Michelangelo

            Michelangelo was one of the greatest artists of all time. He excelled in architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, and engineering. He was a true Renaissance man who lived a long emotional life.
             In painting "The Last Judgment," Michelangelo was able to incorporate all that he had learned about the human body. He was able to show the way the body moved, as well as it's displays of unrestrained passion, overwhelming grief, or endless torment. This is what makes "The Last Judgment" such a unique and exceptional work of art. In the spring of 1534, Michelangelo received a commission from Clement VII to paint "The Last Judgment" on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. He was also commissioned at this time to paint a "Fall of the Angels" on the entrance wall, but this second work was never executed. He had painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel some twenty eight years prior, but the style of his "The Last Judgment" would greatly differ from that of the ceiling. Before Michelangelo could begin, there were many preparations to be made. A scaffold had to be built and the wall had to be prepared. Five paintings by Perugino and Michelangelo had to be removed. Two windows had to be walled up and Michelangelo "ordered it to be inclined forward by about half an ell toward the top, hoping in this fashion to protect his work against the accumulation of dust." (Brandes 388) Sebastiano del Piombo had persuaded the pope that the painting would look best in oil, and the wall was therefore prepared to receive oil pigments. This delayed the beginning of the work, since Michelangelo declared oil-painting to be an "effeminate art" and insisted on painting "al fresco," as he had done with the ceiling. The wall had to be done over and Michelangelo never spoke to Sebastiano, who had once been a student of Michelangelo. (Brandes 389) .
             There were many previous depictions of the Last Judgment which influenced Michelangelo's plan for the painting.