Hilloowala Rumy
Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, West Virginia University, Health Sciences North Morgantown, WV 26506-9128, USA.
Vesalius. 2010 Jun;16(1):5-9.
Michelangelo was a complex personality with strong conflicting emotions. Most prevalent, in both his life and subsequently his work, were the contrasting feelings of grandeur (Apollo) and pathos. He used his extensive knowledge of anatomy to convey expressions of justice, power and awe in works like David, Moses, and Christ in the Last Judgment. In his more mature years he gravitates to works depicting suffering (pathos) and the physical decline of the human body as seen in the captives for the tomb of Pope Julius II and the female subjects in the Medici Chapel. The Renaissance belief in humanism, influenced by the study of antiquity, put man at the centre of the universe. Michelangelo, more than any other artist of the time, was an ardent exponent of this trend. His interest in the human body, though paramount, ranged far beyond the mere depiction of anatomical details or naturalism in art. The human body, which no artist since the ancient Greeks held in such high esteem, was the vehicle through which he sought to portray the inner life of the spirit. He was more interested in the universal spirit shining through the individual. It is this quality that enables him to speak to us across the boundaries of time and space. He never says, "I want you to recognize this man." Instead, he says, "I want you to recognize yourself and through yourself all mankind". Some of the outward manifestations of the life of the spirit were, to Michelangelo and to men of his time, beauty, justice, noble courage and awe-inspiring righteousness. It is not surprising, therefore, that two of the most important themes expressed in his art are Apollo (beauty and justice) and pathos (the spiritual struggle of man on earth) and that the sole form he deemed appropriate for embodiment of these lofty ideas was the human nude.
米开朗基罗是一个性格复杂、情感强烈且相互冲突的人。在他的生活以及随后的作品中，最为普遍的是宏伟（如阿波罗般）与悲怆这两种截然不同的情感。他运用自己广博的解剖学知识，在《大卫》《摩西》以及《最后的审判》中的基督等作品中传达出正义、力量与敬畏之情。在他较为成熟的岁月里，他倾向于创作描绘苦难（悲怆）以及人体生理衰退的作品，比如为尤利乌斯二世教皇陵墓创作的《被缚的奴隶》以及美第奇礼拜堂中的女性题材作品。受对古代研究的影响，文艺复兴时期对人文主义的信仰将人置于宇宙的中心。米开朗基罗比当时的任何其他艺术家都更热衷于宣扬这一思潮。他对人体的兴趣固然至关重要，但远不止于仅仅描绘解剖细节或艺术中的自然主义。自希腊人以来，没有哪位艺术家像他这样高度尊崇人体，人体是他试图描绘精神内在生活的载体。他更感兴趣的是透过个体闪耀的普遍精神。正是这种特质使他能够跨越时空的界限与我们对话。他从不表示：“我想让你们认出这个人。”相反，他说：“我想让你们认出自己，并通过自己认识全人类。”对米开朗基罗以及他那个时代的人来说，精神生活的一些外在表现是美、正义、崇高的勇气和令人敬畏的正义。因此，毫不奇怪，他的艺术中表达的两个最重要的主题是阿波罗（美与正义）和悲怆（人类在世间的精神挣扎），而他认为适合体现这些崇高理念的唯一形式就是人体裸体。
