Michelangelo - Sistine Chapel Hidden Messages

  

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Montreal Exhibition

Last Day on October 12, 2015

There are still a few weeks left to immerse yourself in the magnificent images Michelangelo created for the Sistine Chapel in Vatican. True, they are not the originals, the real frescoes in the chapel, but they are the most impressive reproductions to see for those who cannot travel all the way to Rome. Also, keep in mind that the tourist interest in visiting the chapel is so great that the Vatican is bringing in a limit on how many people can visit per day. Beside the overcrowding, the breathing of thousands of people who go through the chapel daily creates too much humidity that is detrimental for the frescoes. 

There is more to the Michaelangelo's creation than meets the eye. Although he was originally commissioned to illustrate the New Testament, he chose to depict scenes from the Old Testament. He brought to life the stories from the Genesis, and also showed us the prophets and sibyls who foretold the coming of the Christ. The prophets were followers of Judaism, whereas sibyls were pagan women-oracles whose prophesies were also included in the Old Testament.

There are many interesting elements in Michelangelo's frescoes that one does not notice without a more careful investigation. So, for instance, in The Creation of Adam (the image at the top of the article), the God-creator is delineated by a shape that is identical to the cross section of a human brain. This seems to state that God implanted wisdom into his creation, Adam, to be accessed through Adam's brain.

Additionally, God is surrounded by angels. His left arm is paced over the shoulders of a figure that might be a more mature angel but is generally interpreted to be Sophia, the Holy Wisdom. 

If you are planning to visit the Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel exhibition, search online before your visit for the hidden meaning in the Michelangelo frescos. You might agree or disagree with what you will find, but this will definitely make you to appreciate the frescoes' complexity and enrich the quality of your visit. This is a good website to start your search.

Visit the exposition's website.

Read more about this exhibition in my previous article here.
http://artframe.blogspot.ca/2015/07/michelangelos-sistine-chapel-in-montreal.html

Click on images to enlarge them.

Hover your mouse over images for description and credits.

For those who are too far away from either Rome or Montreal and cannot travel, there is a 3D virtual visit of the Sistine Chapel provided by Vatican here.