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5 Most Popular Michaelangelo Oil Paintings
Michaelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, who is better known simply by his first name, is one of the most famous artists in history. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, and poet during the height of the Renaissance Era.
With such fame in such a crucial period of art history, it’s no surprise that the artist has works of art that almost everyone as seen. If you aren’t sure which paintings were among the most popular in his repertoire, you’ll want to take a look at these Michaelangelo paintings, many of which find their home in on the beautifully painted walls and ceilings of the Sistine Chapel.
Creation of Adam, 1510
There aren’t many artistic locations as famous as the Sistine Chapel. The chapel is covered with an extensive number of Biblical scenes, all painted by Michaelangelo’s hand.
However, one of the most famous and most widely reproduced scenes today is the Creation of Adam. This piece depicts an important part of the Book of Genesis: the creation of man. On the left side of the piece, viewers can see the human Adam reaching out to God’s extended hand. The scene represents the first time God graced the Earth with Adam who would later be joined by the first woman, Eve.
In chronological order, this scene is fourth in the sequence of panels depicting the Book of Genesis.
The Last Judgement
A direct juxtaposition to The Creation of Adam, another piece decorating the Sistine Chapel is Michaelangelo’s depiction of The Last Judgement. This painting, fitting the biblical theme, depicts the Christian premise of God’s final judgment on Earth.
These panels in the Sistine Chapel show the Second Coming of Christ and the ascension of humans to their final fate as determined by God. In the painting, Christ is surrounded by prominent saints in the Catholic faith. Interestingly, many of the figures in the painting were originally nude by were later covered by paintings of draperies. Most of these additions were kept on when the painting was restored and cleaned in recent years.
This painting took four years to complete and Michaelangelo originally worked on it from 1536 to 1541.
Creation of Eve
The tales of Genesis were depicted in several panels on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Alongside The Creation of Adam, there was the Creation of Eve, the first woman to roam the Earth.
As the story goes, Eve was created from the rib of Adam and was his partner in life. Later on, in another scene the artist chose to display in the Sistine Chapel, the two were banished from their original paradise, the Garden of Eden, when Eve was tempted by a piece fruit from the Tree of Knowledge by a snake or the Devil.
God had warned the two against the act and humanity was henceforth punished for their indiscretion.
Noah and the Flood
One of the most well-known stories from the Bible aside from stories of the life of Christ and tales from the Creation of Man is the story of Noah from the Book of Genesis. In the story, God flooded the Earth which he sent as a judgment.
In the flood, God tells Noah to build an ark. On it, he’s to bring his family and two of every animal in the world. In doing so, he creates a new start for humanity while essentially elevating Noah to the status of being the next Adam.
The reason God did this was to clear humanity of the plague of evil that he saw in the minds of man according to the Bible.
Michaelangelo depicted this in his elaborate work on the Sistine Chapel. The full work not only shows Noah’s Ark itself but mortals on nearby shores trying to find shelter from the storm as well.
David and Goliath
The story of David and Goliath is a familiar one. In the Bible, it tells the story of a young man taking down a giant. While he isn’t a warrior, he manages to fell the giant with only a few simple weapons.
As a larger literary tale, this is one of the early stories of the underdog on display. David, reasonably, has no way of winning against the giant Goliath but, in the end, he prevails over the foe who was almost assured a win. Michaelangelo famously captured this painting, like most of his painted religious artworks, within the Sistine Chapel.
Conclusion
These paintings are amongst the most popular pieces of work that Michaelangelo ever accomplished. They represent some of his greatest works but, as an artist, Michaelangelo had an impressive number of works to his name. If you found these oil paintings interesting, don’t be afraid to dig deeper and look further into his portfolio – it’s guaranteed to impress!
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