Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Frequent readers know that I enjoy the wit and  erudition  of Tyler Green. His Modern Art Notes Podcast is always worth a listen. The latest episode, embedded above, features  art historian  William E. Wallace   and curator   Julian Brooks. Wallace discusses his latest book - “Michelangelo, God’s Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece.” Wallace's new book is available on Bookshop .   Tyler writes :"The book offers a rich and lively biographical examination of the last two decades of Michelangelo’s life, a period when he became the architect of St. Peter’s Basilica and other buildings, even as he continued to sculpt and draw."  Michelangelo The Florentine Pietà  1547-55 Wallace's discussion of Michelangelo's late  Pietàs is exceptionally interesting. These are two of my favorite sculptural works by Michelangelo because of their incomplete nature.  Michelang...

by Gregg Chadwick Intimately viewing the drawings of Michelangelo helps pull the veil of fame off of this towering figure. In spite of the title of the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to give humanity back to artistic gods is no easy feat. The Met has done it twice in fourteen years. First was the 2003 exhibition of  Leonardo da Vinci's  drawings and now those of Michelangelo in 2017. Both exhibits have given a sense of hope and human possibility back to viewers in times of struggle and uncertainty. In its exhibition,  Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer  the Metropolitan Museum has created a temporary museum dedicated to the life, times, and art of Michelangelo. It includes 133 drawings and poems created by Michelangelo that link the artworks to ongoing projects by the artist and his workshop. One of Michelangelo's earliest paintings is included and a small group of his sculptures in marble fill out the show. Also included are dr...

A fascinating new study by Brazilian researchers* entitled "More Than A Neuroanatomical Representation in The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti, A Representation of the Golden Ratio" presents a compelling look at Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes. (*DEIVIS DE CAMPOS, TAIS MALYSZ, JO~AO ANTONIO BONATTO-COSTA, GERALDO PEREIRA JOTZ, LINO PINTO DE OLIVEIRA JUNIOR, ANDANDREA OXLEY DA ROCHA) "We report our use of Image Pro Plus Software 6.0 to demonstrate mathematical evidence that Michelangelo painted “The Creation of Adam” using the Divine Proportion/Golden Ratio (G R) (1.6). The GR is classically associated with greater structural efficiency and is found in biological structures and works of art by renowned artists. Thus, according to the evidence shown in this article, we can suppose that the beauty and harmony recognized in all Michelangelo’s works may not be based solely on his knowledge of human anatomical proportions, but that the artist also pro...