Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, the Prophet Ezekiel
No more sluggish grace: Ezekiel exhibits a poignancy of movement that proclaims a strong spiritual direction. His posture differs significantly from that of the sibyls, as he sits firmly on his throne, with both feet fixed on the ground. The prophet’s feet are shown without the embellishments we witness in his female counterparts; sturdy, simple members, they were meant for walking, and they reveal the day-to-day routine of the biblical prophet as physically demanding and even grueling. At last we see a gaze that is prepared to confront an opposition; there is generally something violent in the way Ezekiel looks to his right. In fact, all of his frame appears rather intimidating. The red of his main apparel further stresses the aggressiveness and the contained energy, ready to spill out in the form of words, as his pouting lips show, or blows, as his callous right palm unequivocally implies.
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This is a man of action. It seems that besides the movement, Michelangelo sought to express this trait by accentuating the physical properties of the prophet’s figure. First, there are the feet mentioned earlier. Second, the red cloth covers incredibly massive thighs. Third, the arms, the biceps and the shoulders also seem very strong and muscular. The almost inhumanly thick neck brings a final touch to overall impression of solidity and power ready to be channeled into any — the prophet’s right in this case — direction. The scroll that he holds in his left hand associates much better with a weapon than with letters and education, as if the man is prepared to literally beat the truth into the minds of his opponents. The monograph in my possession says that the depicted zeal reflects Ezekiel’s biblical image as a denunciator.
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The two heads in the background add some balance and harmony to the upper part of the scene. Pictorially, they encompass the prophet’s head, softening its bulky shape. Allegorically, they resonate with Ezekiel’s mood, the boy on the right expressing fear and anxiety, and the boy on the left showing compliance (he is the one with downcast eyes!) and readiness to further communicate God’s words — his hands pointing in both the upper and Ezekiel’s direction. There are a few interesting compositional tricks: the serpentine line of the scroll is mirrored several times, in a larger proportion, in the white cloth that covers the right part of the prophet’s body. The scarf, waving to the left of the figure, countervails the general tendency. The contours of the composition form a rectangle — a stable, though arguably less pretty geometrical figure, which reaffirms Ezekiel’s spiritual certitude. Eventually, it may also reflect the conceptual simplicity of monotheism as opposed to paganism, implied by the multitude of more refined figures that constitute the sibyls.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 9:57 pm and is filed under Michelangelo, Religious, Renaissance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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