Chapel in Florence. Church of San Lorenzo in Florence

There is a place in Florence that has been my fixation for 6 years: the Medici Chapels. On our first visit, they were still closed on Mondays, like all museums. In the second, we worked until 13:50 (as sometimes happens now), and after the Uffizi we did not have time to get there. Well, as they say, God loves a trinity.
Actually, the Medici Chapel (and not the chapel, as they sometimes say, Cappelle Medicee, website, wiki) is a decent-sized complex at the Church of San Lorenzo, generally consisting of three rooms: the crypt, the “chapel of the princes” and the new sacristy, and only the last - creation of Michelangelo.
The crypt is not very interesting: there are exhibitions of all kinds of reliquaries, mostly late ones, when the amount of gold and the elaborateness of forms were valued, rather than beauty or subject matter (I can’t help but remember the reliquary in Orvieto or in the cathedral in Genoa - what wonderful things). In the crypt are the tombs of the last Italian condottiere, the founder of the Medici dukes, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (he is sitting in front of the church in an indecent pose) and his wife. (In fact, there is another crypt near the Church of San Lorenzo, where Cosimo the Elder de Medici and Donatello are buried, but outsiders are not allowed there.)
In the "Chapel of Princes", of course, there are no princes - there are dukes, and this, you see, is a slightly different calico. But from the point of view of decor, some princes may not only envy, but eat their hat (or tie, whoever has what) out of envy: the octagonal chapel with the second tallest dome in the city (after Brunelleschi’s dome, you know where) is lined with multi-colored marble, porphyry and granite ...

The sarcophagi, except for one, granite, are also made of polychrome marble with inlay and ducal crowns (it’s a pity, there are only two statues in the niches - the work has not been completed)...

At the base of the pilasters are the coats of arms of the “ward” cities...

The dome is inlaid and painted very richly...

Gorgeous floor...

In general, that rare case, when St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Hermitage nervously smoke on the sidelines. There is a reason to be proud.
I especially want to mention the altar: if you have ever seen such inlay, then I have not.

Honestly, I was delighted with such “luxuries” for the last time when I was 12 years old and since then I have felt a fierce hatred for them, but I don’t have the conscience to not appreciate the scope and skill. Really cool.
As for the new sacristy (wiki) - there is also the old one (wiki), by Brunelleschi, with decor by Donatello and Luca della Robbia - I imagined it completely different. I don’t know which one exactly - maybe more like a church and not like a museum storeroom? In any case, the tombstones of the Dukes of Urbino and Nemours, well known to me at least from the casts in Pushkin Museum, and here they look somehow unreal.

I remember the thrill I felt 2 years ago in Rome, when it turned out that the Moses I knew from childhood on the tomb of Pope Julius II was like this: yellowish, muscular not even in shape, but in structure, when the veins of marble seemed like living human skin. Here you can feel the hand of the master, but the structure of the marble is not very good (it’s even a little strange that Michelangelo chose it for so long).

I would also like to say something about female figures. It is common for Italian (and, in general, European) art of the Renaissance to not be able to depict women and children. The feeling that this is how the ban on the body in Catholicism manifested itself: even when painting and sculpture moved away from Gothic disproportion and gained anatomical accuracy, this only affected the male figure, since apprentices could always be undressed, put in the desired pose and spend hours drawing either the face or the body , achieving literacy in the location of muscles and reflexes.
Not so with women. There are wonderful examples: here we must again say about Filippo Lippi and Sandro Botticelli with their muses - and opposite examples from the Sienese, who, apparently, were categorically unlucky with their wives. But it’s one thing to pose with your face, and quite another with your body. There is even a feeling that artists and their wives did not see naked in ordinary lighting, let alone their models. This is how monsters were born with breasts on their shoulders or on their sides, according to the principle “she has something there somewhere.” It’s even worse with children: if the baby Jesus just looks like a miniature eight- to ten-year-old, like Giotto, or a twenty-year-old youth, like in Greek icons, consider yourself lucky, or maybe just a disproportionate freak. Even in Leonardo, with his aesthetics, babies are not alive - it took Raphael (albeit standing on the shoulders of Perugino) for the babies to take on a natural appearance.
It must be said that Michelangelo was in order with babies - he always, even in his early works, did not skimp on babies: apparently, sadly, he came across the corpses of babies along with the corpses of adult men, whom he dissected, carefully encrypted from the church. Either he didn’t come across the corpses of women, or the rumors about orientation are not fiction, but with naked women, as opposed to clothed ones, Michelangelo clearly didn’t have a good time.
Let's say, the night is an obvious man with an ineptly attached chest (also of such a configuration that you will not find it in life).

Aurora's (Morning) breasts are more reminiscent of a woman's, but the figure is still male, although not as pronounced as in the case of Night.

Against this background, the Medici Madonna on the tombstone of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano, killed during the Patia conspiracy, looks like a standard of style and anatomical accuracy, although built according to classical Greco-Roman models (for example, the Madonna’s face clearly resembles Athena, or even Hera, if you take into account the nose). Of course, it is clear that this is the same hand that Rachel made for the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome, but the unity of authorship with the Vatican “Pieta” may raise questions: “Pieta” is delightfully modern, but here there is a deliberate send-up to antiquity (unlike surrounding Cosmas and Damian, made by students based on the master’s sketches and models - these do not look ancient at all).

In general, we completed the task; we visited the Medici chapels. This did not bring me personal satisfaction - rather, disappointment. Although everyone sees it differently, of course.

Closing another gestalt, we did some shopping at the Mercato di San Lorenzo, buying a couple of bags and a couple of wallets promised to Mouse. Say what you want, but Florentine leather is beautiful, and you can always bargain. Is it true. It seemed to me that the range of bags has decreased slightly, but maybe. it just seemed like it.
Having thus lifted our spirits, we headed to our favorite place - the Monastery of San Marco (wiki). If you have never been here or confuse the Florentine San Marco with the Venetian one, be sure to visit: you will remember it for a long time, I promise. (By the way, due to the fact that it was raining again, we were met at the entrance by a girl who, with deft and quick movements, pulled special plastic covers over our umbrellas to prevent it from dripping. We swallowed nervously.)
The monastery was built in the 13th century, but only in 1437 passed into the hands of the Dominicans. With the support of Cosimo de' Medici, who brought in the great architect Michelozzo and paid the expenses, the monastery quickly became one of the most important in Florence. In addition, Cosimo organized the first public library in the history of the city at the monastery and asked to be given a cell for meditation (unlike other monks, the window in Cosimo’s cell faced the north, where there is less sun, and was the size of a palm).
The monastery was painted by local monks - however, one must understand that they were Fra Giovanni (Angelico) and Fra Bartolomeo. With the appearance of Savonarola in Florence (who, on his own account, was invited by the Medici), the monastery became his headquarters, and he himself became the abbot. Savonarola’s three-room cell (unlike all the others: even Cosimo’s has two small rooms) with an exhibition of tools for the humiliation of the flesh can still be visited today.

The museum's exhibition mainly consists of works by Fra Angelico: they are located on the ground floor, at the entrance (former hospice house) and in the chapter hall, on the second in cells and corridors (including one of the best "Annunciations" in history, wiki - only look at the expression on Maria's face!). Separately, it must be said about the book miniatures in the library on the second floor: how much better, more subtle, more interesting is Fra Angelico than his contemporary Zanobi Strozzi, how much more archaic Strozzi is!
You are not allowed to take photographs in the museum - in the cells this is strictly monitored, although "The Annunciation" is still taken en masse from the stairs, where the guards cannot see it. But downstairs you can take some pictures if you want. To be honest, we didn’t want much, we went to Once again We were amazed at how good Fra Angelico was. But one work was partially clicked: this is the “Crucifixion with Saints” from the chapter hall (wiki). I can’t believe that this is 1442: Verrocchio was 7 years old, and Lorenzo the Magnificent, Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, not to mention Leonardo and Michelangelo, were not yet born. Look at these faces and tell me that Fra Angelico is simple and primitive!

Other artists represented include the already mentioned Fra Bartolomeo (who, by the way, painted the most famous lifetime portrait of Savonarola), Paolo Uccello, a student of Fra Angelico Benozzo Gozzoli, Bartolomeo Caporali, Luca and Andrea della Robbia and many others. As an example, “The Last Supper” by Ghirlandaio (wiki): it even seems that in the 40 years since the “Crucifixion with the Saints” painting has not moved very far, although in fact a huge path has been covered.

In general, San Marco is a must-visit place.

And for us in Florence there is one more must-see place: it just so happens that we do not change the tradition of going to eat “for fools”, despite the unconditional interest in other places and regular criticism from experts who consider Borgo San Lorenzo a disgusting tourist area, and restaurants , where there is a Russian menu and chicken breast- not worth attention. So - once again I Matti (website).
We took: ribolita, cacio e pepe (pichi with pecorino and black pepper - simple and amazingly tasty, no worse than the local delicious arrabbiata), panna cotta and delicious tiramisu (the local one is definitely one of the three most delicious ones I have eaten). In general, the “fools” did not disappoint again. And this is good, because the day was only halfway through, and two more important places awaited us.

to be continued

Cappella Medici

The Medici Chapel is part of the monumental complex of San Lorenzo. was the official church of the Medici family, who lived in a palace on Via Larga (now Via Cavour). The chapel itself became their mausoleum. Giovanni de’ Bicci de’ Medici (died 1429) was the first of the Medici family to bury himself and his wife Piccarda in Bruneleschi’s small sacristy. Later his son, Cosimo the Elder, was buried in the church. The project for a family mausoleum for the Medici was conceived in 1520, when Michelangelo began work on the New Sacristy, located opposite Bruneleschi's Old Sacristy on the other side of the church. After all, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici future dad Roman Clement VII, planned to build a mausoleum for some members of his family, Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brothers, Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino (1492-1519) and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours (1479-1516).

The Medici Chapel was completed in 1524, with its white walls and pietra serena interior based on Brunneleschi's design. The entrance to the chapel is located at the back. The Medici Chapel is divided into three parts:

• crypt
• Princely Chapel (Cappella dei Principi)
• new treasury

Visit the Medici Chapel

• Medici Chapel
• Capelle Medicee
• Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6, near
• entrance to the Medici Chapel from the piazza. S. Lorenzo

Working hours:

• daily from 8:15 to 13:50
• from March 19 to November 3 and from December 26 to January 5 from 8:15 to 17:00.
• Closed: second and fourth Sunday of the month; first, third, fifth Monday of the month; New Year, May 1, December 25.

Admission ticket:

• Full price: 6.00 €
• Reduced: €3.00 (children aged 18 to 25 years, school teachers)

What to see in the Medici Chapel

In the first hall Medici chapels- the Medici family tomb, designed by Buontalenti, contains the tombs of Cosimo the Old, Donatello, and the great dukes from the family of the Dukes of Lorraine that ruled after the Medici. From this hall you can ascend to the Chapel dei Principi ( Cappella dei Principi), or Princely Chapel, the decoration of which continued until the 18th century and where the Grand Dukes of Tuscany are buried: Cosimo III, Francesco I, Cosimo I, Ferdinand I, Cosimo II and Ferdinand II.

From the Princely Chapel a corridor leads to New treasury(Sagrestia Nuova), which is located symmetrically to the Old Treasury of the Church of San Lorenzo. On behalf of Pope Leo X, from the Medici family, who wanted to create a crypt for the younger members of the house, Michelangelo built a treasury. The resulting square room (11 x 11 m) is called the Medici Chapel.

In decorating the interior, the sculptor was guided by the decoration of the Old Sacristy, built according to Brunelleschi's design. He divided the walls with vertical fluted Corinthian pilasters and cut them with horizontal cornices. At the same time, Michelangelo resorted to Brunelleschi’s favorite decorative technique - juxtaposing a white wall with segments of dark gray stone. Michelangelo strives to extend this “frame” system in height, for which purpose he narrows upward the frame of the windows in the lunettes of the upper tier and gives the dome caissons a perspective reduction. The lower pilasters and cornice are perceived as the frames of sculptural tombs.

In this decision, the new, no longer Renaissance, principle of interior design, based on a combination of contrasts, is most clearly visible. Using the simplest techniques, Michelangelo achieves unprecedented dynamism, giving rise to a different artistic language. And from the Renaissance we suddenly find ourselves in the Baroque era.

Medici Chapel Tombs

In the design of the tombs, Michelangelo decisively violates the harmony and lightness of the Renaissance architectural frame. Visually, the heavy sculptures seem to want to come out of their architectural “frames,” barely holding on to the sloping lids of the sarcophagi. It is impossible to more accurately convey the feeling of the crampedness of the crypts, the heaviness of the gravestones and the intense desire to live. Michelangelo completed only two of the planned tombs. The great-grandchildren of Cosimo the Old are buried in them. Helmet depicts Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino The allegorical figures on the tomb of the first are called “Evening” and “Morning”, of the second - “Night” and “Day”.

In the palace of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1489-1492)

G. Vasari. Portrait Lorenzo Medici. Florence, Uffizi Gallery

“And deciding to help Michelangelo and take him under his protection, he sent for his father Lodovico and informed him about this, declaring that he would treat Michelangelo as his own son, to which he willingly agreed. After which the Magnificent gave him room in his own house and ordered him to be served, so he always sat at the table with his sons and other worthy and noble persons who were with the Magnificent, who gave him this honor; and all this happened in the next year after his admission to Domenico, when Michelangelo was fifteenth or the sixteenth year, and he spent four years in this house, until the death of the Magnificent Lorenzo, which followed in 1492. During all this time, Michelangelo received from the lord of this an allowance for the support of his father in the amount of five ducats a month, and to please him, the lord gave him a red cloak, and gave him a job at the customs." Vasari

The sculptor's enormous talent, which manifested itself early, gave Michelangelo access to the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, one of the most brilliant and largest centers of Italian culture of the Renaissance. The ruler of Florence managed to attract such famous philosophers, poets, and artists as Pico della Mirandola, the head of the Neoplatonist school Marsilio Ficino, the poet Angelo Poliziano, and the artist Sandro Botticelli. There Michelangelo had the opportunity to meet young representatives of the Medici family, two of whom later became popes (Leo X and Clement VII).

Giovanni de' Medici later became Pope Leo X. Although he was only a teenager at the time, he had already been appointed a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Michelangelo also met Giuliano de' Medici. Decades later, already a renowned sculptor, Michelangelo worked on his tomb.

At the Medici court, Michelangelo becomes his own man and falls into the circle of enlightened poets and humanists. Lorenzo himself was an excellent poet. The ideas of the Platonic Academy, created under the patronage of Lorenzo, had a huge influence on the formation of the young sculptor’s worldview. He became interested in the search for the perfect form - the main task of art, according to Neoplatonists.

Some of the main ideas of Lorenzo de' Medici's circle served as a source of inspiration and torment for Michelangelo in his later life, in particular the contradiction between Christian piety and pagan sensuality. It was believed that pagan philosophy and Christian dogmas could be reconciled (this is reflected in the title of one of Ficino’s books - “Plato’s Theology of the Immortality of the Soul”); that all knowledge, if rightly understood, is the key to divine truth. Physical beauty, embodied in the human body, is an earthly manifestation of spiritual beauty. Bodily beauty may be glorified, but this is not enough, for the body is the prison of the soul, which strives to return to its Creator, but can only achieve this in death. According to Pico della Mirandola, during life a person has free will: he can ascend to the angels or plunge into an unconscious animal state. The young Michelangelo was influenced by the optimistic philosophy of humanism and believed in the limitless possibilities of man. In the luxurious chambers of the Medici, in the atmosphere of the newly discovered Platonic Academy, in communication with people such as Angelo Poliziano and Pico Mirandolsky, the boy turned into a young man, matured in intelligence and talent.

Michelangelo's perception of reality as spirit embodied in matter undoubtedly goes back to the Neoplatonists. For him, sculpture was the art of "isolating" or freeing the figure enclosed in a stone block. It is possible that some of his most striking works, which appear "unfinished", may have been deliberately left that way, because it was at this stage of "liberation" that the form most adequately embodied the artist's intention.

Surrounded by luxury, beautiful paintings and sculptures, in the elegant interiors of the Medici Palace, with access to the richest collection of monuments of ancient culture - coins, medallions, ivory cameos, jewelry - Michelangelo received the basics visual arts. It was probably during this period that he chose sculpting as his life’s work. Having become familiar with the high, refined culture of the court of Lorenzo Medici, imbued with the ideas of the progressive thinkers of that time, having assimilated the ancient tradition and high skill of his immediate predecessors, Michelangelo began independent creativity, starting work on sculptures for the Medici collection.

Early works (1489-1492)

“Let us return, however, to the garden of the Magnificent Lorenzo: this garden was overflowing with antiquities and very decorated with excellent paintings, and all this was collected in this place for beauty, for study and for pleasure, and the keys to it were always kept by Michelangelo, who far surpassed others in care in all his actions and always with lively persistence, showing his readiness. For several months, he copied Masaccio's paintings in Carmine, reproducing these works so effectively that both artists and non-artists were amazed, and envy of him grew along with his fame." Vasari

At the court of Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent Lorenzo, surrounded by talented people, humanist thinkers, poets, artists, under the patronage of a generous and attentive nobleman, in a palace where art became a cult, Michelangelo's main calling was discovered - sculpture. His earliest works in this art form reveal the true scale of his talent. Created by a sixteen-year-old boy, small relief compositions and the statues, based on the study of nature, but executed completely in the ancient spirit, are imbued with classical beauty and nobility:
- head of a laughing faun(1489, the statue has not survived),
- bas-relief “Madonna of the Stairs”, or “Madonna della Scala”(1490-1492, Buonarotti Palace, Florence),
- bas-relief “Battle of the Centaurs”(c. 1492, Buonarroti Palace, Florence),
-"Hercules"(1492, the statue has not survived),
- wooden crucifix(c. 1492, Church of Santo Spirito, Florence).

"Madonna of the Stairs" marble bas-relief (1490-1492)

Michelangelo "Madonna of the Stairs", c. 1490 -1491 Italian. Madonna della scala marble. Casa Buonarroti, Florence, Italy

Marble bas-relief. Fragment. 1490-1492 Michelangelo Buonarroti. Florence, Buonarroti Museum

“The same Lionardo, several years ago, kept in his house, in memory of his uncle, a bas-relief of the Mother of God, carved from marble by Michelangelo himself, a little more than a cubit high; in it, he, being a young man at that time and planning to reproduce the style of Donatello, did it so successfully, as if you see the hand of that master, but there is even more grace and design here. Lionardo then presented this work to Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, who revered it as the only thing of its kind, for no other bas-relief besides this sculpture was made by Michelangelo’s hand.” Vasari

At the beginning of his creative career, Michelangelo acted primarily as a sculptor. Already his first works testify to his originality and are marked by the features of the new, what his teachers could not give him: the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and the sculptor Bertoldo. His first relief, “Madonna of the Staircase” (1489-1492, Florence, Buonarroti Museum), carved in marble when he was barely sixteen years old, differs from the works of his predecessors in the plastic power of the images, emphasized by the seriousness of the interpretation of the theme used hundreds of times.

“Madonna of the Stairs” is made in the traditional style Italian sculptors 15th century technique of low, finely nuanced relief, reminiscent of the reliefs of Donatello, with which it is also related by the presence of babies (putti) depicted on the upper steps of the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs sits a Madonna with a child in her arms (hence the name of the relief). The subtle gradation of the sculpting of the forms of this three-plane relief gives it a picturesque character, as if emphasizing the connection of this type of sculpture with painting. If we take into account the fact that Michelangelo began his studies with the painter, then the reason why he initially turned to this type of sculpture and its corresponding interpretation becomes clearer. But the young Michelangelo, however, gives an example of the perfection of a non-traditional image: the Madonna and the Child Christ are endowed with power and inner drama unusual for Quattrocento art.

The main place in the relief belongs to the Madonna, majestic and serious. Her image is associated with the tradition of ancient Roman art. However, her special concentration, the strong-sounding heroic note, the contrast of powerful arms and legs with the grace and freedom of interpretation of the picturesquely melodious folds of her long robe, the baby in her arms, amazing in its childish strength - all this comes from Michelangelo himself. The special compactness, density, balance of the composition found here, the skillful comparison of volumes and shapes of different sizes and interpretations, the accuracy of the drawing, the correct construction of the figures, the subtlety of the processing of details anticipate his subsequent works. There is one more feature in “Madonna of the Stairs” that will characterize many of the artist’s works in the future - enormous internal fullness, concentration, the beating of life with external calm.

Madonnas of the 15th century are pretty and somewhat sentimental. Michelangelo's Madonna is tragically thoughtful, self-absorbed, she is not a pampered patrician or even a young mother touching in her love for her baby, but a stern and majestic maiden who is aware of her glory and knows about the tragic test destined for her.

Michelangelo sculpted Mary when she, holding a child at her breast, had to decide the future - the future for herself, for the baby, for the world. The entire left side of the bas-relief is occupied by heavy stair steps. Maria sits in profile on a bench, to the right of the stairs: the wide stone balustrade seems to end somewhere behind Maria’s right thigh, at the feet of her child. The viewer, looking at the thoughtful and tense face of the Mother of God, cannot help but feel what decisive moments she is experiencing, holding Jesus to her chest and, as if weighing in the palm of her hand the entire weight of the cross on which her son was destined to be crucified.

The Virgin, known as the Madonna della Scala, is now in the Buonarroti Museum in Florence.

Bas-relief "Battle of the Centaurs" (c. 1492)

Michelangelo. Battle of the Centaurs, 1492 Italian. Battaglia dei centauri, marble. Casa Buonarroti, Florence, Italy

Marble bas-relief. Fragment. OK. 1492. Michelangelo Buonarroti. Florence, Buonarroti Museum

“At this very time, on the advice of Poliziano, a man of extraordinary learning, Michelangelo, on a piece of marble received from his lord, carved the battle of Hercules with the centaurs, so beautiful that sometimes, looking at it now, one can take it for the work not of a youth, but of a master highly valued and tested in the theory and practice of this art. Nowadays it is kept in memory of him in the house of his nephew Leonardo, as a rare thing, which it is.” Vasari

The marble relief "Battle of the Centaurs" (Florence, Palazzo Buonarroti) (or "Battle of the Centaurs with the Lapiths") was carved in the form of a Roman sarcophagus from Carrian marble by the young Michelangelo for his noble patron, Lorenzo de' Medici, but probably due to whose death in 1492, remained unfinished.

The bas-relief depicts a scene from Greek myth about the battle of the Lapith people with semi-animal centaurs who attacked them during a wedding feast. According to another version, the scene depicts one of the episodes of ancient mythology - the battle of the centaurs, the abduction of Deianira, the wife of Hercules, or the battle of Hercules with the centaurs. This work clearly shows the master's study of ancient Roman sarcophagi, as well as the influence of the work of such masters as Bertoldo, Pollailo and Pisani.

The plot was suggested by Angelo Poliziano (1454-1494), the closest friend of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Its meaning is the victory of civilization over barbarism. According to the myth, the Lapiths were victorious, but in Michelangelo's interpretation the outcome of the battle is unclear.

Protruding from the flat surface of marble are about two dozen naked figures of Greek warriors fighting mythical centaurs. This early work of the young master reflected his passion for depicting the human body. The sculptor created compact and tense masses of naked bodies, demonstrating virtuoso skill in conveying movement through the play of light and shadow. The chisel marks and jagged edges remind us of the stone from which the figures are made. This relief gives the impression of truly explosive force; it amazes with its powerful dynamics, violent movement that permeates the entire composition, and the richness of its plasticity. In this high relief there is nothing of the graphic nature of the three-plane construction. It was solved by purely plastic means and anticipates another side of Michelangelo’s subsequent creations - his ineradicable desire to reveal all the diversity and richness of plasticity, movements of the human body. It was with this relief that the young sculptor declared with all his might the innovation of his method. And if in the theme of “The Battle of the Centaurs” there is a connection between Michelangelo’s art and one of its origins - antique plastic and, in particular, with the reliefs of ancient Roman sarcophagi, then new aspirations are clearly expressed in the interpretation of the topic. Michelangelo is little interested in the moment of narration, the story that was so detailed among the Roman masters. The main thing for the sculptor is the opportunity to show the heroism of a person who reveals his spiritual power and physical strength in battle.

In a tangle of bodies intertwined in mortal combat, we find Michelangelo’s first, but already surprisingly widespread embodiment main topic his work is based on the theme of struggle, understood as one of the eternal manifestations of existence. The figures of the fighters filled the entire relief field, amazing in its plastic and dramatic integrity. Among the tangle of combatants, individual ideally beautiful nude figures stand out, modeled with precise knowledge of the human anatomical structure. Some of them are presented on foreground and are given in high relief, approaching a circular sculpture. This allows you to select multiple viewpoints. Others are relegated to the background, their relief is lower and emphasizes the overall spatiality of the solution. Deep shadows contrast with midtones and brightly lit protruding parts of the relief, which gives the image a lively and extremely dynamic character. Some incompleteness individual parts The relief enhances by contrast the expressiveness of the fragments, finished with all care and subtlety. The manifested features of monumentality in this relatively small-sized work anticipate Michelangelo’s further conquests in this area.

"The second warrior from the left is preparing to throw right hand huge stone. The blow can be addressed to the one who is in the center, in the top row, and at the same time his posture and turn of the body are opposed to the warrior, who stands with his back to the viewer and pulls the resting enemy by the hair with his right hand. He, in turn, is about to be hit by a man supporting his comrade with his left hand. They form the following contrapposto. This pair naturally suggests a transition to the old man on the left, pushing a stone with both hands, and to the young warrior at the left edge of the bas-relief - someone grabbed him by the neck from behind. It is remarkable that any fragment simultaneously participates in several oppositions at once: this achieves end-to-end consistency of all contrasts, facilitating the perception of the whole. In this complex interweaving of bodies, a special order of contrapposto movements can still be discerned. The composition can be read from any fragment, but it unfolds more expressively from the central group. Thus, in the bas-relief there is equality of all those participating in the battle, causing some discord, and at the same time an unobtrusive, rather even potential, hierarchy of mise-en-scène, indicating the habit of order thinking. Michelangelo had nowhere and no one to borrow from a polyvisual composition containing the idea of ​​an order. Here I had to do everything for the first time and myself, but this does not mean timid or inept." V. I. Loktev

Researchers are still arguing about exactly which episode of ancient mythology was reproduced by the young master, and this plot ambiguity itself confirms that the goal he set for himself was not to strictly follow a specific narrative, but to create an image of a broader plan. Many figures in relief, their dramatic meaning and sculptural interpretation, as if in a sudden revelation, foreshadow the motives of Michelangelo’s future works; the plastic language of the relief, with its freedom and energy, giving rise to an association with violently shimmering lava, reveals similarities with Michelangelo’s sculptural style of much later years. The freshness and completeness of the worldview, the swiftness of the rhythm give the relief an irresistible charm and uniqueness. It is not for nothing that Condivi testifies that Michelangelo in his old age, looking at this relief, said that he “realized the mistake he made in not giving himself entirely to sculpture” (Correspondence of Michelangelo Buonarroti and the life of the master, written by his student Ascanio Condivi).

But ahead of his time in The Battle of the Centaurs, Michelangelo got too far ahead. 3and with this bold breakthrough into the future, years of slower and more consistent creative development, deepened interest in the great heritage of ancient and Renaissance art, and accumulation of experience in line with various, sometimes very contradictory traditions would inevitably come. Later, the master worked on a similar battle multi-figure composition “The Battle of Kashin” (1501-1504); a copy of the cardboard he created has survived to this day.

Study of anatomy. Statue "Hercules" (1492)

“After the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Michelangelo returned to his father’s house, infinitely saddened by the death of such a man, a friend of all talents. It was then that Michelangelo acquired a large block of marble, in which he carved Hercules, four braccia high, who stood for many years in the Palazzo Strozzi and was considered a miraculous creation, and then in the year of the siege this Hercules was sent by Giovanbattista della Palla to France to King Francis. They say that Piero de' Medici, for a long time who used his services when he became the heir of his father Lorenzo, often sent for Michelangelo when buying ancient cameos and other carved works, and one winter, when there was heavy snow in Florence, he ordered him to fashion a statue of snow in his courtyard, which came out most beautiful, and he revered Michelangelo for his merits to such an extent that the latter’s father, noticing that his son was valued on an equal basis with nobles, began to dress him more magnificently than usual.” Vasari

In 1492, Lorenzo died and Michelangelo left his house. When Lorenzo died, Michelangelo was seventeen years old. He conceived and executed a statue of Hercules larger than a man, in which his powerful talent was manifested. This was the first, complete attempt of a genius striving to express heroic ideas in art.

Michelangelo hardly knew the entertainment of a young man of his age, working on the statue of Hercules, he continued to study at the same time. Michelangelo studied anatomy on corpses, with the permission of the prior of the hospital of Santo Spirito. According to prof. S. Stam, Michelangelo began dissecting corpses around 1493. In one of the remote halls of the monastery of Santo Spirito, he spent his nights alone, dissecting corpses with an anatomical knife by the light of a lamp. Giving different positions to body parts and muscles, he studied the sizes and proportions and carefully finished the drawings, thus replacing dead body living nature. Creating a living image, he seemed to see through the skin that covered the body, the entire mechanism of these movements.

The master retained his passion for anatomy throughout his life. The famous anatomist Andreas Vesalius (1515-1564) testified that Michelangelo was going to write an unusual anatomical treatise. The unwritten anatomy, about which Michelangelo said that it would be unlike the past, would become a textbook for a new compositional style.

Unfortunately, “Hercules” has not survived (it is depicted in the engraving of Israel Sylvester “The Courtyard of the Castle of Fontainebleau”). The snow figure was completed on January 20, 1494.

Wooden crucifix (1492)

Michelangelo Crucifixion of the Church of Santo Spirito, 1492 Italian. Crocifisso di Santo Spirito, wood, polychrome. Height: 142 cm, Santo Spirito, Florence

Fragment. 1492 Michelangelo Buonarroti. Church of Santo Spirito, Florence

“For the church of Santo Spirito in the city of Florence, he made a wooden crucifix, placed and still stands above the semicircle of the high altar with the consent of the prior, who provided him with premises where, often dissecting corpses for the study of anatomy, he began to perfect that great art of drawing which he subsequently acquired" Vasari

For many years the work was considered lost until it was discovered in the Florentine church of Santo Spirito. The wooden polychrome crucifix of the sacristy in the Church of Santo Spirito, known from sources but only recently identified, turned out to be completely unusual for our ideas about Michelangelo. The crucifix was created by a young 17-year-old master for the prior of the church, who patronized him.

Probably, the young master could follow the type of crucifix widespread in Italy in the 15th century, which dates back to Gothic times and therefore falls outside the circle of the most advanced quests for sculpture of the late Quattrocento. The head of Christ with his eyes closed is lowered to his chest, the rhythm of his body is determined by his crossed legs. The head and legs of the figure are placed in contrapposto, the Savior’s face is given a soft expression, and fragility and passivity are felt in the body. The subtlety of this work distinguishes it from the power of the figures in the marble relief. Among the works of Michelangelo that have come down to us there are no similar works.

Already in these early works Michelangelo, you can feel the originality and strength of his talent. Performed by a 15-17 year old artist, they not only seem completely mature, but also truly innovative for their time. In these youthful works, the main features of Michelangelo’s work emerge - a tendency towards monumental enlargement of forms, monumentality, plastic power and drama of images, reverence for the beauty of man; they show the presence of the young Michelangelo’s own sculptural style. Here before us ideal images of the mature Renaissance, built both on the study of antiquity and on the traditions of Donatello and his followers.

Along with his studies in sculpture, Michelangelo did not stop studying painting, mainly monumental, as evidenced by his drawings from Giotto’s frescoes. Along the way, independent motifs arise in Michelangelo’s graphics. The fifteen-year-old boy was convinced that it was impossible to draw, let alone create a sculpture, by looking at a person only from the outside. He was the first sculptor who decided to study the internal structure of the human body. This was strictly prohibited, so he even had to proceed with the law. He secretly, at night, entered the mortuary located at the monastery, opened the bodies of the dead, studied anatomy in order to show people in his drawings and in marble all the perfection of the human body.

The death in 1491 of Bertoldo, and the next year of Lorenzo de' Medici, seemed to have completed the period of Michelangelo's four-year training in the Medici gardens. The artist’s independent creative path begins, which, however, began already during his years of study, when he performed his first works, marked by the features of a bright individuality. These early works of his also testify to the qualitative shift that occurred in Italian sculpture - the transition from the Early to the High Renaissance.

Bologna (1494-1495)

Patron and regular customer Michelangelo Lorenzo The Magnificent died in 1492. Lorenzo de' Medici was a strong, charismatic ruler and successful leader. His son Pierrot, who inherited his father's empire, lacked these character traits. Within a few months he had completely lost influence. The life of the young sculptor has changed significantly since then. He had to leave beautiful Florence and go into exile.

After the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, due to the danger of a French invasion, the artist temporarily moved to Bologna, following the remains of great family Medici. In Bologna, Michelangelo studied the works of Dante and Petrarch, under the influence of whose canzonas he began to create his first poems. He was greatly impressed by the reliefs of the Church of San Petronio, executed by Jacopo della Quercia. Here Michelangelo made three small statues for the tomb of St. Dominic, work on which was interrupted due to the death of the sculptor who began it.

After some time, Michelangelo moved to Venice. He lives in Venice until 1494, and then again moves to Bologna.

“A few weeks before the expulsion of the Medici from Florence, Michelangelo left for Bologna, and then to Venice, fearing, due to his closeness to this family, that some trouble would happen to him, since he too had seen the debauchery and bad rule of Piero dei Medici. Not finding anything to do in Venice, he returned to Bologna, where, due to an oversight, trouble befell him: when entering the gate, he did not take the exit certificate back, about which, for safety, Messer Giovanni Bentivogli issued an order, which stated that foreigners those with certificates are subject to a fine of 50 Bolognese lire. Michelangelo, who had found himself in such trouble and had nothing to pay, was accidentally drawn to the attention of Messer Francesco Aldovrandi, one of the sixteen rulers of the city. When he was told what had happened, he took pity on Michelangelo and released him, and he lived with him for more than a year. Once Aldovrandi went with him to look at the shrine of St. Dominic, on which, as was said earlier, the old sculptors were working: Giovanni Pisano, and after him the master Nicola d'Arca. There were missing two figures about an elbow high: an angel carrying a candlestick , both St. Petronius and Aldovrandi asked whether Michelangelo would dare to make them, to which he answered in the affirmative. And indeed, having received the marble, he executed them in such a way that they became the best figures there, for which Messer Francesco Aldovrandi ordered to pay him thirty ducats. Michelangelo spent little time in Bologna more than a year and would have stayed there longer: such was the courtesy of Aldovrandi, who loved him both for his drawing and because he, as a Tuscan, liked the pronunciation of Michelangelo and listened with pleasure as he read to him the works of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and other Tuscan poets" Vasari

Michelangelo tries his hand at various creative tasks, in additions to the already existing sculptural ensemble of Benedetto da Maiano's tomb of St. Dominic in the Church of San Domenico in Bologna, for which he created small marble statues:

St. Proclus (1494) and St. Petronius (1494)
Marble. 1494 Michelangelo Buonarroti. Church of San Domenico, Bologna

Angel holding a candelabra (1494-1495) for the altar of the chapel
Marble. 1494-1495 Michelangelo Buonarroti. Church of San Domenico, Bologna

Marble. Fragment. 1494-1495 Michelangelo Buonarroti. Church of San Domenico, Bologna

Their images are filled inner life and bear a clear imprint of the individuality of their creator. The figure of a kneeling angel is very natural and beautiful, precisely designed to be viewed from a certain point of view. With simple, economical gestures, he grasps the carved stand of the candelabra, the spacious robe flows in voluminous folds around his bowed legs. With the cuteness of her features and the detached expression on her face, the angel resembles an antique statue.

Inscribed in the previously created ensemble of the tomb, these statues did not disturb its harmony. The statues of St. Petronius and St. Proclus clearly show the influence of the works of Donatello, Masaccio and Jacopo della Quercia. They can be compared with the statues of saints in the outer niches of the facade of the Church of Or San Michele in Florence, created in the early period of Donatello's work, which Michelangelo was free to study in his home city.

First return to Florence

By the end of 1495, despite fairly good living conditions and the first successful orders completed in Bologna, Michelangelo nevertheless decided to return to Florence. However, the city of childhood became unkind to the servants of art. The accusatory sermons of the stern ascetic monk Savonarola slowly but steadily changed the worldview of the Florentines. In the squares of the city, where until recently they extolled talented artists, poets, philosophers, architects, fires blazed in which books and paintings burned. Already Sandro Botticelli, succumbing to the general disgust for the brilliantly beautiful, but defiled by sinful idolatry, personally throws his masterpieces into the fire. According to the teachings of the fiery monk, masters were supposed to create works of exclusively religious content. In such conditions, the young sculptor could not stay for long; his imminent departure was inevitable.

“... he returned with pleasure to Florence, where for Lorenzo, son of Pierfrancesco de' Medici, he carved from marble St. John as a child and immediately from another piece of marble a life-sized sleeping Cupid, and when it was finished, through Baldassarre del Milanese it , as a beautiful thing, was shown to Pierfrancesco, who agreed with this and said to Michelangelo: “If you bury it in the ground and then send it to Rome, forging it as an old one, I am sure that it will pass for an ancient one there and you will get much more for it, than if you sell it here." They say that Michelangelo decorated it in such a way that it looked ancient, which is nothing to be surprised at, because he had enough talent to do both this and better. Others claim that Milanese took it to Rome and buried it in one of his vineyards, and then sold it as an ancient one to Cardinal St. George for two hundred ducats. They also say that it was sold by someone who acted for Milanese and wrote to Pierfrancesco, deceiving the cardinal, Pierfrancesco and Michelangelo, that Michelangelo should have been given thirty crowns, since more was supposedly not received for Cupid. However, later it was learned from eyewitnesses that Cupid was made in Florence, and the cardinal, having found out the truth through his messenger, ensured that the person acting for Milanese took back Cupid, which then fell into the hands of Duke Valentino, who presented it to the Marchioness Mantuan, who sent him to her possessions, where he remains today. This whole story served as a reproach to Cardinal St. George, who did not appreciate the dignity of the work, namely its perfection, for new things are the same as ancient ones, if only they were excellent, and he who pursues more the name than the quality , shows by this only his vanity, people of this kind, giving greater value appearances rather than essences, are found at all times" Vasari

Both statues - "Cupid" and "St. John" - have not survived.

In April or May 1496, Michelangelo completed “Cupid” and, following advice, gave it the appearance of an ancient Greek work, and sold it to Cardinal Riario in Rome, who, being sure that he was acquiring an antique, paid 200 ducats. An intermediary in Rome deceived Michelangelo and paid him only 30 ducats. Having learned about the forgery, the cardinal sent his man, who found Michelangelo and invited him to Rome. He agreed and on June 25, 1496 he entered the “eternal city”.

3. First Roman period (1496-1501)

“... Michelangelo’s fame became such that he was immediately summoned to Rome, where, by agreement with Cardinal St. George stayed with him for about a year, but did not receive any orders from him, since he knew little about these arts. At this very time, the cardinal's barber, who was also a painter and very diligently painted with tempera, became friends with Michelangelo, but did not know how to draw. And Michelangelo made for him a cardboard depicting St. Francis receiving the stigmata, and the barber executed it very carefully with paints on a small board, and painting work this one is now in the first chapel of the church of San Pietro a Montorio, on the left hand of the entrance. What were Michelangelo's abilities, Messer Jacopo Galli, a Roman nobleman, a gifted man, understood perfectly well after this, who ordered him a marble Cupid of natural size, and then a statue of Bacchus... Thus, during this stay in Rome, he achieved, while studying art, such that both his lofty thoughts and the difficult manner he applied with the lightest of ease seemed incredible, scaring off both those who were unfamiliar with such things and those who were accustomed to good things; after all, everything that was created before seemed insignificant compared to his things" Vasari

In 1496, Michelangelo went to Rome with a letter of recommendation from Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, addressed to the cardinal-philanthropist Raphael Riario, who enjoyed significant influence in the circle of the Roman clergy. Like Lorenzo de' Medici, the cardinal was passionate fan ancient art and owned an extensive collection of ancient sculptures.

Michelangelo entered Rome at the age of 21. Rome was the center of life for many people living in northern Italy. It was also the religious center of the Roman Catholic Church. The Pope lived there in a church complex called the Vatican. Many of the great masterpieces of Renaissance art were created in Rome, particularly commissioned by the pope or other important church officials. New opportunities opened up for Michelangelo's work in Rome, but restrictions also appeared. The free-thinking young man did not want to limit himself only to religious art, in the works of which religious ideas and aspirations should be expressed, the task of which, ultimately, is to renew and strengthen religious beliefs. Michelangelo felt closer to God, being in the process of creativity, creating magnificent statues that reflect the beauty of the human body.

For the artist and sculptor, Rome was especially interested in the ancient works of art that adorned the city and enriched it more than ever in the times of Michelangelo and Raphael thanks to excavations. Going beyond the Florentine artistic environment and closer contact with ancient tradition contributed to broadening the young master’s horizons and enlarging the scale of his artistic thinking. Not being carried away to the point of oblivion by ancient labels, he nevertheless carefully studied everything worthy of attention, which became one of the sources of his rich plasticity. With his brilliant instinct, the great master was deeply aware of the difference in the direction of ancient art and contemporary art. The ancients saw the naked body everywhere; in the Renaissance, the beauty of the body came to the fore again as an element necessary in art.

With a trip to Rome and work there, a new stage in Michelangelo’s work opens. His works of this early Roman period are marked by a new scale, scope, and rise to the heights of mastery. Buonarroti's first stay in Rome lasted five years and in the late 1490s he created two major works:
- statue of "Bacchus"(1496-1497, National Museum, Florence), paying a peculiar tribute to the passion for ancient monuments,
- group “Lamentation of Christ”, or “Pieta”(1498-1501, St. Peter's Cathedral, Rome), where he puts new, humanistic content into the traditional Gothic scheme, expressing the grief of a young and beautiful woman about her lost son,
and not preserved:
- cardboard "St. Francis" (1496-1497) ,
- "Cupid" statue(1496-1497).

Rome is full of ancient monuments. In its very center there is now a kind of open-air museum - the ruins of a huge ensemble of ancient Roman forums. Many individual architectural monuments and sculptures of antiquity decorate the city squares and its museums.

Visit to Rome, contact with ancient culture, the monuments of which Michelangelo admired in the Medici collection in Florence, the discovery of the most famous monument of antiquity - the statue of Apollo (later called the Belvedere, after the place where the statue was exhibited for the first time), which coincided with his arrival in Rome - all this helped Michelangelo to more deeply and deeply appreciate the ancient plastic. Having creatively mastered the achievements of ancient masters, sculptors of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, Michelangelo showed the world his masterpieces. The generalized image is perfect wonderful person, found by ancient art, he endowed with individual character traits, revealing the complexity inner world, human mental life.

Intoxicated Bacchus (1496-1498)

Michelangelo traveled to Rome, where he was able to explore many newly excavated ancient statues and ruins. Soon he created his first large-scale sculpture - more than life-size "Bacchus" (1496-1498, Bargello National Museum, Florence). This statue of the Roman god of wine, created in the city - the center of the Catholic Church, on a pagan rather than a Christian subject, rivaled ancient sculpture - the highest degree of praise in Renaissance Rome.

Bacchus and Satyr fragment
Marble. 1496-1498 Michelangelo Buonarroti. National Bargello Museum, Florence

Fragment. Marble. 1496-1498 Michelangelo Buonarroti. National Bargello Museum, Florence

Michelangelo showed the completed statue of Bacchus to Cardinal Riario, but he was restrained and did not express any particular enthusiasm for the work of the young sculptor. Probably, the range of his hobbies was limited to ancient Roman art, and therefore the works of his contemporaries were not of particular interest. However, other connoisseurs had a different opinion, and the statue by Michelangelo was generally highly appreciated. The Roman banker Jacopo Galli, who decorated his garden with a collection of Roman statues, was as passionate a collector as Cardinal Riario, and acquired a statue of Bacchus. Later, his acquaintance with the banker played a big role in Michelangelo’s career. Through his mediation, the sculptor made acquaintance with the French cardinal Jean de Villiers Fesanzac, from whom he received an important order.

“What were the abilities of Michelangelo, Messer Jacopo Galli, a Roman nobleman, a gifted man, understood perfectly well after this, who ordered him a marble Cupid of natural size, and then a statue of Bacchus ten palms high, holding a cup in his right hand and a cup in his left. tiger skin and a grape brush towards which a small satyr is reaching. From this statue one can understand that he wanted to achieve a certain combination of the marvelous members of his body, especially giving them the youthful flexibility characteristic of a man, and feminine fleshiness and roundness: one has to marvel at the fact that it was in the statues that he showed his superiority over all the new masters who worked before him" Vasari

Bacchus (Greek), also known as Bacchus (Latin), or Dionysus, is the patron saint of winegrowers and winemaking in Greek mythology; in ancient times he was revered in cities and villages, and merry holidays were held in his honor (hence bacchanalia).

Michelangelo's Bacchus is very convincing. Bacchus is represented by the sculptor in the form of a naked youth with a cup of wine in his hand. The human-sized statue of an intoxicated Bacchus is intended for all-round viewing. His posture is unstable. Bacchus seems ready to fall forward, but maintains his balance by leaning back; his gaze is turned to the cup of wine. The muscles of the back look elastic, but relaxed muscles of the abdomen and thighs demonstrate physical, and therefore spiritual, weakness. The lowered left hand holds the skin and grapes. The drunken god of wine is accompanied by a small satyr who feasts on a bunch of grapes.

Like The Battle of the Centaurs, Bacchus thematically directly connects Michelangelo with ancient mythology, with its life-affirming, clear images. And if the “Battle of the Centaurs” is closer in the nature of its execution to the reliefs of ancient Roman sarcophagi, then in the setting of the figure of “Bacchus” the principle found by ancient Greek sculptors, in particular Lysippos, who was interested in the problem of conveying unstable movement, was used. But as in “The Battle of the Centaurs,” Michelangelo gave his own interpretation of the theme here. In Bacchus, instability is perceived differently than in the sculpture of the ancient sculptor. This is not a moment’s respite after strenuous movement, but a long-term state caused by intoxication, when the muscles are limply relaxed.

The image of a small goat-footed satyr accompanying Bacchus is noteworthy. Carefree, smiling cheerfully, he steals grapes from Bacchus. The motif of casual fun that permeates this sculptural group is an exceptional phenomenon in Michelangelo. Throughout his long creative life, he never returned to it.

The sculptor achieved a difficult task: to create the impression of instability without compositional imbalance, which could disrupt the aesthetic effect. The young sculptor masterfully dealt with the purely technical difficulties of staging a large marble figure. Like the ancient masters, he introduced a support - a marble stump, on which he placed the satyr, thus playing up this technical detail compositionally and in meaning.

The impression of complete completion of the statue is given by the processing and polishing of the marble surface, and the careful execution of every detail. And although “Bacchus” does not belong to the highest achievements of the sculptor and, perhaps less than his other works, is marked by the individuality of the creator, it still testifies to his commitment to ancient images, the depiction of the naked body, as well as increased technical skill.

"Lamentation of Christ", or "Pieta" (c. 1498-1500)

Arriving in Rome in 1496, two years later Michelangelo received an order for a statue of the Virgin and Christ. He sculpted an incomparable sculptural group, including the figure of the Mother of God grieving over the body of the Savior taken down from the cross. This work undoubtedly indicates the beginning of the master’s creative maturity. The Lamentation of Christ group was originally intended for the Chapel of the Virgin Mary in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and is still located in St. Peter's Basilica, in the first chapel on the right.

St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. "Pieta"

Michelangelo "Pieta", 1499. Marble. Height: 174 cm. St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican

Marble. OK. 1498-1500. Michelangelo Buonarroti. Cathedral of St. Petra, Rome

Fragments:

Fragment. Marble. OK. 1498-1500. Michelangelo Buonarroti. Cathedral of St. Petra, Rome

The order for the sculptural group was received thanks to the guarantee of the banker Jacopo Galli, who acquired the statue of “Bacchus” and some other works by Michelangelo for his collection. The contract was concluded on August 26, 1498, the customer was the French cardinal Jean de Villiers Fesanzac. According to the contract, the master was obliged to complete the work in a year, and received 450 ducats for it. The work was completed around 1500, after the death of the cardinal, who died in 1498. Perhaps this marble group was originally intended for the future tomb of the customer. By the time the Lamentation of Christ ended, Michelangelo was only 25 years old.

The contract contains the words of the guarantor, who stated “that this will be the best work of marble that exists in our days, and that no master in our days will make it better.” Time has confirmed the words of Galli, who turned out to be a far-sighted and subtle connoisseur of art. “The Lamentation of Christ” still has an irresistible effect with its perfection and depth of artistic solution.

This grandiose order opens a new stage in the life of the young sculptor. He opened his own workshop and hired a team of assistants. During this period, he repeatedly visited the Carr quarries, where he himself chose marble blocks for his future sculptures. For the “Pieta” a short but fairly wide block of marble was required, since according to his plan, the body of her adult Son was placed on the lap of the Virgin Mary.

This composition became key work the early Roman period of Michelangelo's work, marking the beginning of the High Renaissance in Italian plastic arts. Some researchers compare the meaning of the marble group “Lamentation of Christ” with the meaning of the famous “Madonna in the Grotto” by Leonardo da Vinci, which opens the same stage in painting.

“... These things aroused the desire of Cardinal St. Dionysius, called the French Cardinal of Rouen, to leave, through the medium of an artist so rare, a worthy memory of himself in a city so famous, and he ordered him a marble, entirely round sculpture with the lamentation of Christ, which Upon its completion, it was placed in St. Peter's Cathedral in the chapel of the Virgin Mary, healer of fever, where the Temple of Mars used to be. Let it never occur to any sculptor, even if he were a rare artist, the thought that he could add something to such a design and to such grace and through his labors could someday achieve such subtlety and purity and cut marble with such skill as Michelangelo showed in this thing, for in it all the power and all the possibilities inherent in art are revealed. Among the beauties here, in addition to the divinely made robes, the deceased Christ attracts attention; and let it not even occur to anyone to see a naked body made so skillfully, with such beautiful limbs, with the muscles, vessels, and veins dressing its frame so finely trimmed, or to see a dead man more similar to a dead man than this dead man. Here is the most tender expression of the face, and a certain consistency in the binding and pairing of the arms, and in the connection of the torso and legs, and such a treatment of the blood vessels that you are truly thrown into amazement how the artist’s hand could, in the shortest possible time, so divinely and impeccably create such a wondrous thing; and, of course, it is a miracle that a stone, initially devoid of any form, could ever be brought to that perfection that nature has difficulty imparting to flesh. Michelangelo put so much love and work into this creation that only on it (which he did not do in his other works) he wrote his name along the belt tightening the chest of the Mother of God; It turned out that one day Michelangelo, approaching the place where the work was placed, saw there a large number of visitors from Lombardy, highly praising it, and when one of them turned to the other with the question of who did it, he answered: “ Our Milanese Gobbo." Michelangelo remained silent, and it seemed at least strange to him that his works were attributed to another. One night he locked himself there with a lamp, taking the chisels with him, and carved his name on the sculpture. And truly she is as one most beautiful poet said about her, as if addressing a real and living figure:
Dignity and beauty
And sorrow: you will groan over this marble!
He is dead, having lived, and taken down from the cross
Beware of raising your songs,
So as not to call from the dead until the time comes
The one who accepted grief alone
For everyone who is our master,
You are now father, husband and son,
O you, his wife, and mother, and daughter." Vasari

This beautiful marble sculpture remains to this day a monument to the full maturity of the artist’s talent. Sculpted in marble, this sculptural group amazes with its bold handling of traditional iconography, the humanity of the created images, and high craftsmanship. This is one of the most famous works in the history of world art.

“And it was not for nothing that he acquired the greatest glory for himself, and although some, after all, but still ignorant people say that his Mother of God is too young, have they not noticed or do they not know that virgins who have not been discredited in any way hold back for a long time and keep their facial expression undistorted, but in those burdened with grief, as Christ was, the opposite is observed? Why such a work brought his talent more honor and glory than all the previous ones taken together.” Vasari

Young Mary is depicted with the dead Christ on her knees - an image borrowed from the North European art. The most early versions The Pietà also included the figures of St. John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene. Michelangelo, however, limited himself to two key figures - the Virgin and Christ. Some researchers suggest that Michelangelo depicted himself and his mother in the sculptural group, who died when he was only six years old. Art historians note that his Virgin Mary is as young as the sculptor’s mother at the time of her death.

The theme of mourning Christ was also popular in gothic art, and during the Renaissance, but here it is interpreted quite restrainedly. Gothic knew two types of such mourning: either with the participation of the young Mary, whose ideally beautiful face is not able to darken the grief that befell her, or with the elderly Mother of God, gripped by terrible, heartbreaking despair. Michelangelo in his group decisively departs from the usual attitudes. He depicted Mary as young, but at the same time she is infinitely far from the conventional beauty and emotional immobility of Gothic Madonnas of this type. Her feeling is a living human experience, embodied with such depth and richness of shades that here for the first time we can talk about introducing a psychological element into the image. 3 and the young mother’s external restraint reveals the full depth of her grief; the mournful silhouette of a bowed head, a hand gesture that sounds like a tragic question, everything adds up to an image of enlightened grief.

(To be continued)

In 1421-1428 Brunelleschi built a chapel on the side of the Temple of San Lorenzo (Medici Chapel) in Florence. It was supposed to become a crypt for the Medici house. Almost a hundred years later, Pope Leo X invited Michelangelo to complete its façade. Due to lack of money, work was stopped.

Florence, Church of San Lorenzo

The oldest church in Florence is the Temple of San Lorenzo. In 339 this Cathedral consecrated by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. It was rebuilt during the Romanesque period and reconsecrated in 1059. In 1418, the Medici decided to completely rebuild it and entrusted it to Philip Brunelleschi. The inside of the temple is decorated with works by Donatello. The Chapel of the Princes became the tomb for all the Medici dukes of the second line of the family, starting with Cosimo I. It displays the wealth and power of the Medici.

It is filled with all the coats of arms of the cities of the Duchy of Tuscany and the Medici coat of arms on the ceiling. The magnificent interior was completed over almost two hundred years. The work was done very carefully. There must have been six dukes buried there. In reality, the huge sarcophagi are empty and serve only as funerary monuments. In fact, the Medici are buried in a crypt. Behind each sarcophagus there should have been sculptures of dukes. However, only two monuments exist - the statue of Ferdinand I and Cosimo II. The dome follows Brunelleschi's and is decorated with scenes from Scripture.

Crypt with burials. Chapel of the Princes

The entrance to the Medici Chapel will lead directly to the crypt. It is from here that you can go to the Chapel of the Princes and the New Sacristy. The crypt is dark and gloomy, which is natural for a tomb where most of the members of the Medici family were actually buried, including those who were supposed to rest in the chapel of the princes.

In the painting, a high-born lady sits in a majestic chair. This is Anna Maria Louise de' Medici, the last heiress of this family, who died in 1743. She left a huge artistic legacy to her native Florence.

For Michelangelo lovers

In 1520 it was necessary to build a chapel with tombs for Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano, as well as for two other sons of the Medici family: Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino. In addition, Cardinal Giulio, a cousin of Pope Leo X, wants to entrust Michelangelo with the construction of a library. It should house books belonging to the whole family, as well as those received from various courtiers and other famous book lovers. The Medici Chapel and the New Sacristy in it and the library are two important assignments for the 45-year-old master, who will have to deal with architecture for the first time.

The new sacristy is one of the architectural projects that the master brought to completion. It contains no less than seven sculptures of the Renaissance genius.

Beginning of work

Cardinal Giulio of the Medici family, elected pope under the name Clement VII, summoned Michelangelo to Rome and gave firm instructions that the Medici Chapel should be completed without delay. He wants to be glorified throughout the centuries no less than Pope Leo X and his predecessors, who left their memory as patrons of architecture, sculpture and painting. It was necessary to immortalize the images not of the famous Medici who were in ancient times, but of those who established the monarchy in Florence. These were two young dukes who had not glorified themselves in any way. The New Sacristy in the Church of San Lorenzo (Medici Chapel) should form a single complex with the Old one, which was built by Brunelleschi.

Michelangelo conceived and then made it with more complex orders, cornices, capitals, doors, niches and tombs. He deviated from previously accepted rules and customs. The Medici Chapel, at the request of the pope, should no longer include the tombs of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano. The tombs of Pope Leo X and his own should take pride of place. Wishing that no one else would take advantage of Michelangelo's genius, Clement VII invited the architect to become a monk and take monastic vows into the Order of St. Francis. When the artist refused, dad gave him a house. Next to it stood the Medici Chapel. The salary exceeded 3 times the amount that Michelangelo asked for.

Michelangelo in Florence

What did Michelangelo Buonarroti have to do? The Medici Chapel required the addition of a chapel. It was necessary to erect a ceiling vault, build a skylight and perform a number of equally labor-intensive works. And then you can think about the sculptures with which the sculptor intended to decorate the tombstones of Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici. This will require workers, and therefore money from Clement VII.

Designs for the Dukes' Sculptures

What feelings will the Medici Chapel evoke? Michelangelo, without deceiving himself, assumed that when the sculptures were completed, they would disappoint those who wanted to see the image of two descendants of the family. There will be no portrait resemblance in them. He wanted to create new people, born not only of their time, but also of his own new artistic tasks. In statues, movement should be conveyed by the balance of the pose, which seems to be frozen in the air. These will be two strong young men, filled with majestic calm.

Medici Chapel: description

In the Medici tomb, a person finds himself in a completely different world, not the one on the street. You are overcome by a feeling of melancholy and the impression that you are in the square. There are raw facades of houses all around, because the dark pilasters, platbands on rare windows, the windows themselves, and the light walls of this ensemble give an unsettling feeling of a medieval street and square. It is precisely this kind of space that includes a person in the rapidly flowing flow of time that Michelangelo created. The Master's Tomb is a reflection on the extent of variability, duration and brevity of existence, captured in the fusion of architecture and sculpture.

Madonna

In the Church of San Lorenzo (Medici Chapel), the New Sacristy looks like a free cube, which is topped with a vault. The architect placed niches in the walls with wall-mounted, significantly enlarged tombs. For them, he used life-size sculptural figures. Opposite the altar, he placed the sculptural group “Madonna and Child” and surrounded it with statues of St. Cosmas and Damian (patrons of the Medici).

They were made by his students based on his clay sketches. Madonna is the key to the entire chapel. She is beautiful and internally focused. Madonna's face is tilted towards the child. She is filled with sadness and sorrow. Madonna is immersed in deep, heavy thought. The folds of her clothing create a tense rhythmic action and connect her to the entire architectural form. The baby reaches out to her. It is also filled with internal dynamics and tension, which is consistent with the entire chapel. In the composition of the chapel, Madonna plays a very important role. It is to her that the figures of Giuliano and Lorenzo are turned.

Statues in niches

Without a hint of portrait resemblance, two allegorical figures sit in the armor of the ancient Romans. Courageous, energetic Giuliano, with his head uncovered, leans on the commander’s baton.

It symbolizes the peace that came after the war. effective life. While his brother Lorenzo is in deepest thought and symbolizes the contemplative life.

His head, covered with an antique helmet, rests on his hand, and with his elbow on a box, the animal face of which is symbolic. It signifies wisdom and business qualities. Both figures are tired and melancholic. The niches squeeze them together, which causes a feeling of anxiety and uneasiness in the viewer. They are going through a difficult time of wars and unrest and remember Lorenzo the Magnificent, the benefactor of Italy, under whom peace reigned.

Figures on the lids of sarcophagi

Sliding from the sloping lids of the tombs, barely holding on to them, lie sculptural allegories of morning and evening at the feet of Lorenzo and day and night - at Giuliano. The symbols of running time are painfully uncomfortable. Their powerful bodies with ideal proportions are materialized languor and sorrow. “Morning” slowly and reluctantly wakes up, “Day” is awake joylessly and anxiously, “Evening”, numb, falls asleep, “Night” is immersed in a heavy, restless sleep. What kind of bird is on the Medici Chapel? “Night” rests its foot on the owl, which, if it flies, will wake it up.

The stone she holds in her hand could fall out at any moment and also wake her up. There is no peace for “Night”. This is what he talks about full of suffering mask in her hand.

The figure of “The Day” deserves attention because the inconsistency in the sculpting of the beautiful body and the head, which turns towards the viewer with difficulty, is surprising. The body is beautiful and polished, but the face is slightly visible, the image is barely outlined. “Day” contains traces of tools and is artistically under-designed. The figures of “Morning” and “Evening” are unfinished. This creates additional expressiveness, anxiety and threat. The sculptor was not afraid to go beyond his time, forcing the viewer to think out and interpret the sculptures in any way he wanted. Here in front of you is the face of the “Evening” (Medici Chapel). The photograph confirms the above.

The figures do not want to live or feel. All together, the times of day confirm the Medici motto “Always” (Semper), meaning constant service. Together with the figures of young people, the allegories are enclosed in a stable triangular composition.

"Crouching Boy"

The Medici Chapel and the heavy timelessness that engulfs a person in it had another sculpture, which is now in the Hermitage.

She is also called “The Boy Taking out the Splinter.” If you mentally return him to the chapel, it turns out that the infinity of time is combined with immediacy. This is a small statue that fits freely into the cube. It, like “Day,” is not completely finished: its bottom is not finished, and its back is not polished. The child was bent over towards his sore leg, his position was so unusual and unexpected. The sculptor sought to remove only what was absolutely necessary from the marble, so that if it fell from the pedestal, nothing would break off. The boy is important in the overall plan, for he is a moment within time. If Madonna is a historical, Christian time that united the people of that era, then the boy is its short duration. He is both a situation and a moment. The figures under the niches are in the same cycle of changing times, and not on their own, standing out as something special. Everything for a genius exists as in life - simultaneously and diverse.

Laurentian Library

Simultaneously with his work in the New Sacristy, which he turned into a majestic chapel, Michelangelo was building a library. After passing through a cozy courtyard, you can get into it through the left nave. It is intended only for initiates.

It contains ancient manuscripts, illustrated codices, and the text of the union that was concluded at the Council of Florence in 1439. First there was a vestibule, then a hall for manuscripts, where they could be stored and read. This long gray stone room has light walls. The lobby is high. Tourists are not allowed further than into it. There are no statues, but there are double columns that are recessed into the walls. Special attention was given an unusual one that resembles the flow of molten lava. It has semicircular steep steps and very low railings. It begins at the threshold of the lobby and expands to form three parts. The master himself was already in Rome when the staircase, the main attraction of the lobby, was built using his clay model.

This concludes the description of the creation of the brilliant Michelangelo. In this grandiose work he embodied his innovative ideas. They are so universal that they have acquired significance for all of humanity. This is how the Medici Chapel changed. Florence received a Medici monument, which became a monument to the city itself.

It’s sweet for me to sleep like a sculptured stone in a niche,
as long as the world lives in shame and torment;
not feeling, not knowing is a blessed fate;
Are you still here? So keep your voice down.
Translation by Elena Katsyuba.

The names of Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici are also associated with one of the greatest masterpieces of the High Renaissance - the Medici Chapel - a sculptural ensemble made by Michelangelo and located in the so-called New Sacristy (sacristy) of the Church of San Lorenzo (the family church of the Medici family) in Florence. After the death of Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere, pont. 1503-1513), one of the most demanding, but also generous patrons of the arts, a man of exorbitant ambitions, the pope under whom began the construction of the unprecedented scale of St. Peter's Cathedral, where Michelangelo was to build a majestic tomb decorated with fifty statues, in which Julius rests; completed by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the ceiling are open for viewing Sistine Chapel, chapel of St. Sixtus, patron of the Rovere family; Raphael painted the palace rooms (stanzas) of the pope's apartments in the Vatican; Leo X (Pont. 1513-1521), Giovanni de' Medici, the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was elected pope.
Florence. c.San Lorenzo
Perhaps because he was born in the year of the memorable Florentine tournament, the so-called Giostra (1475), and perhaps due to natural inclination, Leo X, having adopted his father’s diplomatic abilities, also adopted an exorbitant love of luxury and entertainment. The papal estates, mines and treasury left by Julius II were not enough to pay for hunts, feasts, and celebrations. Both Erasmus of Rotterdam and the young monk Martin Luther were horrified by visiting Rome during these years. There was not enough money, and Leo X carried out several financial projects, two of which: the official sale of church positions (“simony”) and the sale of “releases” (“indulgences”), finally exhausted the patience of a large part of Western Christians. Luther issued his “Theses,” and the pope responded with a bull ordering the burning of Luther’s works. The Reformation began in Germany.
Leo X died suddenly, without even having time to receive unction. Of course, during the years of his pontificate, the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral was progressing poorly, and there was nothing to think about the grandiose tomb of Pope Julius II. True, he suggested that Michelangelo create the facade of the Church of San Lorenzo, unfinished by Brunelleschi, so that this temple would become “the mirror of all Italy,” and Michelangelo gladly agreed to leave for his beloved Florence, where he worked hard for four years until, in 1520, all according to the same due to lack of money, work on the facade was not stopped.
However, in the same year, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII (Pont. 1523-1534), the illegitimate son of Giuliano de' Medici and the same age as his cousin Giovanni (Leo X), who grew up in the house of his uncle (Lorenzo the Magnificent) after the murder of his father, offered Michelangelo another option for work in San Lorenzo. He proposed creating in the new sacristy of the church an ensemble of tombstones for recently deceased family members: Lorenzo, the son of Pietro Medici (the elder brother of Leo X) and Giuliano, the youngest of the sons of Lorenzo the Magnificent - not famous for anything except their family names: Lorenzo and Giuliano.
At first, Michelangelo, depressed by the failure with the façade of the church, accepted the idea without enthusiasm: he did not have any special feelings for the dead. But he remembered the years spent in the brilliant circle of Lorenzo the Magnificent and honored his memory. And in the New Sacristy there should have been sarcophagi with the ashes of the elders Lorenzo and Giuliano.

The architectural and plastic design of the tomb was dictated by the small size of the chapel, forming a square with a side of 11 meters in plan. It was impossible to place a structure designed for a circular walk in such a small room, as he initially assumed (focusing on the compositional ideas of the tomb of Julius II), and Michelangelo chose the traditional composition of wall tombs.

Tomb of Giuliano Medici
The compositions of the tombs on the side walls are symmetrical. Near the wall to the left of the entrance is the tomb of Giuliano. In a rectangular wall niche is the figure of Giuliano, a seated young Florentine in the garb of a Roman patrician with his head uncovered, facing the front wall of the chapel. Below it is a sarcophagus, on the currencies of which there are two allegorical figures: female - Night and male - Day. Night - she sleeps, leaning her bowed head on her right hand, under her left hand is a mask, near her hip is an owl. Day - awake, he leans on his left elbow, half turned towards the viewer in such a way that half of his face is hidden by his powerful right shoulder and back. The face of the Day is worked out sketchily.

Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici
Opposite, near the wall to the right of the entrance is the tomb of Lorenzo. He is also dressed in Roman clothes, but a helmet is pulled over his eyes, hiding them in the shadows. His pose is full of deep thoughtfulness, his left hand, in which he holds the wallet, is raised to his face and rests on a casket with jewelry, standing on his knee. The head is slightly turned to the right, towards the front wall.

"Evening"
The composition of the sarcophagus is similar, on the currencies there are figures: male - Evening, female - Morning. Both figures are turned towards the viewer. Evening tends to sleep, Morning awakens.

Italy | Michelangelo Buonarroti | (1475-1564) | Medici Chapel | 1526-1533 | marble | New Sacristy of San Lorenzo, Florence |
Near the front wall of the chapel, opposite the entrance and the altar, in a rectangular niche framed by dark columns, orders in the Brunelleschi style, there is a simple rectangular sarcophagus with the ashes of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano. On the lid of the sarcophagus there are figures: a seated Madonna with a child on her lap (in the center), St. Cosmas and St. Domiana on the sides. The figures of the saints were not sculpted by Michelangelo, but, respectively, by Montorsoli and Raffaello da Montelupo. The Medici Madonna is the key image of the chapel: she is placed in the center of the front wall, the views of the saints are turned to her, and the dukes look at her from their niches. She sits, leaning her right hand on the pedestal, on her extended left knee - a baby, half-turned to her mother so that the viewer does not see his face. Madonna holds the child with her left hand. Her facial expression and entire posture are filled with thoughtful detachment.

Contemporaries were struck by the same thing that strikes today - the perfection of the architectural and plastic ensemble of the chapel as a whole, the perfection of the plastic connection of all the sculptures in space, the extraordinary - even for the genius Michelangelo - realism of each of the sculptures, rising to a high generalization, a symbol. ABOUT symbolic meanings A lot has been said about allegories of Morning, Day, Evening and Night. As you know, the figure of the Night attracted particular attention, and an exchange of poetic epigraphs took place between Giovanni Strozzi and Michelangelo. We want to stop at Lorenzo's sculptures and Giuliano and touch on the problem of the “ideal portrait”.
Neither in appearance nor in faces did contemporaries see any portrait resemblance to the recently deceased relatives of Pope Leo X and Clement VII. We think this is easy to explain. It was not these specific people who were depicted by the sculptor above their sarcophagi. The legend of Florence was another Lorenzo and another Giuliano, brothers - those who rested near the front wall. Brothers - and that’s why the tombstones are symmetrical.

During the construction of the chapel from 1520 to 1534, with two long breaks, such thunderstorms swept over Italy in general and over Florence that it seems surprising that the Medici Chapel was almost completed. The pontificate of Clement VII was marked by the sack of Rome by the army of Charles V of Habsburg, which the Eternal City had not seen since the invasion of the barbarians, and ended, in addition to the flaring up Reformation, also with a schism between the Roman and English churches, whose head Henry VIII proclaimed himself. Some church historians consider Clement VII to be the last pope of the Renaissance. And if you follow this, albeit very conventional, chronology, the Medici Chapel is seen as an unsurpassed in perfection tombstone of the brilliant Florentine Renaissance.

Michelangelo wrote “The Last Judgment” as a witness to a different time.

Manon&Gabrielle."Lorenzo and Giuliano".