Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
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I recommend the display app, available free from the app store under “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.” The Catalog breaks the exhibit into five categories with commentary on each fresco.
The Pope Julius II wanted the ceiling of stars of the Sistine Chapel edged with frescoes of the 12 Apostles. Michelangelo would only paint the ceiling on his terms. After the Pope agreed, between 1508 and 1512, Michelangelo gave him the theological drama from the creation of the world to the end of time. The Michelangelo Sistine Chapel exhibit at the Santa Barbara Mission is one of those WOW moments we experience every once in a while. The exhibit, with 34 very good reproductions from the Sistine Chapel ceiling, is a blessing because you are not bending backwards trying to look up 60 feet to see the frescoes, as in the Pope’s chapel in Rome, but meeting them at eye level. We have an opportunity to observe master craftsmanship, and they have the chance to communicate with us.
A brief slideshow is available through this link Santa Barbara Sistine Chapel Exhibit
Santa Barbara, with its Mediterranean climate, is one of the most beautiful places on the central coast of California. We go there about three times a year, and even though driving up the coastal 101 highway has been a nightmare because of the construction, it is always worth the trip. Our July trip was made even more special because the Santa Barbara Mission was hosting the Michelangelo Sistine Chapel exhibit. The exhibit is scheduled for five visits in North America, 24 in Europe, two in Asia, one in Australia, and two in Central and South America. Reference the website at: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
The exhibits consists of 34 digitally reproduced, life size photographs, detailing Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling. Being honest, I would like to have seen some the photos with a little better resolution but taking into consideration that they are renditions of frescoes, 60 feet away, the emotion and purpose of the individual frescoes comes through strongly. The moment when God reaches out to Adam with the spark of life, signifying the beginning of human kind is so powerful it cannot be misunderstood.
Genesis
The Prophets
The Sibyls
The Corners
The Ancestors