Name _____________________________________ Michelangelo: The Agony and the Ecstasy Study Guide Introduction:  The Work of Michelangelo   1.  Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in the year _______ in the village of Caprese, Italy.  At the age of 12, Michelangelo went to the city of Florence to study art.  He started learning how to sculpt marble and to draw and paint.   2.  His sculpture “The Madonna of the Stairs” was done when he was _______ years old.  He carved “The Battle of the Centaurs”  at the age of _________.   3.  In Florence, he made sculptures for various patrons, especially Lorenzo de Medici, who sponsored him and was like a second father to him.  His most famous sculpture is _______________, shown at the moment of his decision to fight.   4.  Another is his oversize statue of Moses.  So lifelike, says the legend, that Michelangelo struck its knee with a hammer, crying, “And now ___________!” 5.  In Rome is his most famous work, his frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the masterpiece of a _______________ who did not want to ____________.   Film:  The Agony and the Ecstasy    Based on the historical novel by Irving Stone, this story shows how Michelangelo created his most famous work, the fresco painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  It also shows the battle of wills between two stubborn men, Michelangelo and Pope Julius the Second. 6.  As the story opens, workers in a quarry are cutting _____________ and carrying it by ox cart to town.  They are interrupted by a battle.  The army is led, to our surprise, by _____________________.   7.  The Pope’s architect, Bramante, visits Michelangelo’s studio.  Pointing to a block of marble, Michelangelo says it will become a statue of Moses.  “Here, alive, sleeping inside the marble.  God sets them in there.  The ___________________ only cuts them loose.”   8.  Pope Julius commissions Michelangelo to paint  ____________________________.   9.  How does Michelangelo seem to feel about this? __________________________________________________________________   10.  Michelangelo is at work.  Describe the steps in which he creates the designs and transfers them to the ceiling.  Use the following words:  charcoal pencil, paper, holes, charcoal dust, wet plaster, paint. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________   11.  The wine shop owner says, “If the wine is sour, __________________________.” Hearing this, Michelangelo decides to _______________________________________.   12.  Describe how marble is cut.  Use these words:  hammer, wedge, crack, rope. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________   13.  Wandering in the mountains, Michelangelo gets new inspiration about what to paint.  Describe his new idea: __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________       Intermission:  Review your answers so far, and preview the next section.   Michelangelo and Tessina have a serious conversation about their relationship, love, and art.  Questions 14-16 refer to this scene.  You will watch it twice, so you can catch the words.   14.  “If I ever loved a woman, it would be you. ... Now, there’s no room in me for love.  Maybe there never was.  ...  I prayed for understanding.   Maybe God crippled me -- with a purpose, as he does often.  The bird is weak,  he gives it _____________.  The deer is helpless, he made it ____________.  He made Homer blind, and let him see the world more clearly than any other man.”   15.  What is he referring to in the following sentence? “He gave me the power to create, and to fashion my own kind, but only here, in these.” __________________________________________________________________   16.  He continues:      “To other men he gives warm houses, and women and children, laughter.  To me he gives ...”      “A house without love?”      "No, filled with love, but of a __________________________.”   17.  The priests call Michelangelo’s painting obscene because __________________________________________________________________ They compare him to the pagan ____________________.   18.   Michelangelo quits for a second time.  Why? __________________________________________________________________   19.  How does Pope Julius use “reverse psychology” to get Michelangelo out of bed? __________________________________________________________________   20.  Why does the Pope suddenly dismiss Michelangelo? __________________________________________________________________   21.  Tessina describes the life of the artist:  “Art, either it’s _______________ or it’s _______________, sometimes both at once.”   22.  Late one night, Michelangelo and the Pope compare their conceptions of God:      “Is that truly how you see him, my son?  Not angry, not vengeful, but __________, benign, _____________?”      “He knows anger, too, but the act of creation is an act of _____________.”      “And this is how you see man?  Noble, ________________, unafraid?”      “How else should I see him?”      “As he is, corrupt and evil, hands dripping with _____________, destined for damnation.  No, your picture is beautiful but ____________.”      Michelangelo counters, “Man’s evil he learned from ________________, not from _____________.  I wanted to paint man as he was first created, innocent, still free of sin, grateful for the _____________ of _____________”   23.   When the completed ceiling is open to the public, notice the expression on Michelangelo’s face.  Imagine what thoughts and feelings he is experiencing. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________   Link to close-ups of the ceiling: http://www.wga.hu/tours/sistina/index1.html   History Notebook Entry:  Personal Response to Michelangelo        Review your notes, and reflect on what you have learned.  Then write a personal reflection about the work of Michelangelo.  As a suggestion, you might expand on one of the questions in this study guide.  For example, in what way is Michelangelo crippled, as he says, with a purpose?  To what extent do you agree with Tessina’s statement that art is both agony and ecstasy?  Or, whose view of man makes more sense to you, Michelangelo’s or the Pope’s?  Feel free to develop your own focus.      Apply your language rubric for a high quality literary response.   Write a minimum of one page.