We all know that artists have difficult temperaments – and frequently don’t get along (salsa dancers anyone?) and this was the story a few hundred years ago when a painter named Raphael greatly disliked a sculptor called Michaelangelo. Basically Michelangelo thought sculpting was a superior art, and he looked down on painters like Raphael. Raphael was a social party-animal, while Michaelangelo was a cranky loner who didn’t bathe. Clearly a recipe for dislike and disaster.
So one day, Raphael is busy painting a series of private rooms for the Pope of the day. The same Pope asks him to paint a chapel downstairs. But Raphael says he’s too busy, it’s taking him years to paint these rooms. So instead, he gets a sneaky thought, and says to the Pope “I have a great idea, why don’t you get Michaelangelo to paint that chapel? He’d be great!”
Now of course the problem is that Michaelangelo was not a painter – he was a sculptor. He hated to paint! So Raphael was hoping he would make an absolute mess of the job and make a fool of himself in front of the Pope. “This,” thought Raphael, “will bring him down a peg or two.”
So the Pope goes to Michaelangelo and says “I want you to paint this chapel.” Meanwhile Michaelangelo was busy creating a series of 40 statues which was meant to be a funeral monument for the Pope when he died. “Sorry Pope” he said, “I’m busy doing these statues for your funeral monument.”
The Pope considers, and then said, “No Michaelangelo, God is more important than me. It is better that you paint his chapel, than create my funeral monument.”
So Michaelangelo had no choice, as the Pope was the King and his word was law. This made him very unhappy, as his only wish was to continue sculpting.
Plus, there was another problem. The chapel was to be painted 'fresco' style – which means painting directly onto wet plaster. It is one of the most difficult forms of painting in the world, as you only have a brief time to paint before the plaster dries. Michaelangelo had never done this before. But he was not to be outwitted by the crafty Raphael.
So Michelangelo decided to send to venice for some experienced painters to be his apprentices. He summoned them to Rome, and for two weeks, he supervised their work as they painted the ceiling in this style. Then he sent them off to lunch one day, and when they came back, he had locked the doors against them.
He never let them in again.
Secretly, Michelangelo had been watching them work, and learning their style and techniques. Once he had learnt enough, he removed all their work (which he said was awful) and started again from scratch. He locked himself into the Chapel, and would let no-one enter – not even the Pope.
For months he worked, day and night, in the chapel, letting no one see.
Meanwhile, upstairs Raphael was busy painting the Pope’s private rooms, when he started to get curious about Michaelangelo. He wanted to see his work. He knew Michaelangelo had let no one see his painting, and Raphael suspected it was because his work was so bad.
So one day, when Michaelangelo had left the chapel, Raphael snuck downstairs to take a look at what he’d done. He couldn’t wait to see the disaster and then tell the Pope how bad Michaelangelo’s work was.
Only when he snuck into the chapel, he took one look at the ceiling, and was amazed. It was some of the most brilliant painting he had ever seen. Michaelangelo had not only mastered the art of fresco painting - he had improved upon it.
At that point, he bowed down to Michaelangelo and acknowledged him as a true master. So he went back upstairs to the Pope’s rooms. In one of these rooms, a year earlier, Raphael had painted a wall which was a tribute to the masters of learning – such as Plato, Socrates, Euclides, and so on. And onto this painting, Raphael added a new figure – Michelangelo. He painted Michelangelo not in traditional togas – as all the other figures were painted – but in modern clothes of the day – to represent that Michelangelo was a man ahead of his time.
Meanwhile, Michaelangelo would spend a full four years finishing the Sistine Chapel, which would then become a private chapel for the use of the Popes. This chapel was so beautiful, so admired, and so masterful, that Michaelangelo would then be commissioned to do more and more paintings.
The tragedy for Michaelangelo? All he wanted to do was sculpt. He still detested painting, but he could not refuse the Popes. So for the rest of his life, he would be allowed to do only a few sculptures, and the vast majority of the work he was forced to create were the paintings that he never liked.
(note: for any purists reading this blog, I am re-telling this story as told to me by a fabulous tour guide we had in Rome. So I can't guarantee the exact veracity of the specific details. Please don't hold me to account if any of this is historically contentious!!)
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