The Sistine Secrets Read Online Free PDF Page B

Florentines.
    The pope had planned his own multilayered symbolic design for the chapel. It was meant to illustrate successionism to the world, proving that the Church was the one true inheritor of monotheism by replacing Judaism. To accomplish this, every panel from the Moses cycle was twinned with one from the Jesus cycle. The northern series of fresco panels told the life story of Jesus, from left to right, in Christian order. The southern series told the story of Moses—but from right to left, in Hebrew order. This resulted in eight “pairs”:
     
     
The Discovery of Baby Moses in the Nile
 
The Birth of Jesus in the Manger
The Circumcision of Moses’s Son
 
The Baptism of Jesus
Moses’s Anger and His Flight from Egypt
 
The Temptations of Jesus
The Parting of the Red Sea
 
The Miracle of Jesus on the Water
Moses on Mount Sinai
 
Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount
Revolt of Korach
 
Jesus Passing the Keys to Peter
Last Discourse and Death of Moses
 
Last Supper of Jesus
Angels Defending the Grave of Moses
 
Jesus Resurrected from the Tomb
     
    Some of the “connections” require a stretch of the imagination, but the idea was to show that the life of Moses served only to foreshadow the life of Jesus.
    Still another purpose for the pope was to elevate the worship of the Virgin Mary. Sixtus IV wanted the chapel to be dedicated to Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, celebrated in the Catholic calendar on August 15. For this reason, Perugino painted the giant fresco of Mary’s Ascent on the altar wall, with Pope Sixtus IV himself depicted kneeling before her.
    The pope’s last intention—and the one probably closest to his heart—was to glorify and solidify the supreme authority of himself and his family, the della Roveres. The papacy was still recovering from centuries of schisms, scandals, antipopes, intrigues, and assassinations. The pontifical court had moved back to Rome only fifty years before, after the so-called Babylonian exile of the popes in Avignon, France. Pope Sixtus was eager to demonstrate not only the supremacy of Christianity over Judaism and the divine authority of the popes over Christendom, but also his personal superiority over all preceding popes. This is why, in accord with his mandate, Aaron, the first high priest of the Jews, and Peter, the first pope, are both clothed in blue and gold, the heraldic colors of the della Rovere family. This is why oak trees and acorns can be seen everywhere in the chapel—della Rovere means “of the oak tree,” which was his family crest. This is also why Sixtus had his portrait placed above the cycle of the first thirty popes—right in the center of the front wall, next to the Virgin Mary in Heaven.
    With all this in mind, let’s return to our question: why did Lorenzo send his best artists to Rome to carry out this job of self-aggrandizement for the man who had plotted against him and his family? Very simply, as we’ll demonstrate, to sabotage Sixtus’s beloved chapel.
    Botticelli was most likely the ringleader and team coordinator of the fresco project. Standard official texts on the Sistine claim that it was Perugino, but a quick analysis shows that he—the only non-Florentine—was not in on the plot. Perugino’s color scheme and style is completely different from those of all the other panels, and his symbolism contains no antipapal messages, whereas the other artists are having a field day all over the chapel.
    Cosimo Rosselli had a little white puppy that became the mascot for the Tuscan artists. We do not know if the dog was allowed to play in the chapel while the artists were painting, but he can be found cavorting in every fresco panel, except for those of the Umbrian Perugino. In the Last Supper, he is sporting at his master’s feet. In the Golden Calf fresco, he is actually stepping down from the panel into the chapel.
    Granted, other than the possible ritual impurity of a dog in the sanctuary, this is not a major insult. But the