Michelangelo's Magnifici Tomb in the Medici Chapel

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses two studies of Michelangelo's Magnifici Tomb in the Medici Chapel towards complementary, as opposed to different, conclusions. The studies reviewed are Andrew Morrogh's "The Magnifici Tomb - a Key Project in Michelangelo's Architectural
Career" and Estelle Lingo's "The Evolution of Michelangelo's Magnifici Tomb - Program versus Process in the Iconography of the Medici Chapel".
The paper relates that both studies are authoritative and careful contributions to the study of the Medici Chapel, the tomb in question and the career of Michelangelo. The paper also asserts that their different vantage points on the Magnifici Tomb help along what should be a broad approach to any artifact or installation, investigating origins, features and salient details in relation to context, remembering that there shall forever be different opinions which can be powerful guides towards personal appreciation and further study.

Outline:
Introduction
Andrew Morrogh - The Magnifici Tomb as a Key Project.
Estelle Lingo - Program versus Process and Iconography
Discussion

From the Paper:

"The errors made by Michelangelo included the level at which the viewer examined them, the focal point of three statues too low, a statue of the Madonna, on the other hand, requiring a higher viewing point. (p.594) As Morrogh concluded, imperfections and all, Michelangelo had been able to exercise considerable license in what he designed so tentatively and in its results, thanks to the nature of his patron. Michelangelo had mixed opinions concerning the tradition of classicism that would have satisfied many sculptors of his day, but his results were not just innovative but 'difficult' as Morrogh comments, still apt to draw mixed reviews from those examining the Magnifici Tomb in the present. From this article, the reader obtains much detail and most readers will enjoy the illustrations of very different drawings to which Morrogh refers, a familiar aspect of the Medici Chapel revealed to have been a much changing or even piecemeal affairs thanks to the patronage of Pope Clement who seems to have recognized Michelangelo's originality and given it free reign. One leaves this article with the impression of having enjoyed a 'solid' few pages of scholarship, the author plainly knowing far more on Italian Renaissance design and architecture of which this article indicates one quite small topic."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Lingo, Estelle. "The Evolution of Michelangelo's Magnifici Tomb - Program versus Process in the Iconography of the Medici Chapel." Artibus et Historiae. 16. (1995): 91-100.
• Morrogh, Andrew. "The Magnifici Tomb - a Key Project in Michelangelo's Architectural Career." The Art Bulletin. 74. (1992): 567-598.

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• Comparison Essay # 119675 : "Michelangelo's Work in the Sistine Chapel"
• Analytical Essay # 72875 : "Norma Fields' "In the Realm of a Dying Emperor"

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