Michelangelo incorporated nonchristian personssymbols and sc

Michelangelo incorporated non-christian persons,symbols and scences in his frescoes in the sistine chapel.Discuss how one is to account for this. Is it simply \"artistic licence\"? Is it a pagan intrusion? Does it say something about the artistic impulse to use whatever symbols are useful?

Solution

The Sistine Chapel ceiling reveals a clear attempt on Michelangelo\'s part to reconcile Christian values with Platonic belief

Aside from his catholic piety, Michelangelo was also a devotee of Plato, and his search for ideal form, his fixation with using it to articulate the concerns that were central to his art, is reminiscent of the theories of the Athenian philosopher. The Sistine Chapel ceiling unites these disparate elements of thought and sculpts them into a cohesive unit - the so called Humanism that prevailed during the Renaissance and which was itself a synthesis of classical philosophy and Christianity - with all the resplendancy of the cosmology it depicts. It is a record of the personal reconciliation of classical culture and Christian belief, which Michelangelo must have undertaken within himself. MIchelangelo belived in humanism more than he had on christian faith

During the Renaissance, Michelangelo was inspired by his Christian faith to use art as a tool to turn the country\'s eyes back toward God while simultaneously combining the current period\'s religious and humanistic beliefs in his works.