When darkness seems to shroud the world, traditional art can help. Art’s ultimate role is to uplift us by reminding us of how to be good, true, and the best we can be. When traditional artists create such enduring art, it can awaken our innate goodness. The works of Italian Renaissance master Raffaello Sanzio (better…
Sistine Ceiling’s Prophets and Sibyls Ponder Heaven’s Message
March 20, 2022
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Arts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightLife & TraditionMichelangeloprophetsSibylsSistine Chapel Ceiling
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The musty smell of lime plaster fills the air just under the chapel’s ceiling. The artist works quickly on each section of the fresco as he stands on a scaffold platform 68 feet above the floor. Along the perimeter of the high barrel vault of the Sistine Chapel, Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti paints 12 prophetic…
Michelangelo’s Hidden Room Reveals His Pious Heart
It must have been an exhilarating moment in 1975 when museum director Paolo Dal Poggetto discovered a trapdoor hidden under a cabinet in the New Sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy. Under the trapdoor, stone steps led down to a tiny chamber that had gone unnoticed for 500 years. At first,…
Rick Steves’ Europe: The Church of David
Entering Florence’s Accademia Gallery is like entering the Church of David — a temple of humanism. At the high altar stands the perfect man, Michelangelo’s colossal statue of David. Like a Renaissance Statue of Liberty, David declares, “Yes, I can.” This 500-year-old slingshot-toting giant-slayer is the symbol of Florence. The city’s other treasures are largely…
Land Artist ‘Paints With Pebbles’ to Make Masterpiece Portraits and Lifelike Faces in Jungles of Thailand
Inspired by esoteric Tibetan sand mandalas and their corporeal impermanence, one UK-born artist uses natural landscapes as his canvas, and paints with pebbles of various colors, shapes, and tones to portray earthwork likenesses of Michelangelo’s David and Mark Zuckerberg. A challenging juxtaposition to be sure. But beautiful. And extraordinary. That artist, 45-year-old Justin Bateman, now…
Historic Rome Villa With World’s Only Caravaggio Mural Is up for Auction
ROME—Looking for an opulent residence in Rome and have a spare half a billion euros to spend? Look no further: Villa Aurora, a real estate and art gem in the Italian capital is up for sale. The property, which sprawls over 2,800 square meters including a lush garden, is home to the only known ceiling…
Did Michelangelo Destroy His Sculpture ‘The Deposition’?
It’s the middle of the 16th century. Sparks fly every which way as Michelangelo, at around 75 years old, furiously carves Christ, Nicodemus, the Virgin Mary, and St. Mary Magdalene into a piece of marble over 7 feet tall. Michelangelo rendered Christ as he had just fallen from the cross. There’s a palpable dynamic energy…
‘Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition’ travels the US
Five hundred years ago, Michelangelo forced popes, princes, and prelates to crane their necks and gaze at heaven. Today, the glory of his frescoed vault has been brought down to earth by the travelling show “Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition.” This immersive exhibit, on display in several U.S. cities including Chicago; San Francisco; San Antonio,…
Michelangelo’s Perseverance: A Lesson in Achieving Greatness
Michelangelo Buonarroti is undeniably one of the greatest artists in history. He was born in 1475 and lived until the ripe age of 88. He considered himself primarily a sculptor, but he also produced some of the greatest fresco paintings, architecture, and poetry of the Italian Renaissance. What made Michelangelo great? What was his secret…
The Medici: Patrons of the Florentine Renaissance
May 26, 2021
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Arts & LettersBotticelliBronze sculptureDonatelloFine ArtsFlorencefrescoItalian renaissanceMediciMichelangelooil paintingRadiant LifeRenaissance ArtRometempera
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Their artworks are icons of Italy and their names are among the most well-known in the art world: Donatello, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Michelangelo. Eager viewers stop and snap photos of the instantly-recognizable paintings, sculptures, and buildings. Displayed in museums around the world, the immortal paintings invite a popular following. What remains obscured in the history books,…
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