The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Under siege: the aesthetics and politics of Michelangelo’s attack on Flemish painting

Under siege: the aesthetics and politics of Michelangelo’s attack on Flemish painting
Under siege: the aesthetics and politics of Michelangelo’s attack on Flemish painting
Puts Michelangelo's infamous attack on Flemish painting in context. The anarchy and philistinism which he imputes to Flemish painting draws on a historic association between those who lived north of the Alps with the Goths and Vandals who destroyed ancient Rome. Their modern mercenary descendants were still invading Italy, and their artforms - musical as well as visual - had done so too. However, Michelangelo’s main concern was not so much with Flemish art per se, as with the fact that it was so influential on Italian artists. These artists included Michelangelo himself, and the ferocity of his attack is due in large measure to the problems he was encountering while painting that most crowded of subjects - the Last Judgment. To make matters worse, he was working in the Sistine Chapel, filled with supreme examples of Flemish visual and musical culture.
Michelangelo, Flemish Art, Sistine Chapel, Cultural Nationalism
45-88
Hall, James
48dd240e-f874-4d3a-9c4a-17464d5d14c6
Hall, James
48dd240e-f874-4d3a-9c4a-17464d5d14c6

Hall, James (2020) Under siege: the aesthetics and politics of Michelangelo’s attack on Flemish painting. Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for Art History, 42 (1/2), 45-88.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Puts Michelangelo's infamous attack on Flemish painting in context. The anarchy and philistinism which he imputes to Flemish painting draws on a historic association between those who lived north of the Alps with the Goths and Vandals who destroyed ancient Rome. Their modern mercenary descendants were still invading Italy, and their artforms - musical as well as visual - had done so too. However, Michelangelo’s main concern was not so much with Flemish art per se, as with the fact that it was so influential on Italian artists. These artists included Michelangelo himself, and the ferocity of his attack is due in large measure to the problems he was encountering while painting that most crowded of subjects - the Last Judgment. To make matters worse, he was working in the Sistine Chapel, filled with supreme examples of Flemish visual and musical culture.

Text
Michelangelo Flemish Simiolus - Author's Original
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy
Text
Simiolus 42-1 James Hall Michelangelo Flemish - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 October 2019
Published date: 1 July 2020
Keywords: Michelangelo, Flemish Art, Sistine Chapel, Cultural Nationalism

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 438443
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/438443
PURE UUID: 562cab1e-a7b4-4549-a165-3c3f80689d41

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 10 Mar 2020 17:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 07:00

Export record

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×