Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Fresco Paintings

Michelangelo's work is characterized by the painstaking work and technique which evidences the highest level of craftsmanship that was "typical of fresco painters in the Renaissance period" (De Vecchi 26). The famous painter began his work by applying plaster and carefully choosing his pigments. Although his work was clearly that of a genius, it was also done very much in the style and spirit of other great Florentine masters like Domenico, Ghirlandio, and Luca Signorelli.

Michelangelo's paintings spread across the entire "shallow barrel vault[ed]" ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Murray 63). The vaulted ceiling is covered with paintings of robust religious people and scenes; the first half is done in the typical fifteenth-century color scheme, and the second half is done in colder colors and tones (De Vecchi 28). Thus, as a piece of Renaissance art, the second half of the ceiling is much more progressive and innovative, while the first half of the ceiling is typical of other artwork created in the same period. And, although all of the individuals and groups of figures that Michelanglo painted appear in vivid colors and appeart three-dimensional, Michelangl