CHY 4U1 – Image Analysis
The Renaissance in Art – Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
Discussing the illustration:
1. Michelangelo was a sculptor, an architect, a poet, and a painter. This may be the best known scene he ever painted. Can you identify the two main
figures at its centre and the story from the Bible that this scene is meant to depict?
2. What you see here is actually only a very small part of a much larger painting or series of paintings. Can you explain? What do you know about the
story of the painting of the Sistine Chapel?
3. Some people think of the Italian Renaissance as a turn away from the deep religious concerns of the Middle Ages. Art historians would say this
painting shows that this view is far too simplified. What do you think they mean? Do you agree with them? Why or why not?
4. Many would say the view of God in this painting differs greatly in spirit from the way people in the Middle Ages thought of God. Do you agree with
this view?