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On this day in 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - considered Michelangelo's finest work - is exhibited to the public for the first time.
As a Neo-platonist, Michelangelo likely believed in the divinity of his own creativity more than he did in the possibility of man being capable of drawing an image of God. Nevertheless, this piece (unnamed by the artist himself), is deemed one of the finest frescoes ever painted. I suspect that the artist and the intellectual must have had a sense of humour about this particular project, wanting to do it justice despite his own philosophies and lack of passion for painting. . .
I find Michelangelo's sculptures most magnificent - Impossible for this tactile art lover not to run her fingers over his breath-taking beauties!
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The Sistine Chapel was begun under Pope Sixtus IV in 1473, built to the proportions of Solomon's temple in the Old Testament (its height one-half and its width one-third of its length). For the purpose of emphasizing the authority and legality of the papacy, the chapel has frescoes on the walls by Botticelli and Ghirlandaio and, on the altar wall and ceiling, by Michelangelo.
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