Wednesday, December 08, 2010

The Last Judgement is Filled with Sexy Gays

Actually, let me be more specific, in fact, let me quote: 

"Elena Lazzarini, a researcher from Pisa University, believes the enormous fresco is replete with homosexual imagery, including a man being dragged into Damnation by his testicles and kisses and embraces between male figures." [1]
My entirely personal opinion on Michelangelo, the artist, is that the women he created who were strong and capable creatures.  They never appeared to me to be weak-willed, even when depicted in moments of weakness like The Pieta.  His sculpture of David also depicted the man as strong, determined, and confident.  I think Michelangelo was inspired by what he felt was inside a person and placed it on the outside as beauty, but if that element ever went away, they'd still survive.

Who cares if the models were gay and found in bathhouses with or as prostitutes, Michelangelo created a beautiful fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling and walls.  Maybe some folks are having problems facing their own last judgement and must therefore try to tarnish another. 

I've never seen the Sistine Chapel, although I hope to next fall.  If you are interested in reading more of what Lazzarini has to say, then pick up a copy of her book:  Nudity, Art and Decorum: Aesthetic Changes in the Art of the 16th Century.  It sounds like an interesting read, although I can't find it for sale anywhere.

On a side and yet related note:  The myth about Leda and the Swan [Michelangelo's depiction to the right is one of my favorites of his] was actually what inspired my 'Mythological Messes Redux' series - the need to give someone [Leda in this case] a new ending.  Oh, and Leda and Zeus are the two characters in the short Together Again?, while two of their twins [who aren't really twins] are the heroes in Double Punch.  I guess you could say the series is where my love for art and Ancient Greek myths join forces.

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