Sistine Chapel

I do not think that I have ever even seen a picture of the Sistine Chapel, which is odd. It is pretty famous, after all. I feel like I learned about it in European History or read about it in a book. Nevertheless, last weekend, I saw the Sistine Chapel for myself. And wow, I think it deserves all the hype. I do not know how true the stories are that Michelangelo painted it in a mere five years. But honestly, who cares. It is magnificent. My favorite section was his heaven/hell depiction, which used this bright blue paint from powdered blue stone. Each body is so twisted, either in pain or in ecstasy, each visibly dealing with his own fate, telling his life story in one pose. Michelangelo also created a face in this section. He placed different scenes in the eyes, the nose, and the mouth of his giant, but not domineering face. He even depicted the falling of paganism and the rising of Christendom. Michelangelo must have been a genius, not in the way that Einstein was, but in the way that he could see an entire world in his mind, the world as he saw it, and then he could create it for us mere people to understand and appreciate. Even though I am not a Christian, I was still speechless when I walked into the Sistine Chapel, and that is a testament to Michelangelo and his ability to please every generation of man with his phenomenal artwork.