All about the Michelangelo

Today was a day all about Michelangelo, our buddy. In the morning we all went our different Italian classes. Marco, Mary, and I read Sciascia's A Ciascuno Il Suo (to each his own). Everyone else went to their Italian class, and made some new Italian friends, word on the street says he looks like a tall Harry Potter?....

After we breaked for lunch, we met up at San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains). This church was built to house the chains of St Peter that were used when he was inprisoned in Jerusalem. The relics are actually housed in the church, and we were able to get a great look at them.

The Church however, is more famous for the sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo. Built for the tomb of Pope Julius II, it was completed long after his death, and turns out that Pope Julius never actually was buried in this tomb, in fact, his tomb is actually quite simple and ordinary. In an article we read for class by Freud, we learned that the Moses was his favorite sculpture. But he explains his interpretation of the sculpture, because in order for him to truly appreciate art, he needs to intepret the artist's intention on the subject-matter. His interpretation of the sculpture was that Moses was intended to show him not in an a wrath before he threw the tablets, but rather in a more relaxed pose of thought and submission. We discussed as a class whether or not we thought this was a legitimate argument, and concluded that art is meant to be interpreted, and there is not only one interpretation of a piece of art, or a right or a wrong one.

It was a great day to visit the churches and bask in the sun! Although it was really cold, it was worth it!

The second church we went to was called Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, which translates as St. Mary's on top of Minerva, which was the name of the temple that the church was built over. This church is one of the few Gothic style churches left in Rome, and is quite impressive inside. Some famous names such as the 2 Medici Popes, St. Catherine of Siena and Fra Angelico. Michelangelo's most criticized work, Risen Christ, is located near the high alter. Upon first glance, the frontal view of this sculpture is quite unappealing. However, from our readings by Wallace we learned that in fact the statue is viewed in the wrong way, which makes it unappealing to the viewer. The view that is normally photographed is with the face facing front, which is the wrong angle. This therefore shows that wrong proportions, which makes Jesus look unrealistic. Also, the first evidence that sparked this movement was a letter that was written to Michelangelo, suggesting that the assistent had damaged the sculpture during transport. However, Michelangelo did not change anything, and his clients were happy with the result of the work. Below is a photo of the way the sculpture is meant to be viewed, which is in fact quite moving and spectacular, with the exception of the loincloth that was added on later, to cover up the scandal of his nudity.