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The ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' is, from the perspective of the
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
chronology, the first of nine central panels that run along the center of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and which depict scenes from the Book of Genesis. Michelangelo probably completed this panel in the summer of 1512, the last year of the Sistine ceiling project. It is one of five smaller scenes that alternate with four larger scenes that run along the center of the Sistine ceiling. The ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' is based on verses 3–5 from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis: :3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. :4God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. :5God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Although in terms of the Genesis chronology it is the first of nine central panels along the Sistine ceiling, the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' was the last of the nine panels painted by Michelangelo. Michelangelo painted the Sistine ceiling in two stages. Between May 1508 and the summer of 1511, he completed the "entrance half" of the Sistine chapel and ended this stage by painting the ''Creation of Eve'' and the scenes flanking this central panel. After an idle period of about 6 months, he painted the "altar half," starting with the ''Creation of Adam'', between the winter of 1511 and October 1512.


Composition

In the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'', the image of God is framed by four ''
ignudi The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatica ...
'' and by two shields or medallions. The ''ignudi'' are young, nude males that Michelangelo painted as supporting figures at each corner of the five smaller narrative scenes along the center of the ceiling. There are a total of 20 ''ignudi''. These figures are all different and appear less constrained within their space than the Ancestors of Christ or the Bronze Nudes. In the earliest frescoes painted by Michelangelo toward the entrance of the Sistine chapel, the ''ignudi'' are paired, and their poses are similar but with minor variations. The variations in the poses increase with each set until the poses of the final set of four ''ignudi'' in the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' bear no relation to each other. Although the meaning of these figures has never been completely clear, the Sistine scholar Heinrich Pfeiffer has proposed that the four ''ignudi'' associated with the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' represent day and night, which echo the theme of light and darkness. For instance, he points out that the ''ignudo'' next to God's right hand (on the side of darkness) is stretching as if awakening from sleep in the morning, that the diagonally opposed ''ignudo'' below God's knee (on the side of light) is carrying a heavy bundle of oak garlands on his shoulders, representing a daytime activity, and that the ''ignudo'' next to God's left arm is falling asleep and signifies nighttime. Pfeiffer and other scholars have also suggested that in Michelangelo's Sistine iconography the ''ignudi'' represent angels and that the Bronze Nudes below the ''ignudi'' are fallen angels. Two shields or medallions accompany each set of four ''ignudi'' in the five smaller Genesis panels along the center of the Sistine ceiling. They are often described as painted to resemble bronze. Each is decorated with a picture from either the Old Testament or the
Book of Maccabees The Books of the Maccabees or the Sefer HaMakabim (the ''Book of the Maccabees'') recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Seleucid dynasty. List of books The Books of the Maccabees refers to a series o ...
from the Apocrypha. The subjects of the shields are often violent. In the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' the shield above God shows Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac (Genesis 22:9–12), and the one below God shows the prophet Elijah as he is carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11). At the center of the composition, God is shown in ''
contrapposto ''Contrapposto'' () is an Italian term that means "counterpoise". It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the a ...
'' rising into the sky, with arms outstretched separating the light from the darkness. Michelangelo employed in this fresco the challenging ceiling fresco technique of ''
sotto in su Illusionistic ceiling painting, which includes the techniques of perspective ''di sotto in sù'' and ''quadratura'', is the tradition in Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo art in which ''trompe-l'œil'', perspective tools such as foreshortening, an ...
'' ("from below, upward"), which makes a figure appear as if it is rising above the viewer by using foreshortening. The contrapposto pose was also used by Michelangelo in his '' David'' (1501-1504). It is reported that Michelangelo painted this fresco in a single ''giornata'', that is, a single working day of approximately eight hours. During Michelangelo's lifetime, this fresco was considered evidence of the painter's technical prowess at its peak. For instance, Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), Michelangelo's student and biographer, wrote in 1550:
"Furthermore, to demonstrate the perfection of his art and the greatness of God, Michelangelo depicted God dividing the light from darkness in these scenes, where He is seen in all His majesty as He sustains himself alone with open arms with the demonstration of love and creative energy.
According to Vasari, Michaelangelo has “lifted the veil” of darkness typically found in artwork of the Renaissance, employing the skill of
chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
, by combining the intense lights and extreme darks in this symbolic artwork. Art historians have noted several unusual features of this fresco. Andrew Graham-Dixon has pointed out that God has exaggerated pectoral muscles suggestive of female breasts, which he interprets as Michelangelo's attempt to illustrate "male strength but also the fecundity of the female principle." In addition it has been noted that the anatomy of God's neck is too complex and does not resemble the normal contour of the neck. The lighting scheme of the image has been noted to be inconsistent; whereas the entire scene is illuminated from the bottom left, God's neck appears to have a different light source from the right.


Anatomical interpretations

Several authors have proposed that Michelangelo concealed anatomical images in this fresco and that these anatomical images account for its unusual features. In an article published in the journal '' Neurosurgery'' in May 2010, Ian Suk, a medical illustrator, and Rafael Tamargo, a neurosurgeon, both from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, suggested that Michelangelo concealed three neuroanatomical images in the ''Separation of Light from Darkness.'' Suk and Tamargo explained that Michelangelo started to dissect cadavers at the age of 17–19 years and continued his anatomical studies throughout his life. As a result of his dissections, Michelangelo probably developed a detailed understanding of gross anatomy of the brain and spinal cord. They showed that the anatomical details in God's neck are unlike those of either other necks painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel or of other necks painted by Michelangelo's contemporaries, such as Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael). The unusual anatomy of God's neck is particularly evident when it is contrasted with the anatomy of the neck of the ignudo facing God in the upper left corner of the panel. The position of the neck of this ignudo is almost identical to that of God's neck, yet the ignudo's neck does not have any of the unusual lines found in God's neck. It is possible that Michelangelo placed these two analogous neck perspectives side by side to emphasize and contrast the hidden image in God's neck. Suk and Tamargo suggested that Michelangelo concealed a sophisticated image of the undersurface of the brainstem in God's neck and that by following Michelangelo's lines in God's neck, one can outline an anatomically correct image of the brainstem, cerebellum, temporal lobes, and optic chiasm. In addition, they suggested that Michelangelo also included an anterior view of the spinal cord in God's chest and an image of the optic nerves and globes in God's abdomen. They showed how a "shadow analysis" of the unusual lines in God's neck correspond to specific spaces around the brainstem known as the "arachnoid cisterns," which were described in detail much later in 1875 but which Michelangelo inadvertently depicted in God's neck since he was able to render images with almost photographic accuracy. They concluded that "being a painter of genius, a master anatomist, and a deeply religious man, Michelangelo cleverly enhanced his depiction of God in the iconographically critical panels on the Sistine Chapel vault with concealed images of the brain and in this way celebrated not only the glory of God, but also that of His most magnificent creation." Of note is that in an article published in the '' Journal of the American Medical Association'' in October 1990, Frank Meshberger, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Indiana, explained that Michelangelo similarly concealed an image of the brain in the shroud surrounding God in the ''
Creation of Adam Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing *Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it *Creationism, the belief that ...
''. Since Michelangelo painted the ''Creation of Adam'' and the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'', along with two other Genesis panels, as a single thematic unit between the winter of 1511 and October 1512, it is possible that these four central panels have an underlying anatomical motif. Indeed, Garabed Eknoyan, a nephrologist from
Baylor College of Medicine Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a medical school and research center in Houston, Texas, within the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center. BCM is composed of four academic components: the School of Medicine, the Graduate Sc ...
, proposed in an article published in ''
Kidney International ''Kidney International'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all aspects of nephrology. It was established in 1972 and is published by Elsevier on behalf of the International Society of Nephrology, of which it is the official journa ...
'' in March 2000 that Michelangelo concealed an image of a kidney in the ''Separation of Land and Water'', the third panel in the Genesis series. Michelangelo was particularly interested in kidney function because he suffered from kidney stones throughout his adult life and documented this interest in his letters and poems, according to Eknoyan. Alternatively, the concealed anatomical image in God's neck in the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' has been interpreted as a goiter (an enlarged thyroid gland). In an article published in the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' in December 2003, Lennart Bondeson and Anne-Greath Bondeson from Malmo University Hospital in Sweden, argued that the abnormality in God's neck is a goiter. This interpretation has been challenged on the basis that goiters typically occur lower in the neck and, as stated by Suk and Tamargo, that "it is unlikely that Michelangelo, a deeply religious individual, would have defiled the image of God in this important panel by giving God a goiter." Along these lines, Gilson Barreto and Marcelo G. de Oliveira, in a book published in 2004,Barreto, G., and de Oliveira, M. G.. A Arte Secreta de Michelangelo. Uma Licao de Anatomia na Capela Sistina. Editoria Arx, Sao Paulo, Brasil, 2004 analyzed the ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' and noted that God's upper chest and outstretched arms define a "U" shape, which they suggested is reminiscent of the hyoid bone, although they do not offer a thematic explanation for this structure in the fresco.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Separation of Light from Darkness 1512 paintings Sistine Chapel ceiling Paintings depicting Hebrew Bible themes Paintings of gods