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Museums of the Mediterranean            Museums of the Mediterranean



        The Sistina was built at the place of the former “Capella   “Temptations of Christ” and the “Cleansing of the Lep-
        Magna”, a fortification from the Middle Ages. The Sistine   er” by Botticelli. The other paintings show the “Calling
        Chapel was as well constructed as a fortified building in   of  the  first  Apostles”  by  Ghirlandaio,  the  “Sermon  on
        unsecure  times:  The  rulers of Florence  struggled  per-  the Mount”, the “Handing over of the Keys” from Jesus
        manently with the forces of the Pope and the Turks at-  to St Peter and the “Last Supper” by Cosimo Rosselli and
        tacked the Italian coast. At this time the vaulted ceiling   Biagio d’Antonio.  11
        was painted like a blue heaven with golden stars.
                                                               Michelangelo finished the ceiling in 1512, and 20 years
        In  1508,  Pope  Julius II  engaged  Michelangelo to paint   later he painted the far wall. The “Last Judgement” il-
        the ceiling. The themes were central scenes from the   lustrates that some will see heaven but most are damned
        Old Testament, and the “Creation of Adam” is known as   to go to hell. At the day of the Last Judgment, angels
        one of the most important artworks in history. Michel-  wake the dead with trumpets, the skeletons become liv-
        angelo painted figures in the triangles above the arched   ing bodies. The Archangel Michael helds a book with the
        windows and between the triangles. They included Da-   names of the blessed and a large book with the names
        vid, Josiah and Jesse, while portraits of the Popes were   of the damned. Saint Peter helds a silver and a gold key,
        painted at a lower register.                           his face is painted as a portrait of Pope Paul III. In this
                                                               approach, Michelangelo combined Greek mythology with
        Between the triangles, Michelangelo invented portraits   Christian belief: the boatman Charon who brought the
        of pagan sibyls. This did not have an anti-Christian back-  dead over the river Styx in pagan Greece pushes here
        ground: Renaissance Christians interpretated the proph-  sinners out of his boat to Hell.
        ecies of these sibyls as predictions of the arrival of the
        redeemer Jesus Christ.                                 An outmoded, crowded labyrinth

        Michelangelo’s paintings were unique in the Renaissance:   The Vatican museums own, without question, one of
        before painting the Sistine Chapel, he had been famous   the most important collections of art, archaeology and
        for his sculptures and not as a painter. Nevertheless, the   historical objects in the world. Each of  the numerous
        huge  figures  in  the  Chapel  were  “painted  sculptures”   museums could easily be compared with museums of re-
        with “lifelike” bodies.                                gional or national value.

        Michelangelo’s paintings cover 800 m  with themes like   The Vatican is the last medieval city state in Europe
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        the waiting for the Messiah, the prophecies about him   ruled by a theocratic regime with the ideology to tell
        and the Genesis. Unique were the quick brush strokes   an absolute truth given by a supernatural being while its
        and fluid colors. There are important scenes from the   museums present themselves as touristic destinations.
        Old Testament on the right like Judith and Holofernes,   Therefore, they even put on show works by artists who
        the fight of the Israelites against serpents when they re-  were not known as strictly catholic like Van Gogh, Dali
        volted against God; the left shows the struggle between   and Picasso. But the hoarding of  objects  and the im-
        David and Goliath and the story of Esther, the Jewish   pressing architecture can not hide the fact that (as often
        wife of a Persian king who convinced him to spare the   in Italy) there is a lack of modern museum pedagogics
        Jews from punishment.                                  and facilities for visitors. The air conditioning is poor,
                                                               there are different confusing routes to the Sistine Chap-
        The second part shows the seven prophets of the bible   el, and it takes a long time to find these ways inside the
        and the five pagan Sibyls, the third part nine scenes from   crowds of visitors. 8) On normal days, it takes at least
        the Genesis, creation, the lifes of Adam and Noah, in-  three  to four hours to enter the  museum, and in  the
        cluding Michelangelo’s most famous work, the “Creation   famous halls, visitors wait to see the objects as if they
        of Adam” and the “Creation of Eve”.                    would be at a passport control in an airport, kicked and
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                                                               pushed by the masses of respectless tourists.
        With  the  exemption  of the  Last  Judgment, all lower
        wall paintings are not by him, but works by other ex-  The presentation in the Sistine Chapel cannot be accept-
        cellent painters of the Renaissance: The left wall shows   ed for such  extraordinary artwork,  the  atmosphere  is
        the stories of Moses, the right wall stories of the New   oppressive because the brillant colors of the paintings
        Testament. The first painting on the left is ”The Jour-  contrast the poor lighting.
        ney of Moses in Egypt”, followed by the “Trials of Mo-
        ses” with God in a burning bush and God appearing to   The signposting in the  huge  complex does not  give
        Moses. They were painted by Botticelli. Other paintings   enough orientation for visitors who do not use addition-
        show the “Handling Over of the Tablets of the Law”, the   al information from catalogues or travel guides. The of-
        punishment of the Jews by God during their Journey to   fered internet map of the complex is not really a naviga-
        the promised land. Luca Signorelli painted the “Legacy   tion help. In smaller museums such a lack of signposting
        and death of Moses”. On the right wall the story starts   would be a minor aspect: in the Vatican museums with
        with the “Baptism of Christ” by Perugino, leading to the   a 7 km walk flooded by visitors it is a toil to return to a

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                                        EXPOTIME!, issue October / November 2017
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