Valued Member- Joined
- Jan 27, 2010
- Posts
- 71,573
- Reaction score
- 1,221
- Points
- 2,125
- Location
- State Of Confusion
- Website
- wober.net
Who says a masterpiece has to be massive?
French retiree Jean Massa spent 5,000 hours painstakingly re-creating a miniature version of the famed interior of the Sistine Chapel, shrinking the legendary Vatican City site to a size of just 4 feet 9 inches by 2 feet 4 inches.
It took Michelangelo four years to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and even though Massa was working on a much smaller scale, the 80-year-old former dental technician needed just as long to complete his Sistine Chapel masterpiece.
Michelangelo painted his Sistine ceiling frescoes directly onto plaster, but Massa chose to build his version of the Vatican City chapel out of wood and painted it with oil and acrylic.
Though Massa has a background in making miniatures, he reportedly was inspired to re-create the legendary room in the Apostolic Palace only after receiving an illustrated book of Michelangelo's artworks as a gift from his son.
The Sistine Chapel features two of Michelangelo's most famous works -- the Last Judgment fresco on an altar wall and the ceiling fresco, which features the iconic image of God's hand reaching out to Adam.
Massa faithfully re-created both -- but he didn't stop there.
Though the Sistine Chapel might be the most famous for Michelangelo's works, it also contains historic Renaissance frescoes by Botticelli and Perugino, as well as tapestries by Raphael.
And at less than one-thirtieth the size of the original, Massa's Sistine Chapel replica -- which is displayed at a church in Nice -- is just large enough to include all of the amazing details.
Story link: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/20/miniature-sistine-chapel-less-than-1-30th-size-of-famous-cathedr/
French retiree Jean Massa spent 5,000 hours painstakingly re-creating a miniature version of the famed interior of the Sistine Chapel, shrinking the legendary Vatican City site to a size of just 4 feet 9 inches by 2 feet 4 inches.
It took Michelangelo four years to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and even though Massa was working on a much smaller scale, the 80-year-old former dental technician needed just as long to complete his Sistine Chapel masterpiece.
Michelangelo painted his Sistine ceiling frescoes directly onto plaster, but Massa chose to build his version of the Vatican City chapel out of wood and painted it with oil and acrylic.
Though Massa has a background in making miniatures, he reportedly was inspired to re-create the legendary room in the Apostolic Palace only after receiving an illustrated book of Michelangelo's artworks as a gift from his son.
The Sistine Chapel features two of Michelangelo's most famous works -- the Last Judgment fresco on an altar wall and the ceiling fresco, which features the iconic image of God's hand reaching out to Adam.
Massa faithfully re-created both -- but he didn't stop there.
Though the Sistine Chapel might be the most famous for Michelangelo's works, it also contains historic Renaissance frescoes by Botticelli and Perugino, as well as tapestries by Raphael.
And at less than one-thirtieth the size of the original, Massa's Sistine Chapel replica -- which is displayed at a church in Nice -- is just large enough to include all of the amazing details.
Story link: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/20/miniature-sistine-chapel-less-than-1-30th-size-of-famous-cathedr/
