The Sistine Secrets (40 page)

Clement VII, Pope, 242, 244, 248, 249, 250

codes (secret symbols): used in art, 24–27; biblical references to, 27–28; concealing forbidden knowledge through, 31–34; esoteric knowledge, 34–37, 214; Michelangelo’s “David” poem of, 97; Renaissance and Baroque art use of, 28–29; sign language for the deaf, 35–36; “special effects,” 37–40; unauthorized artwork, 29–31; World War II use of, 23–24.
See also
Sistine Chapel secret symbolism; symbolism

Colonna, Vittoria, 259, 261–62, 283

Conclave (election of new pope), 296

confluence (flowing together of two rivers), 46

Constantine (Roman Emperor), 49

Constantinople (Byzantium), 48–50

Conversion of Saint Paul
(Michelangelo), 279

Cosimo the Elder (de’ Medici), 50–52, 54, 62

Cosmatesque design, 14

Cosmatis, 14, 17, 18, 21

Council of Trent, 283, 287

Creation of Adam
panel (Sistine Chapel), 197–201

Creation of Eve
panel (Sistine Chapel), 201–2
fig

creation story: Sistine Chapel depicting creation of humans, 197–202
fig;
Sistine Chapel depicting earth’s creation, 193–97

Cristoforo de Pretis, 36

Crucifix
(Michelangelo), 84, 85
fig
–86

Cumaean sibyl (Sistine Chapel), 175–78, 177
fig,
178

Daniele da Volterra, 287

Daniel (Sistine Chapel), 183

Dante Alighieri, 47, 61, 88, 94, 267, 275

Darwin, Charles, 11

David and Goliath spandrel (Sistine Chapel), 158, 162, 166
fig

David
(Michelangelo), 96–101

deaf sign language, 35–36

Delphic sibyl (Sistine Chapel), 171–72
fig,
177

Deuteronomy 26:8, 165

The Diary of Anne Frank,
149

Divine Architect concept, 139–40

Donatello, 51

Drunkenness of Noah
panel (Sistine Chapel), 190–92, 210–12

Egidio da Viterbo, 115–16, 125

eighteen (Life) symbolism, 241

Eknoyan, Garabed, 196

Eritrean sibyl (Sistine Chapel), 172–73
fig

“esoteric knowledge” codes, 34–37, 214

Esther and Haman spandrel (Sistine Chapel), 158, 160
fig,
162–63, 166–67, 191

Etruscans, 5

Eve: creation of, 201–2
fig;
forbidden fruit/Tree of Knowledge and role of, 203–6

Exodus 25:8, 3

Exodus 31:13, 144

Exodus 34:29, 237

Ezekiel (Sistine Chapel), 182
fig

faith:
Leah
and
Rachel
statues as symbolizing, 275; Nicodemus as symbol of, 281

Farnese family, 249–50

faux architectural framework (Sistine Chapel), 138–43, 146

Ficino, Marsilio, 52, 61–64, 68

1 Samuel 17, 162

five number symbolism, 226, 227
fig,
228–29

The Flood
panel (Sistine Chapel), 208
fig
–10

Florence: Basilica of Santa Croce in, 288, 289
fig;
confluence of cultures and Jewish presence in, 52–54; contest between Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in, 108–9;
David
(Michelangelo) as symbolizing, 99; Girolamo Savanarola’s influence in, 80–83, 86, 88, 96, 125; humanistic philosophy of, 42; Jewish community of, 52–54; de’ Medici family of, 17–18, 54–58; Michelangelo’s burial in, 3, 288; Platonic Academy (School of Athens) of, 52, 53, 61, 62; sabotage of Sistine by painters of, 17–22, 111–12; uniqueness of medieval, 46–47

“Florentine tendency,” 66

“flying bow bridge” scaffold, 118, 287, 290, 305–6

Fons Vitae
(Fountain of life), 63

The Forbidden Fruit
panel (Sistine Chapel), 202–6

forbidden knowledge symbolism, 31–34

Fourth Lateran Council (1215), 153

Fra Angelico, 7

Francesca di Neri, 42

French, Daniel, 36–37

Gallaudet, Thomas, 36–37

Galli, Jacopo, 91, 92

The Garden of Eden
panel (Sistine Chapel), 69, 202–6, 211–12

Genesis 28:12, 270

Gevurah (“severity”), 71
fig
, 180, 184, 189, 269

Ghirlandaio, Domenico, 18, 45, 57, 59, 157

Giuliano de’ Medici, 17–18, 239, 246

“giving the fig” gesture (Sistine Chapel), 136
fig,
176–77
fig,
178

Gli Spirituali
(Spiritual Ones) movement, 261–62, 283

Goethe, 129

Gonzaga, Giulia, 283

Gozzoli, Benozzo,
The Journey of the Magi
by, 51
fig

Gregory XI, Pope, 48

Haman (Sistine Chapel), 158, 160
fig,
162–63, 166–67, 191

Hebrew prophets (Sistine Chapel): additional secret symbolism of, 184–86; corresponding to the Seven Middot, 179–83, 189–90; Daniel, 183; Ezekiel, 182; Isaiah, 181–82
fig;
Jeremiah, 183, 184, 213–21
fig,
241; Joel, 181; Jonah, 39–40, 183–84, 223–32; Zechariah, 132–36
fig,
158, 181
fig

Hibbard, Howard, 76, 97, 299

Hod (“glory, majesty”), 71
fig,
180

Holocaust, 153

Holy of Holies (
Kodesh Kodoshim
), 12, 295

Holy Menorah, 179

homosexuality, 64, 65–66, 243

Index of Forbidden Books, 283, 285, 295

Inferno
(Dante), 267

Inghirami, Tommaso, 119, 130

Innocent III, Pope, 49

Inquisition, 87, 151, 283, 295

Isaac, 95, 145

Isaiah 29:14, 23

Isaiah 60:18, 157

Isaiah (Sistine Chapel), 181–82
fig

Jacob:
The Ancestors
panel including, 145; dream of, 12; Joseph’s coded message to, 27–28

Jacob’s Ladder (Sistine chapel), 270

Jeremiah (Sistine Chapel), 183, 184, 213–21
fig,

241

Jerusalem Temple: Holy of Holies (
Kodesh Kodoshim
) of, 12, 295; “the neck of the world” metaphor of, 304–5; number seven symbolism of the Menorah of, 16–17; Sistine Chapel as replacement of, 294–95; Sistine Chapel reproduction of
heichal
of, 6, 11–12, 137, 141, 294–95

Jesus Christ:
The Ancestors
panel disrupting chain of lineage of, 145–56;
The Last Judgment
depiction of, 256–58; Vatican on Haman’s death as pre figuring, 163

Jews: Florence community of, 52–54; forced to wear yellow badges, 153, 155
fig,
156; Holocaust and, 4; Inquisition persecution of, 87, 151, 283, 295; Sistine ceiling figures depicted as, 124–25, 150–56; spandrels [Sistine Chapel] representing salvation of, 157–67; Vatican II ending anti-Judaic teachings on, 156, 289.
See also
Judaism

Joel (Sistine Chapel), 181
fig

John Paul II, Pope, 289–90

John XXIII, Pope, 156, 289

Jonah (Sistine Chapel), 39–40, 183–84, 223–32

Joseph of Egypt, 27–28

The Journey of the Magi
(Gozzoli), 51
fig

Judaism: architectural design metaphor of, 139–40; Christianity
successionism
of, 11; Ficino’s philosophical examination of, 63–64; forbidden fruit/Tree of Knowledge tradition in, 203–6; on lifelong good and evil internal conflict, 206, 212; as Michelangelo’s educational influence, 67–68; Neoplatonism bridging Christianity, Classical world and, 86; number seven symbolism in, 16–17, 179–81, 184, 189; Platonic Academy’s study of, 52, 53;
ruach HaShem
(Divine Wind, or Breath) of, 34; Seal of Solomon (Star of David) symbolism of, 14–17, 143.
See also
Jews; Kabbalistic thinking; Midrash; Talmud; Torah (Pentateuch)

Judith and Holofernes spandrel (Sistine Chapel), 158, 159
fig
–62, 165, 184–85

Julius III del Monte, Pope, 284

Julius II, Pope: as cardinal, 105–6; Cathedral of Bologna statue of, 113–14, 169–70; continual conflict over tomb of, 240, 243–44, 273; death of, 123; Michelangelo invited to Rome by, 108–14; Michelangelo’s work on tomb of, 236–39, 273–81; nephew of Sixtus, 8; oak life symbolism representing, 29; original plans for papal pyramid in St. Peter’s by, 297–300
fig; Il Papa Terribile
title of, 106, 113, 156; plans for new Sistine ceiling by, 107–8, 115–23; portrait of, 106
fig;
reclining statue (Michelangelo) of, 278–79; reconquest of lost papal states by, 113; St. Peter’s Basilica reconstruction by, 106–7, 112–13; Sistine Chapel as
funeral monument
to, 299–300; Sistine Chapel obscene gestures made toward, 136
fig,
176–77
fig,
178, 195
fig
–96, 210, 300; Zechariah image as showing face of, 134
fig
.
See also
della Rovere, Cardinal Giuliano; Sistine Chapel ceiling

Kabbalistic meditational device,
14

Kabbalistic thinking:
Adam Kadmon
(primordial human) of, 197, 199; on bodies of
Tzaddikim
(truly righteous souls), 104; harmonizing duality of male/female aspects, 148, 164; influence on the Sistine ceiling paintings, 73, 119; on intimacy, 64;
Last Judgment
influenced by Michelangelo’s, 269–72; on letter bet, 229; Middle Path (path of the righteous) in, 189–90; on Moses’s Mount Sinai visit, 237–38; Pico’s study of, 70; positive and negative duality of, 44, 72, 79, 212; Renaissance art influenced by, 54; on seven days of creation, 179; significance of numbers in, 72–73; symbolism of, 14, 34, 35; triangle symbol of, 148; Zechariah significance in, 133.
See also
Judaism; Sistine Chapel secret symbolism; Ten S’firot (Tree of Life)