This intriguing exhibition explores the
creative partnership between two artists, the superstar Michelangelo and his protégé, Sebastiano, and
gives an insight into their complementary talents and divergent personalities. There
are some seventy items on display – paintings, drawings, sculptures and
letters. Their friendship lasted more than 25 years, which was surprising in
itself (Michelangelo was notoriously difficult to get on with) but owes much
to the fact that for most of that time they were in different cities, Michelangelo
in Florence and Sebastiano in Rome. A key factor in this partnership was their
intense rivalry with another key Renaissance painter, Raphael, whom Michelangelo hated. While Michelangelo preferred painting egg tempura on wet plaster, Sebastiano and Raphael excelled at oils and the latter rapidly became a Vatican favourite, landing the plum jobs. So Michelangelo did his best to help Sebastiano,
generously providing drawings and designs for some of his major works. A key painting
in the exhibition, the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, on loan from the
Hermitage (above), is their first collaboration, and the first large-scale nocturnal
landscape in history. Michelangelo did many sketches (some of his work can be
seen on the back of the wooden panel) and Sebastiano translated them into a monumental
altar-piece. This met with widespread praise, and as a result, Sebastiano was
given two major commissions, the Borgherini Chapel and The Raising of Lazarus,
both of which were completed with Michelangelo’s help.
Recent scientific
research on The Raising of Lazarus (above) – the gallery’s first acquisition in 1824 – has
revealed that Michelangelo was quite hands-on, intervened at a relatively advanced stage to revise
the figure of Lazarus so his right arm is drawn back across his body, rather
than reaching towards the outstretched hand of Christ, and thus increasing the
dynamism.
The spectacular Borgherini Chapel has been recreated for the exhibition in near
lifesize form with digital imaging. It's an impressive achievement, and is surrounded by preliminary sketches for the
project. Michelangelo did the premilinary drawings for the central Flagellation of Christ before he left for Florence and possibly a layout for the half-dome Transfiguration, while Sebastiano completed the decoration on his own between 1519 and 1524. Below, Sebastiano's cartoon for the head of St James Major.
The letters that flowed between the two show how they helped each
other. Sebastiano begs his ‘dearest compare’ (who was godfather to his first child)
to ‘remember me...and recommend me to the most reverend Monsignor (Cardinal
Guilio de’ Medici); and if I’m any good at this work, please let me carry it
out...’. Michelangelo does his best: ‘I beg your Most Reverend Lordship... to
obtain Sebastiano Veneziano, the painter, some share in the work at the
Palace... as I’m sure he will do credit to Your Lordship’. Sebastiano also
reports that Pope Leo X praised Michelangelo’s work but told him he was ‘terribile’
(daunting, awful) and that ‘one could not deal with him’. He goes on: ‘And I
replied to His Holiness that your terribile character did not harm anyone, and
that you appear terribile for love of the great works you carry out.’
Among
Michelangelo’s great works on display are two versions of the Risen Christ,
both from Italy. The first was abandoned when a dark
streak in the marble emerged. It was later finished by an unknown hand and found
a home in the Church of San Vincenzo Martire. Behind it is a plaster cast of his second,
successful, version, which never leaves the S. Maria sopra Minerva. It’s the
first time these statues have been seen together.
A cast of another of his
masterpieces, the Pieta, is also on display and can be seen from all angles,
unlike the original, now behind glass in the Vatican.
Towards the end of the
show is a portrait of Michelangelo, believed to be by Sebastiano. He’s looking
round, smiling and relaxed, as he invites us to look at his sketchbook. It’s a
very different view of a man usually regarded as a tortured genius, and the curator, Matthias Wivel, is to be congratulated for the way the exhibition sheds light on another side of his character and introduces us to the tensions and rivalry of Renaissance art.
At the National Gallery, London, until June 25. Admission charge.
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