Separation of Light from Darkness

Last updated
Separation of Light from Darkness
Italian: Separazione della luce dalle tenebre
Dividing Light from Darkness.jpg
Artist Michelangelo Buonarroti
YearFirst half of 1512
Type Fresco
Location Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

The Separation of Light from Darkness is, from the perspective of the Genesis chronology, the first of nine central panels that run along the center of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and which depict scenes from the Book of Genesis. Michelangelo probably completed this panel in the summer of 1512, the last year of the Sistine ceiling project. It is one of five smaller scenes that alternate with four larger scenes that run along the center of the Sistine ceiling. The Separation of Light from Darkness is based on verses 3–5 from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis:

Contents

3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
4God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
5God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Although in terms of the Genesis chronology it is the first of nine central panels along the Sistine ceiling, the Separation of Light from Darkness was the last of the nine panels painted by Michelangelo. Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling in two stages. Between May 1508 and the summer of 1511, he completed the "entrance half" of the Sistine chapel and ended this stage by painting the Creation of Eve and the scenes flanking this central panel. After an idle period of about 6 months, he painted the "altar half," starting with the Creation of Adam, between the winter of 1511 and October 1512.

Composition

Four ignudi and two shields or medallions surround the image of God in the Separation of Light from Darkness First Day of Creation.jpg
Four ignudi and two shields or medallions surround the image of God in the Separation of Light from Darkness

In the Separation of Light from Darkness, the image of God is framed by four ignudi and by two shields or medallions. The ignudi are young, nude males that Michelangelo painted as supporting figures at each corner of the five smaller narrative scenes along the center of the ceiling. There are a total of 20 ignudi. These figures are all different and appear less constrained within their space than the Ancestors of Christ or the Bronze Nudes. In the earliest frescoes painted by Michelangelo toward the entrance of the Sistine chapel, the ignudi are paired, and their poses are similar but with minor variations. The variations in the poses increase with each set until the poses of the final set of four ignudi in the Separation of Light from Darkness bear no relation to each other.

Although the meaning of these figures has never been completely clear, the Sistine scholar Heinrich Pfeiffer has proposed that the four ignudi associated with the Separation of Light from Darkness represent day and night, which echo the theme of light and darkness. [1] For instance, he points out that the ignudo next to God's right hand (on the side of darkness) is stretching as if awakening from sleep in the morning, that the diagonally opposed ignudo below God's knee (on the side of light) is carrying a heavy bundle of oak garlands on his shoulders, representing a daytime activity, and that the ignudo next to God's left arm is falling asleep and signifies nighttime. Pfeiffer and other scholars have also suggested that in Michelangelo's Sistine iconography the ignudi represent angels and that the Bronze Nudes below the ignudi are fallen angels.

Contrapposto pose in Michelangelo's David (1501-1504). The shoulders of the figure are seen to angle in one direction, the pelvis in another. Michelangelos David.jpg
Contrapposto pose in Michelangelo's David (1501-1504). The shoulders of the figure are seen to angle in one direction, the pelvis in another.

Two shields or medallions accompany each set of four ignudi in the five smaller Genesis panels along the center of the Sistine ceiling. They are often described as painted to resemble bronze. Each is decorated with a picture from either the Old Testament or the Book of Maccabees from the Apocrypha. The subjects of the shields are often violent. In the Separation of Light from Darkness the shield above God shows Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac (Genesis 22:9–12), and the one below God shows the prophet Elijah as he is carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11).

At the center of the composition, God is shown in contrapposto rising into the sky, with arms outstretched separating the light from the darkness. Michelangelo employed in this fresco the challenging ceiling fresco technique of sotto in su ("from below, upward"), which makes a figure appear as if it is rising above the viewer by using foreshortening. The contrapposto pose was also used by Michelangelo in his David (1501-1504). It is reported that Michelangelo painted this fresco in a single giornata, that is, a single working day of approximately eight hours. [2] During Michelangelo's lifetime, this fresco was considered evidence of the painter's technical prowess at its peak. For instance, Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), Michelangelo's student and biographer, wrote in 1550:

"Furthermore, to demonstrate the perfection of his art and the greatness of God, Michelangelo depicted God dividing the light from darkness in these scenes, where He is seen in all His majesty as He sustains himself alone with open arms with the demonstration of love and creative energy. [3]

According to Vasari, Michaelangelo has “lifted the veil” of darkness typically found in artwork of the Renaissance, employing the skill of chiaroscuro, by combining the intense lights and extreme darks in this symbolic artwork. [4]

Art historians have noted several unusual features of this fresco. Andrew Graham-Dixon has pointed out that God has exaggerated pectoral muscles suggestive of female breasts, which he interprets as Michelangelo's attempt to illustrate "male strength but also the fecundity of the female principle." [5] In addition it has been noted that the anatomy of God's neck is too complex and does not resemble the normal contour of the neck. The lighting scheme of the image has been noted to be inconsistent; whereas the entire scene is illuminated from the bottom left, God's neck appears to have a different light source from the right.

Anatomical interpretations

Suk and Tamargo proposed that there are three concealed neuroanatomical images in the Separation of Light from Darkness, the first panel in the Genesis series. Michelangelo neuroanatomy.jpg
Suk and Tamargo proposed that there are three concealed neuroanatomical images in the Separation of Light from Darkness, the first panel in the Genesis series.
Ignudo facing God in the Separation of Light from Darkness. Michelangelo Sistine Chapel - Ignudo above Libyan Sibyl - restored.jpg
Ignudo facing God in the Separation of Light from Darkness.

Several authors have proposed that Michelangelo concealed anatomical images in this fresco and that these anatomical images account for its unusual features. In an article published in the journal Neurosurgery in May 2010, Ian Suk, a medical illustrator, and Rafael Tamargo, a neurosurgeon, both from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, suggested that Michelangelo concealed three neuroanatomical images in the Separation of Light from Darkness. [6] [7] Suk and Tamargo explained that Michelangelo started to dissect cadavers at the age of 17–19 years and continued his anatomical studies throughout his life. As a result of his dissections, Michelangelo probably developed a detailed understanding of gross anatomy of the brain and spinal cord. They showed that the anatomical details in God's neck are unlike those of either other necks painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel or of other necks painted by Michelangelo's contemporaries, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael). The unusual anatomy of God's neck is particularly evident when it is contrasted with the anatomy of the neck of the ignudo facing God in the upper left corner of the panel. The position of the neck of this ignudo is almost identical to that of God's neck, yet the ignudo's neck does not have any of the unusual lines found in God's neck. It is possible that Michelangelo placed these two analogous neck perspectives side by side to emphasize and contrast the hidden image in God's neck.

Suk and Tamargo suggested that Michelangelo concealed a sophisticated image of the undersurface of the brainstem in God's neck and that by following Michelangelo's lines in God's neck, one can outline an anatomically correct image of the brainstem, cerebellum, temporal lobes, and optic chiasm. In addition, they suggested that Michelangelo also included an anterior view of the spinal cord in God's chest and an image of the optic nerves and globes in God's abdomen. They showed how a "shadow analysis" of the unusual lines in God's neck correspond to specific spaces around the brainstem known as the "arachnoid cisterns," which were described in detail much later in 1875 but which Michelangelo inadvertently depicted in God's neck since he was able to render images with almost photographic accuracy. They concluded that "being a painter of genius, a master anatomist, and a deeply religious man, Michelangelo cleverly enhanced his depiction of God in the iconographically critical panels on the Sistine Chapel vault with concealed images of the brain and in this way celebrated not only the glory of God, but also that of His most magnificent creation."

Meshberger wrote that Michelangelo concealed an image of the brain in the shroud surrounding God in the Creation of Adam. Michelangelo, Creation of Adam 04.jpg
Meshberger wrote that Michelangelo concealed an image of the brain in the shroud surrounding God in the Creation of Adam .

Of note is that in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 1990, Frank Meshberger, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Indiana, explained that Michelangelo similarly concealed an image of the brain in the shroud surrounding God in the Creation of Adam . [8] [7] Since Michelangelo painted the Creation of Adam and the Separation of Light from Darkness, along with two other Genesis panels, as a single thematic unit between the winter of 1511 and October 1512, it is possible that these four central panels have an underlying anatomical motif. Indeed, Garabed Eknoyan, a nephrologist from Baylor College of Medicine, proposed in an article published in Kidney International in March 2000 that Michelangelo concealed an image of a kidney in the Separation of Land and Water, the third panel in the Genesis series. [9] Michelangelo was particularly interested in kidney function because he suffered from kidney stones throughout his adult life and documented this interest in his letters and poems, according to Eknoyan.

Eknoyan suggested that Michelangelo concealed an image of a kidney in the Separation of Land and Water, the third panel in the Genesis series. Dividing water from Heaven.jpg
Eknoyan suggested that Michelangelo concealed an image of a kidney in the Separation of Land and Water, the third panel in the Genesis series.

Alternatively, the concealed anatomical image in God's neck in the Separation of Light from Darkness has been interpreted as a goiter (an enlarged thyroid gland). In an article published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine in December 2003, Lennart Bondeson and Anne-Greath Bondeson from Malmo University Hospital in Sweden, argued that the abnormality in God's neck is a goiter. [10] This interpretation has been challenged on the basis that goiters typically occur lower in the neck and, as stated by Suk and Tamargo, that "it is unlikely that Michelangelo, a deeply religious individual, would have defiled the image of God in this important panel by giving God a goiter."

Along these lines, Gilson Barreto and Marcelo G. de Oliveira, in a book published in 2004, [11] analyzed the Separation of Light from Darkness and noted that God's upper chest and outstretched arms define a "U" shape, which they suggested is reminiscent of the hyoid bone, although they do not offer a thematic explanation for this structure in the fresco.

Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508-1512), viewed from the ground near the altar. Sistine Chapel ceiling photo 2.jpg
Sistine Chapel ceiling (1508–1512), viewed from the ground near the altar.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michelangelo</span> Italian artist, architect and poet (1475–1564)

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspired by models from classical antiquity and had a lasting influence on Western art. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and elder contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci. Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistine Chapel</span> Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481. Since that time, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today, it is the site of the papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescoes that decorate the interior, most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment, both by Michelangelo.

<i>The Creation of Adam</i> Fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam, also known as The Creation of Man, is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. The fresco is part of a complex iconographic scheme and is chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistine Chapel ceiling</span> Cycle of frescoes by Michelangelo

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesis 1:4</span> Fourth verse of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis

Genesis 1:4 is the fourth verse of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. It is the response to God's command in verse 3, "Let there be light." It is part of the Genesis creation narrative within the Torah portion Bereshit. The verse states that the light was good, and that God divided or separated the light from the darkness. It has been interpreted in different ways, and illustrated by artists such as Michelangelo.

<i>Expulsion from the Garden of Eden</i> 1425 fresco by Masaccio

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a fresco by the Italian Early Renaissance artist Masaccio. The fresco is a single scene from the cycle painted around 1425 by Masaccio, Masolino and others on the walls of the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. It depicts the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden, from the biblical Book of Genesis chapter 3, albeit with a few differences from the canonical account.

<i>Doni Tondo</i> Painting by Michelangelo

The Doni Tondo or Doni Madonna is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive. Now in the Uffizi in Florence, Italy, and still in its original frame, the Doni Tondo was probably commissioned by Agnolo Doni to commemorate his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi, the daughter of a powerful Tuscan family. The painting is in the form of a tondo, meaning in Italian 'round', a shape which is frequently associated during the Renaissance with domestic ideas.

<i>The Last Judgment</i> (Michelangelo) Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo

The Last Judgment is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance painter Michelangelo covering the whole altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ and the final and eternal judgment by God of all humanity. The dead rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ who is surrounded by prominent saints. Altogether there are over 300 figures, with nearly all the males and angels originally shown as nudes; many were later partly covered up by painted draperies, of which some remain after recent cleaning and restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes</span> 20th-century art conservation project

The conservation-restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant conservation-restorations of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florentine painting</span> Naturalistic painting style developed in the 14th century Florence

Florentine painting or the Florentine School refers to artists in, from, or influenced by the naturalistic style developed in Florence in the 14th century, largely through the efforts of Giotto di Bondone, and in the 15th century the leading school of Western painting. Some of the best known painters of the earlier Florentine School are Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Filippo Lippi, the Ghirlandaio family, Masolino, and Masaccio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallery of the Sistine Chapel ceiling</span>

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is one of the most renowned artworks of the High Renaissance. Central to the ceiling decoration are nine scenes from the Book of Genesis of which The Creation of Adam is the best known, the hands of God and Adam being reproduced in countless imitations. The complex design includes several sets of individual figures, both clothed and nude, which allowed Michelangelo to fully demonstrate his skill in creating a huge variety of poses for the human figure, and have provided an enormously influential pattern book of models for other artists ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Renaissance painting</span> Art movement

Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political states, some independent but others controlled by external powers. The painters of Renaissance Italy, although often attached to particular courts and with loyalties to particular towns, nonetheless wandered the length and breadth of Italy, often occupying a diplomatic status and disseminating artistic and philosophical ideas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Themes in Italian Renaissance painting</span>

This article about the development of themes in Italian Renaissance painting is an extension to the article Italian Renaissance painting, for which it provides additional pictures with commentary. The works encompassed are from Giotto in the early 14th century to Michelangelo's Last Judgement of the 1530s.

Events from the year 1512 in art.

<i>Prophet Jonah</i> (Michelangelo) Fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Prophet Jonah is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican Palace of Vatican City.

<i>Prophet Jeremiah</i> (Michelangelo) Fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Prophet Jeremiah is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is in Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City.

<i>Prophet Isaiah</i> (Michelangelo) Fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Prophet Isaiah is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is in Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City. Elements of this fresco have inspired various artists, including Caravaggio and Norman Rockwell in his famous Rosie the Riveter illustration.

<i>Prophet Joel</i> (Michelangelo) Fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Prophet Joel is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is in Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City.

<i>The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants</i> 1511 Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo

The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants is one of the frescoes from Michelangelo's nine Books of Genesis scenes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It is the second scene in the chronological sequence on the ceiling, depicting the third and fourth day of the Creation narrative together in one panel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Martyrs' Catholic Church, Goring-by-Sea</span> Church

English Martyrs' Church is in Compton Avenue, Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex, England. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church in the diocese of Arundel & Brighton and the Worthing deanery. Hand-painted by Gary Bevans over five and a half years, English Martyrs' Church has the only known reproduction of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, which has been described as "a marvel" and "astonishing".

References

  1. ↑ Pfeiffer, Heinrich W. The Sistine Chapel: A New Vision. New York/London, Abbeville Press Publishers, 2007
  2. ↑ Graham-Dixon, Andrew. Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. London, England: The Orion Publishing Group Ltd., 2008
  3. ↑ Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Artists. 1550.
  4. ↑ Barolsky, Paul (2003). "The Divine Origins of Chiaroscuro". Source: Notes in the History of Art. 22 (4): 8–9. JSTOR   23206787 – via JSTOR.
  5. ↑ Graham-Dixon 2008
  6. ↑ Suk, Ian; Tamargo, Rafael J. (May 2010). "Concealed Neuroanatomy in Michelangelo's Separation of Light From Darkness in the Sistine Chapel (abstract)". Neurosurgery . 66 (5): 851–861. doi:10.1227/01.NEU.0000368101.34523.E1. PMID   20404688.
  7. 1 2 Fields, R. Douglas (27 May 2010). "Michelangelo's secret message in the Sistine Chapel: A juxtaposition of God and the human brain". Scientific American . Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. ↑ Meshberger, Frank Lynn (10 October 1990). "An Interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam Based on Neuroanatomy". JAMA . 264 (14). Chicago, Illinois: American Medical Association: 1837–41. doi:10.1001/jama.1990.03450140059034. PMID   2205727. Pdf. Excerpt on Mental Health & Illness.com. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  9. 1 2 Eknoyan, Garabed (March 2000). "Michelangelo: Art, anatomy, and the kidney". Kidney International . 57 (1). Amsterdam: Elsevier: 1190–1201. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1755.2000.00947.x . PMID   10720972 . Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Bondeson, L., and Bondeson, A. G.. Michelangelo's divine goitre. J. R. Soc. Med. 96: 609–611, December 2003
  11. ↑ Barreto, G., and de Oliveira, M. G.. A Arte Secreta de Michelangelo. Uma Licao de Anatomia na Capela Sistina. Editoria Arx, Sao Paulo, Brasil, 2004
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.