The Sistine Secrets by Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner Read Free Book Online Page A

the Sistine Chapel in garlands of oak leaves and acorns, to remind the public of both Pope Sixtus IV who had commissioned the building of the chapel and of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo’s contentious patron. Both popes, uncle and nephew, were from the della Rovere clan, whose name means “of the oak tree.”
    CODED PROTESTS AND INSULTS
     
    Far more intriguing, though, are the secret symbols embedded in the artwork by the artist without the knowledge or permission of the commissioning patron. This occurs less often than authorized symbolism in Renaissance and Baroque art, because it was clearly a dangerous practice, given the power or potential anger of the person paying for the piece. Yet it was far from uncommon in spite of its peril.
    This prompts the question, why did prominent artists run the risk of incurring their patron’s ire? There are many answers.
    First, there was the anger or at least the righteous indignation of many of the creative geniuses forced to humble themselves before their financial supporters. In those times, artists were considered merely hired help. Federico Zeri, an internationally respected art historian, vice-president of the Italian Consiglio Nazionale dei Beni Culturali, and a member of the illustrious Academie des Beaux-Arts of Paris, writes in his book on Titian’s masterpiece, Sacred and Profane Love: “One need not forget that in the 1500’s, in the middle of the Italian Renaissance, the painters—even the great ones—were considered no more than artisans on call: well-paid, but deprived of any such freedom that would allow them to refuse labors that today would seem very demeaning.” 1 The first artist to break through all this and become his own master—indeed, to refuse commissions even from the pope himself—was none other than Michelangelo Buonarroti. Moreover, like many other mistreated artists, Michelangelo often slipped in sexual allusions and rude insults to his patrons—obviously without their knowledge—whenever he needed to release his pent-up frustrations. Some of these are part of the secrets of the Sistine Chapel that we will discuss more fully later.
    Artists of the era were encumbered and limited by many prohibitions. Perhaps foremost among these was that they were not allowed to sign their works. However, the patron paying for the piece would have his name or image or family symbol prominently displayed. This is the reason that so many artists would somehow manage to insert their own face somewhere in the work. Sometimes, as in the case of Botticelli and Raphael, it would be obvious, since they enjoyed their patrons’ consent; at other times, it would be less apparent. Michelangelo inserted his face into his works on several occasions, sometimes quite openly, but more often slipped in as a secret sign of protest. This will show up again and again as we explain the secrets of the Sistine ceiling and other of his later works.
    Raphael, even though he was allowed to interpose his face clearly in many of his most famous pieces, was still not permitted to sign his name. That’s why, when he completed his most famous masterpiece of all, the huge fresco of The School of Athens (a work that has so many secrets in it that whole books have been written about it), he added a last tiny detail. On the lower front on the right side, the great sage Euclid is bent over a slate, explaining to his students one of his geometrical theorems. On the back of his golden embroidered collar, under close scrutiny, four tiny initials appear: R.U.S.M. This stands for Raphael Urbinas Sua Manu, Latin for “Raphael of Urbino, by his own hand.” (By the way, dressed up as Euclid is none other than Raphael’s conspiratorial “godfather” in the Vatican, the architect Bramante. More on this later as well…)
    CONCEALING FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE
     
    Another strong limitation on Renaissance artists was the prohibition on dissecting corpses. Scientists wanted to dissect the corpses of executed