Ignudo 1509

This is one of Michelangelo’s Ignudi, painted in fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Ignudi are the twenty nude, male figures that sit along the corners of the five smaller narrative scenes from Genesis. Painted in Rome during the early 16th century, the Ignudi represent the High Renaissance interest in classical antiquity, including the idealised human form and the nude. The placement of nude figures in such a religiously significant space, commissioned by Pope Julius II, was unprecedented. The figures and their placement within the Chapel would surely have been a topic of conversation amongst the elite society who were able to view them. They are a comment on the humanist belief in the dignity and potential of humankind. Art historians use preparatory drawings, correspondence, and contemporary accounts to better understand the creation and reception of artworks like this one. The meaning of art always depends on its social and institutional context.