Rev. 20: 11-15 is what has been painted in Giotto’s and Michelangelo’s frescos. It is called ‘The Last Judgement’ due to the literal sense of the title itself. There are other judgments that have happened within the bible i.e. Adam and Eve being thrown out of Eden. Here though every single persons deed is before God and is to be judged, they will either go to heaven or be sent down to Satan and that will be final. From examining the Chapter it is no wonder that this would be of great fascination to a believer and cause an overwhelming feeling of devotion and fright. Although John has described heaven with words these images were to put forward to the audience the unveiling of heaven in a visual sense. Religious paintings within both the frescoes era was about communicating to the illiterate congregation. In addition to this it was to help contemplation on the events that are being depicted combined with renewing faith in the religion. These massive awe inspiring Frescoes were relating the aim of the message in this Chapter to the audience of the time.
Giotto was the first of the two artists here to paint the Last Judgement. Working in the early 14th century, he was taught by Cimabue who was thought to have been one of the greatest painters in the style of Byzantine. Giotto himself became one of the greatest painters of his era along with being thought to have been a contributing factor to the Renaissance style. His use of the ideology of Antiquity art within his method of painting was a stark contrast to the flat disproportionate way of his fellow artists. Showing to the viewer of his work what it would have looked like if they were witnessing the biblical story themselves, encouraging thought and faith upon the congregation.
The Arena Chapel that house’s Giotto’s ‘The Last Judgement’ was commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni of Padua. Enrico Scrovegni purchased the remains of a Roman Amphitheatre with the objective of building his family a home there. The Chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary due to the fact that from 1278 the area was used to celebrate her in a festival. Scrovegni honours the Virgin by requesting Giotto to portray her and Christ’s life in the Arena Chapel. This Chapel may well have been planned around Giotto’s requirements. This idea has been formulated from observation of the design by Stubblebine (1969:74) as the function of the building is to show off the artwork within. Inside there are plain walls minus the usual decorative columns or niches with six windows along the south wall allowing a good flood of light to enter the room. This is an interesting thought as it could explain the coherent quality that the images show. It is more likely that Enrico Scrovegni had the Chapel designed this way as he was known among the Franciscan order and they built their religious buildings in a similar manner like stated by Graham-Dixon (1999:30). Not that this building is designed in a restricting manner for an artist but on the opposite side of the argument is how much more different would the choice of images be?
Each artist has found their own way to depict the same biblical text. Giotto uses the traditional forms of structure in the Fresco with God being in the centre of the image encased within the mandorla. Here God is like a representation of the Sun, central to our universe and completely in control of our fate. The upper half containing heaven with the Angels and Apostles; the lake of fire to the lower right with Satan and the souls who did not enter heaven and on the lower left the procession of the saved with the Virgin Mary at the start.
This image takes up the whole space of the entrance wall being of magnificent size, almost overwhelming to a viewer. It is to be the last thing that is seen when leaving the Chapel along with it being a constant reminder of contemplation of ones deeds. This is a traditional place for this image to be situated in a religious building. Giotto’s composition of the last judgement is typical of the portrayal of this subject, with the visible hierarchy of the subjects. With this conventional use of structure for the composition it can lend an almost apathetic view of the fresco. However Giotto’s ability to show realism is what brings this dramatic text to life. His representation of humans is influenced by his study of sculpture and can be seen by how the figures are solid in the image. The influence of Antiquity is the realism of the figures not being shown in various sizes according to importance but the same, making the figures very human. In addition to this he was very skilful at facial expressions and if you add the use of gestures within a painting this makes Giotto’s image more authoritative and solid to the viewer. One can only imagine how the audience at that time would have reacted to his powerful representation of Revelation. As this Chapel is a private place of worship for the family and therefore not governed by the church, my original question of why this image is so important to the church becomes redundant. This question has now taken the aim of the importance of the image within the particular Religious building it is housed in rather than the sense that the subject matter is important as a whole for the Church.
During the end of the Quattrocento there was a wide spread fear of the end of days reflected by the end of that century as it was a half millennium; Calling upon particular reflection of the Last Judgement. Most of Italy was independent states, ruled as an oligarchy. In 1443 the Treaty of Lodi was put into place so as to bring peace among the various states for 50 years, but in 1494 it came to an end by French invasion. This enhanced the unsettled feeling of apocalyptic fears as now Italy was governed by a few immensely powerful men.
The Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV, and was ready to be adorned by artwork in 1481. Michelangelo was brought in due to a crack appearing and causing the vault to be shut down and restored in. This took Michelangelo four years to complete finishing in 1512. In 1533 Clement VII asked Michelangelo to paint the Alter Wall, it took until 1536 to get him to start due to his reluctance to do the Fresco. The Last Judgement has been stated before in this essay to be typically placed on the entrance wall of the Religious building; this one is the opposite being on the Alter Wall. The change in position could be due to the subject being not popular throughout the Quattrocento. The Fresco to be on the Alter Wall heeds contemplation of ones deeds throughout the duration of a visit, as if boring into them this message. Last Judgement as a subject matter and how it is depicted reflects the environment of the time, there are two angles to see this text from; either the joyous moment of heaven and Gods reign or the dark view of everlasting torment.
The Counter-Reformation was starting to occur during the Cinquecento, this was the Catholic response to the Protestant reformation. People found the Catholic Church to be filled with popes and Bishops who were abusing their power and were there less out of religious belief and more for riches and supremacy. The congregation wanted changes and so turned to the Protestants for this. From this action the Catholic Church decided to make the changes themselves from within. Pope Paul III who commissioned Michelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgement’ did so in order to involve it within the Counter-Reformation. Michelangelo had also built up a very good reputation by this time and so this was another factor that made Pope Paul III ask him to paint the Fresco. Pope Paul III was aware that this fresco would be executed in the maniera style and so would have portrayed the Last Judgement in a way opposed by the Counter-Reformation yet effectively visualising the text.
Michelangelo originally started off his studies with the same compositional order as Giotto but changed it to fit more with the humanist ideas circulating in the Renaissance. Christ is the prevailing figure here which is to be expected, further to the top than in Giotto’s image but still central. Michelangelo’s God was judged itself for not being of the archetypal version and was linked to the Greek God of the Sun, Apollo. The fact that he chose to depict God as a young, beard-free man could be to do with the current events of his time; it was discovered that the Earth rotated around the Sun not the other way around. Here God looks to be in movement, as if he is about to stride out of the painting, unlike Giotto’s static God. Michelangelo’s mass uses of nude male figures were to him a way of portraying a force of energy within the image. Again in contrast to Giotto’s fresco the Virgin Mary is to God’s left hand side protected by the aureole. Michelangelo’s Christ has his left hand raised up and his right hand lowered; a typical use of hand gestures that is implemented by Giotto as well to signal the acceptance and rejection of souls.
The lower right level reserved for the Lake of Fire with Satan is small in comparison to Giotto’s but due to Michelangelo’s skill at representing body forms, it is still a frightening image. To the middle there is a cave that would be of eye-level to the priest thought to represent purgatory, with demons inside looking out. This could be served to play on the priests mind as it was believed in Michelangelo’s time that a soul trapped in Purgatory was able to get out through Church donations, prayer, and mass. At the top of the Fresco Christ’s Passion is illustrated with the intentions of reflecting upon his first resurrection and how the Last Judgement is only possible because of that event. With this image there seems to be less rigidity of composition and more of a flow with the position of figures. When looked into for this investigation it has been seen to be more similar in aspects to Giotto’s than first thought; Christ is central, Satan is to the lower right, the lower left are the ascension of souls into heaven with the indication of Christ’s hands followed through with the lower right as the descent of souls into Hell.
The main topic of conversation towards this fresco when unveiled, both good and bad, was the use of so many nude figures and the mixture of positions they were painted in. The negative opinions were commenting on how the nudes were not suited within such a sacred place. The other response to the image was the fact that this image was too complicated for the uneducated masses to find the message it was intended for. This need for a simpler image from more conservative members of the church was a strategy to keep control over the congregation. Some said that Michelangelo was less concerned with representing the Last Judgement as this intense reflective consequence of Catholics but more interested in using the work as a vessel to portray his own identity and thinking; His self portrait turns up under the guise of St. Bartholomew.
This examination of Giotto and Michelangelo’s ‘The Last Judgement’ showed the difference these two artists used in addressing the same subject matter and the relationship of the Book of Revelation in conjunction with this. As part of the investigation The Book of Revelation was addressed as well as it is the text these Frescoes are portraying. It has been discovered that the date of the written text is a little vague along with he authorship. The intent of the book was clear though it was to prepare, frighten and encourage the Churches of Asia and their congregations. This is supported with the only description of heaven within the bible. From acknowledging the view of Dionysius it has been shown that the power of the text brings about those who wish to dispute it and question its authority, which can have the reverse effect of enhancing the divinity. The background information in regards to John the Apostle can provide an awareness to the text itself as it was written to relate to the people of his time. To know this unlocks more of the book to a modern day reader. Once this has been done there was a requirement to find the Chapter and verse that is actually impacting upon the artwork and why it was worth depicting.
To know that the verse is called the Last Judgement is one thing but to put it into context and fully comprehend the meaning of this from an ignorant view can instantly set into development how important the visual aspect would be to the Church. As a modern day viewer it could be efficient to join the ranks of the illiterate congregation of that time. To process the overall experience in the way they would have done when viewing the artwork to help appreciate the effect of it. First to see the overwhelming large and spiritual building and on entering in the case of Michelangelo’s this image is directed straight at you in a scale that can not be avoided. The priest bellows this text out to a vast room full of people and what is being heard are visions of an unknown. To settle concentration on the Fresco would solidify the text, making it of reality to deeply reflect what is being said and understand. Breaking apart the Fresco of Giotto starts with who he was during his era, and why he was asked to paint the Chapel. Also to know how the Chapel came to exist, as if there is no Chapel then there is no need for the Fresco. In doing this for the essay a new puzzle arrived from sources used, in the relation of the building to Giotto and the outcome of his work. Comprehending the methods Giotto applied and where it was placed gives a clearer view to the overall image; and so understanding Revelation in each of the sections. Cultural happenings of the time are significant to the Frescoes, bringing further links to them. Michelangelo’s era had a lot to decipher through that was relative to the Fresco. To be aware that he took influence from Giotto’s and then adapted it shows the change in the environment. To look at the two images in the way that has been done here it opens up the realisation of why they are so important to the Church.
References
King James version. ‘The Bible’. 2004. Hendrickson Publishers
Stubblebine, James. H. 9’Giotto: The Arena Chapel Frescoes’ 1969. Thames and Hudson LTD
Graham-Dixon, Andrew. ‘Renaissance’ 1999. BBC Worldwide LTD
Bibliography
Barnes, Bernadine. ‘Michelangelo’s Last Judgement: The Renaissance Response’ 1998. University of California Press.
Baxandall, Michael. ‘Giotto and the Orators’ 1971. Oxford at the Clarendon Press.
Baxandall, Michael. ‘Painting and Experience in 15th Century Italy’1988. Oxford University Press
Graham-Dixon, Andrew. ‘Renaissance’ 1999. BBC Worldwide LTD
Hall, Marcia. B. ‘ Michelangelo’s Last Judgement’ 2005. Cambridge University Press
King James version. ‘The Bible’. 2004. Hendrickson Publishers
Stubblebine, James. H. 9’Giotto: The Arena Chapel Frescoes’ 1969. Thames and Hudson LTD
Ruskin, John. ‘Giotto and his Works in Padua’ 2005. Kessinger Publishing, LLC
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