Both Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Fresco (1508-1512) and Rivera’s Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) seek to depict man’s place in the world. The Sistine Chapel fresco was commissioned by Pope Julius II for the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace and was painted by the Florentine artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni between 1508 and 1512 (Zappella). It is considered a cornerstone work of the High Renaissance style. Michelangelo invented special wooden scaffolding to apply the washes of paint to wet plaster. Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) is a recreation of the mural Man at the Crossroads in New York City that was commissioned in 1932 and then destroyed by John D. Rockefeller Jr. due to ideological controversies (Rusu). It is an example of the Mexican Muralism style and was painted by Diego Rivera, a passionate Mexican socialist who inserted a portrait of Vladimir Lenin into the mural. The capitalist Rockefellers subsequently chose to demolish his work to avoid communist allegations, and Rivera recreated the fresco in the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Both the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512) and Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) are commissioned frescoes with a strong ideological purpose.
Firstly, nine complex scenes from the Book of Genesis are represented in the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco (1508-1512) with over three hundred anatomically correct Biblical figures. Michelangelo used bold colors, clear forms, and dramatic shading so the content would be identifiable even at a distance. The figures are brightly lit and anatomically correct, with imposing physicality and a muscular frame radiating power and beauty in front of a pale cream background. The central section depicts three narratives from the Book of Genesis: the creation of the universe, Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and Noah and the Great Flood. Interspersed with these scenes, biblical prophets and classical Sybils sit in different poses behind marble tablets. The most famous part of the ceiling is The Creation of Adam, displaying an older man with a white beard and swirling cloak stretching out a finger to impart the spark of life to Adam, the first human. The Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco (1508-1512) reminds its viewers that God is an omniscient and omnipotent origin of life in the universe that created man in his own image and likeness.
On the other hand, Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) represents man’s struggle between industry, science, socialism, and capitalism. It is painted in earthy, somber tones, and the figures are rendered almost cartoonishly. At the center is a man wearing worker’s overalls and heavy gloves grasping a lever, seemingly poised between the choices represented in each corner of the mural. Before him is a fist holding an orb, depicting human manipulation of cells and atoms, and a giant industrial cog in the background. On the right side, wealthy society women play cards as the bourgeoisie, soldiers in gas masks, and an angry Jupiter observe them. On the left is a worker’s march headed by Friedrich Angels and Karl Marx, while Vladimir Lenin holds hands with a group of multiracial laborers. A decapitated Caesar is shown on the far right, and a group of workers sits on his deposed head. Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) represents the fall of idols, scientific mastery of nature, and man’s choice between militaristic capitalism and the ushering in of a socialist utopia by liberated workers.
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco (1508-1512) and Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) are two vastly different frescos. The former represents the universe as God’s harmonious, ordered, and predetermined work and focuses on the biblical stories that explain its origins. It focuses on the past and glorifies the omnipotence of God. On the other hand, the world in Rivera’s mural is chaotic and future-oriented; humanity is depicted on the brink of a choice between communism and capitalism after having killed all of its previous idols. The power of the working class is lauded in the mural, united by philosophers such as Marx and Engels. The difference in subject matter between the two paintings is reflected in their visual elements. The Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco is brightly lit, colorful, symmetrical, and neatly divided into each Biblical narrative. Although Man, Controller of the Universe (1934) is also visually divided into four sections, they are crowded and teeming with chaos and potential. Both works serve as allegorical propaganda for a certain ideology, but Michelangelo glorifies the power of God and Rivera elevates human self-determination.
In conclusion, the four-hundred-year-old mental shift from pre-modernism to modernism is evidenced by the differences in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco (1508-1512) and Rivera’s Man, Controller of the Universe (1934). Throughout history, many talented people have attempted to understand and portray man’s place in the universe through the medium of art. The most famous paintings remembered today are not only pinnacles of technical mastery but also meaningful glimpses into the mentality of the period they were created in. While people in Michelangelo’s time understood themselves through biblical narratives, the communist movement was gaining momentum during Rivera’s, and history was understood as primarily a class struggle. It is useful to compare Michelangelo and Rivera’s works to understand humankind’s ideological development from superstition to empiricism and from authoritarian Church power to individual and mass self-determination.
Works Cited
Michelangelo. Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco. 1508-1512. Vatican City, Rome. Smarthistory. Web.
Rivera, Diego. Man, Controller of the Universe. 1934. Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City. Wikimedia Commons, Web.
Rusu, Ruxi. “Diego Rivera: The Controversial Story of Man at Crossroads.” Daily Art Magazine, Web.
Zappella, Christine. “Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.” Khan Academy, Web.