Details behind Michelangelo's Artistry

-



    After learning about Michelangelo's history and art more in depth in Chapter 13, I wanted to discover more. When doing some more research, I stumbled upon James G. Cooper's article titled, "Michelangelo's Laurentian Library: Drawings and Design Process". I found his art inspiring and I wanted to learn more about the delicate process behind it, which is why I choose this article. Essentially, this article goes into his design process by studying his drawings that survived in the Laurentian Library. 

    This author carefully studied and replicated many of his sketches in order to truly understand his artistic process. Cooper goes into his sketching process stating, "In all the surviving sheets the drawings are incomplete, and this is because the act of sketching was itself Michelangelo's primary vehicle for exploring and developing an idea. Each sketch inevitably led to a new idea and this led to a new sketch with there being no point in completing the previous one" (Cooper). The article continues to study the ideas and starting points behind his drawings. 


Head of Cleopatra  
Florence, Italy 

    While I got most of the history and facts on Michelangelo in Chapter 13, the text did not go into great detail on his design/drawing process as the article did. The Cooper article primarily focused on his said thought process behind his sketches and art. For example Cooper explains, "Michelangelo indented his  rapid, freehand sketches to be for his eyes only. In some cases, he appears to have them drawn them so quickly that one can imagine the ideas appearing on the sheet almost as rapidly as they were evolving in his mind" (Cooper). From this article I learned much more about his creative design process, but the text provided me with the overall background information about his life as an artist. 

   When talking about his sculptures the text states, "Michelangelo had hardly begun work on the pope's tomb when Julius commanded him to fresco the ceiling of the sistine chapel to complete the work done in the Previous century.. But Michelangelo resisted the project" (Cunningham). If I had not read Chapter 13, reading all about his drawings from the beginning would have not been as interesting without knowing the details of his life. I am glad I read both of these texts because they provided great information that allowed me to    have the best understanding of Michelangelo. 


    I selected this article by James Cooper because I truly love art. I enjoy drawing/painting and after reading about Michelangelo in Chapter 13, I was curious to know his personal creative process behind his incredible artistry. This article provided me with that information and because of that I was able to compare and contrast my own design process to his, which was very interesting.
  
 After reading his article, I gained a much larger understanding of Michalegelo's creative thought process behind his sketches, sculptures, and designs. To return to the Laurentian Library, Michelangelo was also developing the design of the staircase, while considering the interior space of the ricetto as a whole. In some elevation sketches, he included variations on the stairs, while in other sketches he drew the stairs in isolation" (Cooper). This quote is a great example of the amount of detail provided in the article revolving his sketches. I would completely recommend reading this article by Cooper if you are interesting in the details of the art process. 

Works Cited 
COOPER, JAMES G. “Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library: Drawings and Design Process.” Architectural History, vol. 54, SAHGB Publications Limited, 2011, pp. 49–90, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41418348.

Cunningham, Andrew. Chapter 13 – The High Renaissance in Italy

Comments

  1. Andrew JacksonMarch 16, 2022 at 12:46 AM

    I really liked you subject line because i didn't know that Michelangelo had so many unfinished work. I do art and sometimes find it hard to finish work when I get new inspirations while working of pieces to, do you think maybe he had a short attention span? Also, I suggest using one font on your blog next time.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Modern Take on Machiavelli's The Prince

-
Image
 After reading The Prince  by Niccolo Machiavelli and then reading the many opinionated articles following the text, I choose to examine Erica Benner's article title "From Machiavelli's Prince: A New Reading". The main idea presented by Benner is the idea that Machiavelli was trying to restore good moral standards in politics or overall ruling. Benner states, "Machiavelli's Prince , I suggest, is a masterwork with ironic writing with a moral purpose" (Benner 300). She explains the two ideas Machiavelli is trying to get across, one being the idea of warning people of power of the danger of asserting total dictatorship over people who value their freedom. Benner then goes into the idea of Machiavelli., teaching ordinary citizens to reconginice the early warning signs of control-hungry behavior in their leaders, and to impress on them the need to establish political and military orders that can keep tyranny at bay" (Benner 301). The overall message I t...
Read more

Musical Development of the 16th Century

-
Image
Reading  Madrigal Music by composer Jacques Arcadelt  During the 16th century, the Renaissance produced major musical development through sacred and secular music.       Sacred music generally involved the musical form of the motet or mass, while secular music involved the rise of instrumental music and dance music using madrigals. Secular music was intended for a non religious audience, while the sacred music serves a specific religious purpose.       When describing the new styles arising in the Northern renaissance, many of these new styles were expanded upon many of the musical forms developed in the early Renaissance and High Middle Ages. "Composers also continued to write madrigals (songs for three or more solo voices based generally on secular poems).. This increasing complexity produced a significant change in character of madrigals, which were especially popular in Elizabethan England"(Cunnigham). The advancement of the ma...
Read more

Working Stiff by Ruth Kempster

-
Image
     I went and visited the Crocker Art Museum located in Sacramento, California. I was surprised with how many beautiful pieces of art were presented from so many different era's and locations.    After consideration, I choose to research and analyze the painting titled Working Stiff   by Ruth Miller Kempster. Miller was an American artist, born in 1904 and passed away in 1978. This painting was done with oil on the canvas, created in 1934. The subject of this painting involves the height of the Great Depression. The museum label stated, "Dominating the composition is a young man with a downward gaze. His strong, once-working hands, now seem to have little to do" (Crocker). This man in the painting is seemingly unemployed and exhausted from the toll the great depression provided.  Working Stiff By Ruth Miller Kempster  Crocker Art  Museum        I choos...
Read more