Oriental Spiritual Paintings

The Third Stop of the International Tour Exhibition

·Florence·

米开朗基罗·博纳罗蒂
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475.3.6-1564.2.18

If there had been a trending topics list during the Renaissance, "#Was Michelangelo going crazy today?" would definitely dominate the screen. This "ultimate multi-talented figure" from five hundred years ago defied the Pope with a chisel in one hand and competed with his peers with a paintbrush in the other, turning his life into a grand reality show.

I. Michelangelo's Artworks

1.Paintings

01.The Torment of Saint Anthony

02.The Last Judgment

03.The Sistine Chapel Ceiling Paintings

2.Sculptures

01.David

02.Moses

……

II. Michelangelo's Artistic Achievements

Michelangelo's full name is Michelangelo Buonarroti. He was born in the small town of Caprese in 1475. In 1481, Michelangelo's mother passed away, and he lived with his nanny's family in the town of Settignano. His nanny's husband was a stonemason, which played an irreplaceable enlightening role in Michelangelo's later artistic career in sculpture.

In 1504, Michelangelo completed the creation of the sculpture David, which is a landmark work that established him as an outstanding sculptor. Later, Michelangelo was commissioned by successive popes to create sculptures and murals. On February 18, 1564, Michelangelo passed away in Rome and was buried in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.  

When he took on the commission for the ceiling painting of the Sistine Chapel, his inner monologue was probably something like, "This client is probably trying to kill me." After all, he considered himself a "sculptor," yet he was forced by the Pope to lie on the scaffolding for four years. When the paint dripped into his eyes, he wrote in a letter complaining, "I'm like a moldy pickled cucumber!"

This work is an altarpiece painted by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. The work depicts the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the world, when he conducts the final judgment of all humanity. The believers on the left are allowed to enter heaven, while the wicked on the right are condemned to hell.

David is a concrete manifestation of the humanist ideology of the Renaissance. Its praise of the human body, seemingly a "revival" of ancient Greek art on the surface, essentially indicates that people have been liberated from the shackles of the dark Middle Ages and have fully recognized the tremendous power of human beings in transforming the world. Michelangelo infused great passion into the sculpting process, and what he created was not just a statue but a symbol of the expression of the ideological emancipation movement in art.

The statue of Moses depicts Moses in his youth. Botticelli, on the walls of the Sistine Chapel, also took the life of Moses as his subject. In his work, Moses is a fresh and graceful young man. The 19th-century French Romantic poet Alfred de Vigny sang of an old Moses who lived in solitude, separated from the crowd. The Moses depicted by Michelangelo is a superhuman figure between gods and men. The same subject matter, presented in three different ways, truly represents three distinct spirits.

Michelangelo mainly focused on sculpture and painting. He pursued perfect artistic designs and adhered to his own artistic concepts. He didn't hesitate to quarrel with his clients or patrons in order to achieve his personal artistic ideals. Despite his reclusive nature, it added a unique personal style to his artistic creations.

Michelangelo left a magnificent chapter in the history of art with his entire life, and the charm and spirit demonstrated in his works still have a profound impact to this day.In July 2025, Florence, the capital of art, will once again witness an artistic event. Wu Keyang, a renowned Chinese oil painter, will hold a solo art exhibition there for a month.

By integrating the artistic styles of the East and the West and creating works from a unique perspective, he is bound to bring a different kind of artistic impact to Florence, continuing the new story of the exchange between Eastern and Western art. Let's look forward to the wonderful presentation of this exhibition.

Appreciation of works