[ClearCase_guy]

Well, as the article indicates, study of Kabbala was somewhat trendy at this time. Frances Yates focused her studies on a slightly later time period (1600's, mostly) but she wrote knowledgeably on this intellectual trend.

But what that really means is that if an artist were to create a massive artwork which contained religiously subversive messages and insults to the Pope ... well ... let's just say that the ceiling would have been whitewashed. The messages would most definitely have been understood.

People today just see things that are not there.

[Cicero]

This kind of nonsense is really tiresome. And this guy is a “Vatican docent”? Looks like they gave the job to the wrong guy.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

****Jewish, Kabbalistic and pagan symbols ****

AW come on! Forget that silly stuff. Show us the photos of “The Positions” drawn on the wall of the Sistine Chapel by a ‘disgurntled artist” some time in the past.

[Richard Kimball]

Michelangelo, IIRC, was a little bit of a nut. Many of the best artists have some issues. However, these stories are nothing new. In my art history classes, some of the instructor's stated that he included some of the church elders in the boat to damnation.

There were also claims going around that he was homosexual, mostly based on the fact that his female forms displayed primarily masculine characteristics.

Except for the breasts, this female has the characteristics of a male. As far as I know, there are no records of him engaging in homosexual conduct.

[Jolla]

I don't know much about psychology, but the Sistine Ceiling is beautiful

[Vince Ferrer]

There is no secret that artwork has all kinds of messages and layers of messages in it, especially in that time period, and especially Catholic art. Before printing and paper were cheap enough to be accessible to all, which was into 1800s, there was widespread illiteracy. The way to educate people was either to have someone read to you, as a priest at Mass, or to adorn the church with artwork which the person could interpret and understand. The art was a means of instruction, and everyone in the culture understood it that way.

Could he have made hidden messages? Of course, there were usually many interpretations of any particular painting. But while is is enjoyable and perfectly valid to reinterpret an older work in today's time, it is a mistake to assume that the original viewers would have that same new interpretation, because we are not the same people in the same culture that the works were originally produced for.

[BBell]

You might want to take a gander at this if your interested.

[cmj328]

Did Michelangelo Have a Hidden Agenda?

Yes, he was trying to convert the public to Roman Catholic Christianity.

[smokingfrog]

interesting hypothesis

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

That's alright. If we can believe The New York Times, the McCain campaign was coding secret, subliminal Da Vinci Code-like messages in the Paris Hilton "celebrity" ad. Maybe Dan Brown, Tom Hanks, and Ron Howard could look into making a film about it?

[Ken H]

B_ SU_E TO DR_ NK __RE OV_LT_NE.

[wolfcreek]

Then there's this....guy...errr whatever. Go figure.