Watching The Agony and the Ecstacy. It's about Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. It is quite quite good. It's about the struggle of the artist to remain true to his craft even when idiots and bullies and fools stand in the way. It was a movie I needed to see today.
The central struggle is Pope Julius II vs. Michelangelo. The pope wants the ceiling painted and wants it to be good and quick and cheap. Michelangelo tries to do this but discovers that the wine is sour.
So, he throws paint on everything and runs away. While away he has a vision from God, comes back to the pope, who wants to hang him, and tells him how it's gonna be. Which leads to this exchange.
Soldier: That's not what you wanted.
Pope: No, I wanted a ceiling. He wants a miracle.
Heh ...
Here's what wikipedia has to say: The composition eventually contained over 300 figures and had at its center nine episodes from the Book of Genesis, divided into three groups: God's Creation of the Earth; God's Creation of Humankind and their fall from God's grace; and lastly, the state of Humanity as represented by Noah and his family. On the pendentives supporting the ceiling are painted twelve men and women who prophesied the coming of the Jesus. They are seven prophets of Israel and five Sibyls, prophetic women of the Classical world.
Pope: When will you make an end of it?
Michaelangelo: When it is finished!
1 comment:
Great movie, all around. And yeah, you need to see the struggle from the outside sometimes. Makes you feel less like a crazy person when you realize it's possible that the rest of the world may be wrong, and it's not wrong to strive for the miraculous.
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