Passo Uno: Learn About Italy (Reflection Concerning Ross King’s Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling)

This feels like the first step to taking my journey, one journey I hope will be the first of many. I have a great fascination with culture and being given the opportunity to study abroad with the School of Education at the University of Kansas in Carpi, Italy which seems like a wonderful way to start my exploration of other cultures, countries, people, histories, languages, systems of education, and last but, certainly, not least – foods.

The best way to take my first step was by reading a book that gives me further insight into Italian history and culture. Ross King’s Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling gives a great insight into Italy’s culture and artistic scene of the 15^th century. The combination of Italian art and Italian history in Michelangelo’s world creates a story of trials, rivalries, and dramatic political (all be it religious) struggles.  Ross’s novel demonstrates that the beauty and magnetism of the Sistine Chapel became so only with stipulations that did not necessarily match the Chapel’s wonders and intricacies.

After many well-known sculptor pieces such as Michelangelo’s David, his casting a bronze statue in Bologna for Pope Julius II, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to carve out and sculpt his tomb. Michelangelo enjoyed this project for he favored the art of sculpting after previous takes at painting, bronzing, frescoing, and so on. However, Julius refused to supply any more papal ducats for the supplies in the creation of his tomb because he wanted Michelangelo for another commission. Julius wanted Michelangelo to fresco the Sistine Chapel. Before beginning on May 10^th 1508, Michelangelo struggled with the decidedly “temperamental” Julius. Michelangelo, after being forced to end his work on the Pope’s tomb and told to return to Rome to work on the Sistine Chapel, refused to return to Rome. Communicating back and forth with Cardinal Alidosi, who acted as the mediator on behalf of the Pope’s wishes and Michelangelo’s unhappiness with the state of his project’s affairs. With the heavy competition of acquiring certain prestigious art commissions, Michelangelo was paranoid, and possibly rightly so, that his rivalries would see him dead. A man named Donato Bramante was his greatest enemy after he succeeded in gaining one of the greatest commissions of the time – the rebuilding of St. Peter’s. Bramante competed with Sangallo, a fellow Florentine and friend to Michelagelo, for the commission of St. Peter’s. Michelangelo was certain that Bramante was out to ruin his career on account of the fact that the large expense of rebuilding the basilica meant that the project of the Pope’s tomb would have to be put on hold which resulted in the end of Michelangelo’s work on the tomb. Michelangelo believed Bramante had persuaded the Pope to stop work on the tomb and put his efforts towards the basilica because having a tomb carved during your own lifetime would bring bad luck. Michelangelo believes Bramante then suggested Michelangelo do another commission. By suggesting a commission of frescoing, Michelangelo believed Bramante wished his reputation and career to come to a terrible end. Considering he was considerably less versed in frescoing than his own assistants, such as Pietro Perugino - who was the one to lead the team that decorated the Sistine Chapel walls before Michelangelo, Michelangelo seems to have been rightfully concerned with the future outcome of the commission of the Sistine Chapel. Raffello Santi – or Raphael was also a competitor of Michelangelo’s working in Rome on a project for the Pope. Michelangelo felt incredible pressure as he began his work on the Sistine Chapel with his lack of frescoing knowledge and the many talented artists around him that seemed they could take his career from him at any time.  Michelangelo stumbled upon many problems as he gave the Sistine Chapel life but he ultimately produced a picture oh so full of wonder and beauty. The politics of artistry inside the religious structures of Italy and between artists of different cities gives great insight towards the social and cultural reactions of Italy during the 15^th century.

My wish is to experience Italy, Italians, and their culture as a person open to realities and perspectives different from my own. I believe by reading texts, or any exposure to a different culture, gives one the opportunity to stand in a position open to learning from new realities and various perspectives. I am standing with open arms.