Liberating oneself from constraints is a tough task.
Nelson Mandela, who had extensive knowledge on matters of liberty and imprisonment famously said that freedom “is not merely to cast off one’s chains.” There is much more to it.
Unexpectedly, the exhibition “Michelangelo: Last Decades” organised by the British Museum, London has added some deeper layers to the paradox of being free when trapped.
The genius of the Renaissance, Michelangelo, held strong professional opinions.
He believed that sculpture was a supreme art and identified himself as a sculptor. Michelangelo ranked painting inferior and disliked it.
The artist even wrote a poem about the misery of painting: “My painting is dead…I am not in the right place – I am not a painter.”
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Talented and successful people like Michelangelo routinely make enemies.
His well-known distaste of painting inspired the influential architect, and Michelangelo’s rival, Donato Bramante to set a nasty trap for him.
Bramante convinced Pope Julius II to commission the artist to paint the vault of the Sistine Chapel – a Herculean project, designed to ensure Michelangelo’s failure.
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The ceiling of the chapel consisted of a thousand square metres and the painter had to compose around 300 figures.
The sculptor had little knowledge and skills of fresco technique, nevertheless his work would be judged against the brilliance of Rafael who was working on another project in The Vatican at the same time.
Without doubt, Michelangelo was “hacked”. He could not refuse the Pope’s commission. Others would inevitably compare his work to the mastery of Rafael.
What do you do in a situation like that?
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The easiest way is to try to avoid it.
Michelangelo sincerely declared that Rafael was a much better painter than him and suggested his appointment for the task.
This did not work.
Full of resentment, Michelangelo firmly negotiated the parameters of his task.
The sculptor declined to employ the fresco method popular at that time and invented his own unique technique.
He also dismissed the fresco experts brought especially from Florence to advise him and used just four assistants for the less important parts of the paintings.
Michelangelo locked the door of the Chapel and allowed two workers to be there with him.
The artist also disapproved of the scaffolding erected by Bramante and built “an ingenious system of mobile scaffolding”. Finally, he announced that he was going to paint not only the ceiling of the vault but also the walls.
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The work commenced on 15th May 1508 and the Chapel was opened to the public four years later on 31st October 1512.
The project was a major “suck”.
Michelangelo wanted to abandon it many times.
His relationship with the Pope was fraught with difficulty and caused many crises and arguments.
Mould appeared on the walls, spread to the paintings and damaged them.
Michelangelo had to paint standing on the scaffolding, reaching up to the ceiling and craning his neck for more than 12 hours a day.
It probably was unbelievably claustrophobic in this small place between the ceiling and the scaffolding with paint running down on him endlessly.
The physical demands and burdens of the work led to serious health problems for years to come.
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Still, Michelangelo endured and emerged victorious from the trap.
In a letter he wrote “ I worked harder than anyone who ever lived. I am not well and worn out with this stupendous labour, and yet, I am patient in order to achieve the desired end”.
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For centuries, the world has cherished the “desired end” as truly divine.
The “freedom”
could be
the choice to stay in the game,
push through
and give your best in the face of despair.
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