Red Bank Catholic High School - Emerald Yearbook (Red Bank, NJ)

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our Ivvorlcl in faith . . . A II 1 H if I I f His Holiness ' eI PQPE 101-IN XXIII

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. . THE MASTERPIECE Within the encompassing walls of Vatican City and almost in the shadow of Saint Peter's Cathedral stands the Sistine Chapel. lt is a simple, barnlike structure built as a fort in 1473 for Pope Sixtus lV, after whom it was named. Within this austere building is the greatest art ever produced in the Western World. A host of brilliant Renaissance artists painted murals on its walls. On its ceiling, crowning it all, is the magnificent epic of Creation painted by Michelangelo .Buonarroti Michelangelo set his hand to the mighty task of decorating the ceiling of the Chapel in May, l508. He locked himself in the chapel and proceeded for the most part alone, working on a high scaffold sixty feet above the floor. He painted with his head and shoulders pulled sharply back, his eyes staring straight up, Paint dripped on his face and blinded him, but he found joy in the knowledge that this task was undertaken for the honor of God. Serving as his own architect, he rebuilt the tremendous vault with the sole material available to him: paint. He constructed strong architectural cornices to serve as an interior frame for the superhuman story he wished to tell. And what better story to tell than the epic of Creation by Almighty God! Sentences, phrases, and images from the Book of Genesis flooded his mind: God, at the beginning of time, created heaven and earthg . . . God said, Let there be light . . . Let the firmament arise amid the waters. . He recalled other lines from Genesis: . . the appearance of dry land, the sea, and all the growing things . . . And God made in his own image and likeness . . . Man and Woman both He created them. These thoughts crowded Michelangelo's imagination and he satisfied himself with nothing less than a re-creation of the universe. He labored furiously, paint- ing with both hands in order to preserve the ideas that crowded his intellect. The nine major panels beginning- over the main altar illustrate the first nine chapters of Genesis, commencing with The Separation of Light from Darkness and ending with scenes of the Deluge and Noah. The first four panels depict the Love of God in the creation of the sun and moon, sky and water, Adam and then Eve. The last five frescoes illustrate the Fall of Man, the Redemption, and the Deluge. ln the triangular sections around the mural, Michelangelo placed the ancestors of Christ and the Delphic Sibyls and Prophets who foretold the advent of Christ.