Michelangelo’s Last Work

« The Last Judgment | Home | Michelangelo’s Life »

By peace | September 19, 2010

St Peter's Cathedral

In February 1545, the ‘tragedy of the tomb’ finally came to an end with the official unveiling of the monument to Julius. The original design had been cut down to something small and manageable, with only three sculptures from Michelangelo’s hand. Though one of them, the Moses, surely ranks among the greatest works of all time, still the tomb as a whole was disappointing. Michelangelo himself was ashamed of it — as apprently were the heirs of Julius, for the pope’s bones lie elsewhere.

Michelangelo was then 70 years old and so famous that people were already summing up his accomplishments and considering his place in history. Every public figure has critics, and Michelangelo had his share, like the writer who complained that all of his figures were equally massive and muscular — men, women, and children alike. “Whoever sees one figure by Michelangelo,” he wrote, “sees them all.” To almost everyone else, though, he was the Divine Michelangelo, a living legend, the master of the Renaissance (The period in Europe that began in Italy in the 14th century and lasted into the 17th century, during which art and learning flourished.)

Yet old though he was, the crowning achievement of his remarkable life still lay ahead.

In 1546, the man responsible for the rebuilding of St Peter’s Cathderal, Antonio da Sangallo, died and the Pope asked Michelangelo to take over the project. Michelangelo was 72. He knew it would probably be his last work.

Michelangelo threw himself into the project, making huge changes to da Sangallo’s design. He ordered the workers to work, work, work! He personally calculated every beam and attended to every detail.

As in the past, others were jealous of his genius, and he had to deal with rumour, slander, and plots against him. His enemies said his eyesight was poor and his brain muddled, but Michelangelo did not give in. Old and ill, he continued to struggle on until the very end.

Today, no one can look at the magnificent St Peter’s Cathedral without a feeling of awe and respect. The Church wanted St Peter’s Cathedral to be so great that it would outshine the monuments of ancient Rome. Michelangelo used the last of his spirit and energy to create this sacred hall. When he gasp in admiration at its murals, its sculpture, and its architecture, we are really gasping in praise of an extraordinary genius.

Old age is not easy for anyone. Most of Michelangelo’s friends had died, and his health was beginning to fail. What sustained him then, more than anything else, was his daily work on St Peter’s, that miracle of architecture. And though he devoted the last seventeen years of his life to this task, Michelangelo refused to accept any payment. He said he did it for the good of his soul.

In his last years, he would still go into his studio sometimes and pick up his hammer and chisel. The vigor that once enabled him to ‘knock more chips out of the hardest marble in a quarter of an hour than three young masons could have done in an hour’ was a thing of the past. Still, he went on working at his craft because it gave him pleasure. And it is fitting that he should end the cycle of his great works exactly as he began it — with a pieta. But this one he would not finish.

The popes hoped to use his talent to be sure that history remembered them, but the name that is remembered today is Michelangelo.

More Links About Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Artist of The Body
Michelangelo’s Pieta
The Giant
Michelangelo and The Pope
Sculptures By Michelangelo

Share and Enjoy: