Words Edel Cassidy
This giant magnum opus features life-size 1:1 renditions of the masterworks of Michelangelo, Botticelli, Perugino and other Renaissance artists, reproducing the most precise images of the artworks ever published.
To create this Sistine Chapel trilogy, a team of photographers worked for sixty-seven consecutive nights on a ten-metre-tall scaffold capturing every centimetre of the magnificent frescoes while the Sistine Chapel was closed to the public. Post-production, using imaging software, 270,000 individual frames were seamlessly stitched together and printed as digital proofs. These proofs were then meticulously colour-matched against the actual frescoes. The final images are 99.4 per cent accurate in terms of colour.
This enormous 61cm x 43cm (24in x 17in) 822-page creation offers the first-ever opportunity to witness the frescoes of Michelangelo and the other artists in minute detail, with images so clear, sharp and immersive that colours and textures can be observed right down to the individual brush strokes.
The set has been published as a limited edition: there are only 1,999 copies, never to be reprinted, with just 600 available in English. Each volume weighs 11.33kg (25lbs), with a total weight of 34kg (75lbs). They are bound in white calf leather, debossed in silver, gold and platinum foil stamping. The debossed handmade Italian endpapers feature the pattern of the Cosmati mosaic tiles in the Sistine Chapel. Each volume is protected by a custom cotton sleeve, and a pair of white cotton gloves is provided for archival handling. Each volume is encased in a bespoke handmade gift box. A separate box, printed in white and silver ink with matte film lamination, holds the three-volume collection.
This monumental project dovetails with the ongoing conservation programme of the Vatican Museums, which has never authorised a publication of this kind previously. The three-volume Sistine Chapel is an art treasure in itself, something to cherish and pass on as a valued heirloom.
Each set is numbered with a seal of authenticity and is available to order at:
- Callaway Arts & Entertainment (price: $22,000)
- Scripta Maneant (price: €19,500)
The contents of the three individual books are as follows:
- Frescoes of the 15th Century
- Sistine Ceiling
- The Last Judgement
Frescoes of the 15th Century
The first volume of The Sistine Chapel set (268 pages) is about the frescoes on the side walls of the chapel, painted between 1481 and 1483.
Stories from the Life of Moses
Showing seven scenes from the early life of Moses as described in the book of Exodus, this fresco is located in the second compartment on the south wall of the chapel. In each scene, Moses is distinguishable by his yellow dress, and in five of the scenes, he also wears a green cloak.
- On the bottom right, Moses is killing an Egyptian overseer for beating one of the Israelite workers. To the right, a woman in blue comforts and leads away the young Israelite.
- On the middle right, Moses flees into the desert to escape Pharaoh’s death penalty for killing the Egyptian.
- To the left of this scene, Moses drives away two men, dressed in red and orange, who were preventing Jethro’s daughters (including his future wife, Zipporah) to water their sheep.
- In the scene below, Moses helps the girls to get water for their sheep from the well and pours it into a trough.
- On the top middle, Moses takes off his sandals as God has told him that he is standing on holy ground.
- On the top left, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush.
- On the bottom left, Moses stands in front of the Israelites, as he leads them out of slavery in Egypt to their promised land. (The detail above is from this scene).
Sistine Ceiling
The second volume (258 pages) is about the cycle of frescoes on the ceiling of the chapel, painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512.
The Creation of Adam
Michelangelo’s powerful image of the Creation of Adam is one of the most iconic images in European art history. It is located next to the Creation of Eve, the panel at the centre of the ceiling. It depicts the story from the book of Genesis when God creates the first human being.
God, depicted as an elderly, yet muscular man, is flying through the air with grey hair and a long beard. He stretches out his right hand to touch the hand of Adam who is reclining below him on earth. It was usual to see God depicted as a regal figure, but Michelangelo portrays him here as a humble man wearing a light tunic, with much of his arms and legs exposed.
The book of Genesis tells us that ‘God created man in his image’ and this was clearly an influence in the composition of this work: Adam’s body forms a concave shape that appears to mirror God’s convex posture.
This painting only took three weeks to complete; the painting of Adam took Michelangelo only four days. An admiring Giorgio Vasari gasped in amazement at the rendering of Adam and said, ‘a figure whose beauty, pose and contours are of such a quality that he seems newly created by his Supreme and First Creator rather than by the brush and design of a mere mortal.’
Zechariah
It was customary for an artist to incorporate his sponsor into a large work of art, and it is believed that Michelangelo followed tradition and depicted Pope
Julius II as the prophet Zechariah.
One of the seven Israeli prophets that surround the centre panel of the ceiling, Zechariah sits above the main entrance to the chapel, a fitting position for the artist’s sponsor. The prophet can be identified by the plaque bearing his name. Beneath this plaque is the della Rovere coat of arms,
the family of Pope Sixtus IV, the chapel’s founder, and of his nephew Pope Julius II, who commissioned the ceiling frescoes.
In the detail, you can see some repairs on the sleeve of the yellow tunic, on the shoulder to the back, and on the subject’s neck.
Ignudo
Twenty youthful, athletic male figures are depicted at the four corners of the five smaller scenes of the Creation centre panel. Michelangelo adopted the name Ignudi from the Italian word nudo, meaning ‘naked’.
What is intriguing about these figures is that they play no role in the Bible stories and therefore do not fit the theme of the paintings. Their meaning is a mystery and Michelangelo gave no explanation for them.
The Last Judgement
The third volume (252 pages) is about the fresco on the west wall of the chapel painted by Michelangelo from 1534 to 1541.
The trumpeting angels, set beneath Christ’s figure in the centre lower half of the wall, announce the Second Coming of Christ as prophesied in the Book of Revelation. There is mention of the Second Coming also in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
‘And he will send out his angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.’ (Matthew 24:30–31)
- ‘The Sistine Chapel: A Limited Edition’ is published in Anthology Volume 17. Read more features from this volume or buy it now.
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