Michelangelo's vision of God

Michelangelo's Vision of GodI normally don't consider material objects to be important for a fulfilling religious and spiritual life. Fancy, ornate churches with vast domes and stained glass windows, though beautiful, are not necessary for one to feel a connection and communicate with God. Yet, while I was studying abroad in England and got the opportunity to visit places such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London, the Duomo in Florence, and climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, I couldn't help but become moved at their vastness and amazing beauty. The fact that I normally feel closest to God in a simplistic setting or in nature is why, when I stepped inside Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, I couldn't get a grasp upon the way in which it had affected me.

To communicate the sheer magnificence of the ceiling is almost impossible, and the spiritual effect it had upon me was quite a shock. The stories of the Bible literally came alive in Michelangelo's ceiling, a magnificent work of art that was finished in only four years. The shapes and figures of the frescoes take on a three dimensional shape and feel as if they're coming out of the ceiling toward you, and I simply could not take my eyes off of it. I stared, neck strained, beginning to understand why Michelangelo is considered one of the great masters. His vision of the Biblical stories is majestic, awe-inspiring, and ornate; a vision which I never could've imagined in my own mind in such a way.

Enchanted by the Sistine Chapel, I also understood why the Pope commissioned Michelangelo to create such a sacred place. Because sitting amidst the many tourists, hundreds of years later, crowded into a relatively small chapel in one of the most popular tourists sites in the world, I still underwent a strong spiritual experience when viewing Michelangelo's images of God and the Bible. It is this experience and others like it that made my semester abroad very educational in secular, religious, and personal ways.