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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 59, Copernicus and Michelangelo:
May 10, 2003:
Now we can get to astronomy and a fellow who caused some trouble for a lot of folks. That was Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543). Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who developed what came to be called the Copernican system. It was a sun centered theory of planetary motion. He first presented it around 1512 and it was published in 1543 in his work, Six Books Concerning the Revolutions of the Heavenly Orbs. This theory proposed that the planets move and revolved around the sun. This is called a Sun-centered or heliocentric system. This was contrary to the church's position that the sun revolved around the earth.
Copernicus is best know for his theory of planetary motions, but he was an accomplished scientist. He studied medicine and mathematics and he developed some artistic skills as well. He was a careful researcher. His theory of planetary motion was supported by personal observations of the motions of heavenly bodies. The real genius of this work lay in its resolution of the conflicting and contradictory theories of the time.
This was a time in history when astronomy, astrology, and mathematics were intimately related such that they could be seen as a single discipline. The discipline was called the science of stars. The goal of this science was to describe the arrangement of the heavens. These descriptions could then be used for constructing horoscopes among other things. The problem was, none of the practitioners could agree on anything. This confusion stemmed from erroneous models of how the planets and stars actually moved. Though Copernicus' theory was incomplete it did resolve the contradictions of the time.
By postulating a Sun at rest and an earth in motion, he was able to explain the observations of the other planets and assign them to real orbits. Given that basis, the sidereal periods of the planets increased in a predictable way with mercury at 88 days, the Earth at one year, and Saturn at 30 years. The choking point on all of this was the necessity to abandon Aristotle's natural philosophy. A new explanation of much that had been explained by that philosophy was required. That had to wait until Kepler transformed the work into a new philosophy about the fundamental structure of the universe. Copernicus died in 1543, the year his book was published.
We now come to a man who was considered to be one of the greatest artists of all time. He is Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). He was an Itallian renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet who had great influence on the development of Western art. Michelangelo is best known for his frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This building in the Vatican is the Pope's own chapel. A rather plain brick building from the outside, it's interior walls and ceiling are adorned by the work of several Florentine Renaissance masters. Among them are Perugino, Pinturicchio, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandajo, Cosimo Rosselli and, of course, Michelangelo.
Unlike some of his contemporaries, Michelangelo was famous in his own lifetime. In fact, he was even then considered to be the worlds greatest artist. This meant his life was better documented than any of his contemporaries or predecessors. As to that, he was not satisfied with a biography of him written by his contemporary Vasari, so he had a close friend Ascanio write another. Both biographies were quite complementary, but Ascanio's was more likely Michelangelo's own view of himself. In that view, Michelangelo is seen as a sculptor first, and then as a painter, poet, and architect.
At age 13 Michelangelo became apprenticed to the Florence painter Domenico Ghirlandajo, The common practice at that time was for the apprentice to learn by making copies of earlier masters. Michelangelo did some of that and some of the copies he made survived. He left his apprenticeship after only a year whereupon the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de' Medici, took him in tow. That gave him access to all of Lorenzo's art collection and the company of all of the artists and intellects of Lorenzo's circle.
During the political upheaval that lead to the overthrow of the Medici Michelangelo decided to move on to Bologna. There he added three marble figures to the tomb and shrine of St. Dominic. Michelangelo continued to move around going back to Florence and on to Rome producing works as he went. One that got him some fame was a sculpture called Bacchus. In that he is said to have captured the spirit of antiquity as none before him had done. He was just 21 at the time.
That got him a commission from a French Cardinal to do apiece called the Pieta. This is a sculpture of the Madonna holding the figure of the crucified Christ in her arms. Done in marble the work now stands in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It was completed in 1499. He then went to Florence to sculpt a heroic, 14 feet tall figure of David. In this David stands with his sling hidden in his hand and his head turned to face Goliath. The work was placed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence. While in Florence, Michelangelo also carved Madonna and Child for the Church of Notre-Dame in Brugge.
In 1505 Pope Julius II called him back to Rome. We may remember that Julius II was the warrior Pope. Of course, Michelangelo returned as ordered. He was supposed to do a great sepulchre for the Pope, but there were financial problems and some petty infighting going on in the Vatican so the master turned his attention to the Sistine Chapel. Later, when Julius died Michelangelo carved some pieces for a much smaller tomb. These pieces are scattered. One is still in place, others are at the Louvre, and one is in Florence.
In 1513 Pope Leo X sent him to Florence to do a facade for a church. He never did that, but he did construct a tomb chapel for the Medici. This was planned to house the tombs of two deceased Medici heirs. The Medici were temporarily deposed by a revolt and the new rulers put Michelangelo in charge of the fortifications of Florence for a siege. In the end the siege succeeded and the Medici were restored to power in 1530. Michelangelo then went back to work on the tombs.
In 1534, he left Florence for Rome and never returned. he remained in Rome for the remainder of his life. In this twilight of is life and career he wrote a great deal of poetry, much of which has survived. He also returned to painting and created some excellent frescos. One of these is the Last Judgement that adorns the end wall of the Sistine Chapel. He also moved into architectural design, perhaps because he was less capable of the physical exertion demanded by sculpture and painting.
In any case, Michelangelo was a great man of the renaissance.
He left us a unique heritage of art in all forms, some finished
and some not, but all worthy of the title best of the renaissance.
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