Botticelli's triad. He could even have known its exact sense and meaning, either from Botticelli or from his contemporaries.
Besides, Botticelli was the principal Medicean painter, a favourite of the Medicis. He preserved on his canvas the images of Cosimo, his son Pietro, his grandsons: Lorenzo the future il Magnifico and Giuliano to be killed in the Pazzi plot , and the staff of the Platonian Academy. Even after Medici's deposition, they continued to support Botticelli financially.
Some art experts like linking The Birth of Venus to Neoplatonic ideas, most often tying it to the poem by Policiano and the ideas of Ficino, — both of whom belonged to the Platonic Academy. Among possible advisers to Michelangelo during his work on the Medici Chapel, Edith Balas names the Ficino's best known disciple who could have explained to Michelangelo the same ideas that earlier had been explained by Neoplatonists to Botticelli.
It is known that Michelangelo and Botticelli met several times and could have exchanged their ideas [10]. Burdach continues by saying that the rise of Renaissance could be explained by the desire to revive Christianity by invoking the spirit of Antiquity. Based on my ever growing studies in the field of religious phantasy That is why a perfect five-point star had originally become a symbol of excellence and simplicity, until it did eventually change its popular meaning.
Perhaps, Dan Brown has embellished something, but his hypothesis partly coincides with the opinion of some researchers, writing that Botticelli himself was a philosopher who generated his own ideas and did not need scholarly advisers. Art expert Antonio Paolucci writes that Botticelli was the most intelligent witness and interpreter of his contemporary lite, who was in the best position to comprehend the spirit of his time.
In a book entitled The Fifteenth-Century Painting , its German authors mention the likeness between the images of Venus and the Madonna in Botticelli's works.