Michelangelos The Last Judgement Analysis - 1670 Words

[1] In Christian theology, it is said that during the â€Å"Judgement Day†, the end of mankind, Jesus Christ, the Savior of Mankind will depart from Heaven to take his Redeemed saints with him to Heaven on high. As the intercessor between an omnipotent God and His flawed creations, Christ is often depicted as a kind, loving peacemaker who understands the struggles of mankind. When given life in paintings and artwork, He is often draped in white robes, seemingly connoting purity and peace, with a countenance intended to convince viewers to come to Him for forgiveness and eternal joy. However, Michelangelo took a dramatically different approach when he was commissioned to draw the fresco he painted to adorn the altar of the Sistine Chapel.†¦show more content†¦Despite all of the piece’s efforts to force viewers’ attention to Christ, His own face is turned away from the line of sight of the viewer, unlike many contemporary works which focus on His face to s how Him as compassionate and loving. In the absence of loving-kindness, he becomes a concrete, unmoving agent of judgement. His features resemble vengeful and often unsympathetic Greek deities, a parallel to illustrate how Christ’s mercy will be unattainable during the Last Judgement. Through emphasizing the finite nature of the audience’s opportunity to repent from their sins and seek Christ, The Last Judgement is able to simulate the sense of regret and hopelessness that the characters in the piece currently have but are unable to do anything about. Thus, by using remorse, Michelangelo implies that when the Last Judgement does come, the audience too would regret wrongs in their life that they cannot fix now that Christ’s forgiveness has expired. By creating this dark setting, Michelangelo underscores the idea that all hope will be lost during the Last Judgement, implying that the audience needs to align their lives with Christ before then. [3] Through the choice of artistic elements Michelangelo includes, and more importantly chooses not to include, he is able to achieve a sense of urgency in the work. Typically to underscore the compassionate love Christ is associated with, He is shown with holes