The Last Judgement

This Michelangelo entitled "The Last Judgement" is an enormous fresco painted in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It took four years to complete from 1536 to 1541and actually resides on the altar wall in the chapel. This is also where he painted his most famous fresco "The Creation of Adam" and he didn't even begin this work until twenty years into the project of painting the Sistine chapel. 

This image is one of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the final judgement God will bestow upon humanity. The fate of humans will depend on the judgement of Jesus and the congress of saints on each side of him. Depending on their judgement, a person's soul will either ascend to heaven or fall to hell, which can be seen on the bottom right. The painting was altered in 1564 by the church to cover all the nudity present as it was deemed "objectionable". Another interesting fact is that it appears as though Michelangelo painted himself into the fresco as St. Bartholomew, but after he was flayed to death. This is thought to represent how he didn't want to complete the fresco, but was forced to by the church. He was around 60 years old while he was creating it and for that time period he was considerably old. Unfortunately he felt powerless in his situation and therefore painted himself in such a position.

I found this fresco alluring because it is a Michelangelo in the Sistine chapel, but it is not the one that most think of. I also think it is one of his most important pieces because of where it is placed in the church. The altar is where everyone is facing during mass and he decided to place the image of the second coming there. I think the content really tells more than anything what he thought people should fixate on while in mass and that was the saving of their souls.