Miranda

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Stage: (Michelangelo Buonarroti is sitting in the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo observes and describes what he has created. He reminisces on his childhood, how he used to envision creating something so astonishing, and how he did it. He thinks about how far he has become. He stares at his ceiling of expertise.)

It is now 1512, and I am done. Four years of painting and my masterpiece is fulfilled. I cannot believe that my series of nine paintings on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, is finally completed. The Sistine Chapel, one of the most famous buildings in the Vatican City, and the official residence of the Pope, has a ceiling painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti. (Michelangelo yells) It sounds so good to hear and say. (Chuckles) The feeling of actually accomplishing this is amazing. I always wanted to paint something so magnificent, and I did so. (Michelangelo pats himself on the back and smiles) To think that I may be known as a famous artist in the future for the painting of the ceiling makes me ponder. What will people think? Painting the ceiling was not easy. I used a scaffold in which I built myself. The scaffold was a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall. It was high up near the top of the windows. The colors of the paintings are bright, so the ceiling is visible from the floor. Along the central section of the ceiling, I painted nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible. The scenes fall into three groups of three. (Michelangelo looks around at the ceiling) My first group of paintings shows God creating the Heavens and the Earth. It shows that God created the Earth and all that in six days, and rests on the seventh day. In the first day of the creation, God creates light and separates light from darkness. In the second day, God divides the waters from the Heavens. Third day, God creates the Earth and makes it sprout plants. Fourth day, God puts the Sun and the Moon in place to govern the night and the day, the time, and the seasons of the year. On the Fifth day, God creates the birds and the fish. And on the Sixth day, God creates more creatures. In the second group, I took four episodes of the story of Adam and Eve. I painted God creating the first man and the first woman (Adam and Eve), and their noncompliance of God and resultant expulsion from the Garden of Eden where they had lived and walked with God. In one of the first paintings of the second group, I showed God reaching out and touching Adam. To me this signified that God was giving Adam life. The third group of three paintings shows the plight of Humanity, and in particular the family of Noah. The third group depicts the sacrifice made by the family of Noah, after the Great Flood. My paintings are not exactly in chronological order. I painted the scenes as to be viewed looking from the altar towards the main door. On the Sistine Chapel ceiling, I also painted twelve people who represented some aspect of the Coming of Christ. Seven of the people were male and were Prophets of Israel, and the remaining five were women, and Prophets of the Classical World. I am extremely satisfied by the way that my paintings came out. (Smiles) I think that when people are allowed in, they will like it, or at least I hope so. My journey of painting is now over, and I am relieved. (Michelangelo sighs)