Did only one person paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

Question

I know Michael Angelo painted the Sistine Chapel but did he employ painters to lay on their backs and paint or did he do it completely by himself.

Answer 1

It is true that Michelangelo was short of funds to employ assistants while he worked on the Sistine Chapel.

I myself am quite concerned, for this Pope hasn't given me a single grosso for a whole year, and I am not asking for any...'

Letter to his father JAN 27 1509.



Michelangelo decided to send to Florence for some painters he knew to assist him with the huge job. But he found the quality of their work to be lacking and locked them out of the chapel and refused to let them back in. He continued to work on the ceiling with only workers to carry materials and equipment up the ladders to the scaffold such as lime, sand and water for the plaster, trowels for applying it, and brushes, paint, and paint pots. Jacopo l'Indaco was his head assistant and was given the honor of applying the plaster each day for Michelangelo to paint.

Michelangelo should be credited with the majority of the painting work. The complete design was his. The sketches and cartoons for the frescoes were all of his hand, and much of the actual paintworks are his.

It is important to remember that he did not complete this work alone. Some of the more talented assisants were allowed to paint less important parts of the fresco such as filling in blocks of colour, sky etc.

Answer 2

Michelangelo did all of the sketches completely by himself and most of the painting. The painting that he did not do himself was trivial, such as part of the blue in the sky, and he would dismiss painters frequently, therefor no one else can really take credit for anything substantial. He did have help building scaffolds, mixing paint or plaster and calling for brushes or paint to be brought to him. Michelangelo did NOT paint the ceiling lying on his back, he painted from scaffolding, bending back for such long periods of time that his muscles would ache and burn. Michelangelo is his first name, his full name is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. People make the mistake of thinking his name is Michael Angelo.

Answer 3

He indeed did it all himself, every step except plastering, as you may know he worked buon fresco, probably the biggest test of an artist's mettle bar none. A good plasterer is a master craftsman, so he did hire good ones, but Michael Angelo did everything else. He was already under commission to do work for someone else and his services were demanded by the pope under many threats even to the point of "do it for my fee or you'll be doing it for free." Doing it all himself was taking to long and his answer of something like "it will be done when Michael says it is done" almost got him thrown off the scaffolding by a church official.

Answer 4

Nope, he did it all by himself. The paint that dripped into his eyes while he lay on his back eventually led to his loss of vision. It was the first thing he'd ever painted-- until that commission, he had done nothing but sculpture. Truly a remarkable man!

Answer 5

Michaleangelo actually didn't do alot of the work himself, he had apprentices do quite a bit of the work, he did alot of supervising and teaching.

Answer 6

Michaelangelo painted it all by himself. That's why it's so impressive.

Answer 7

all by himself.