go to text

Business of the 10th anniversary of the opening

The Sistine Hall which reproduced ceiling picture and the front fresco "Last Judgement" of the Cappella Sistina of Vatican.
The ceiling was comprised in the third curved surface of the part which linked the wall to the ceiling called "spandrel" and the delicate curve and was not able to reproduce that I produced it with Sue board as a task of extreme difficult technically in the opening those days in 1998.

In 2007, I worked on the reproduction of this third curved surface as a commemorative project by the opening tenth anniversary. It was a very serious thing that bends it, but I apply the principle that glass melts, and it turns to at the high temperature and realize it after trial and error without breaking Sue board.
You opened it to the public on 2007/4/1 and came to be able to sense a great achievement of Michelangelo bodily by further force.

Meaning of the Cappella Sistina ceiling picture perfection reproduction

Michelangelo, at the behest of Pope Julius II, painted a large fresco on the ceiling of the chapel in just four years from May 1508. Vasari, an art historian who saw this painting at that time, wrote, "This painting is the light that illuminates our art. This painting is the light that illuminates this world that was in the darkness."Goethe, a literary master, marveled, "If you look at this ceiling, you can see how much we humans can do." Even now, there is no end to the crowd of people from all over the world who visit the chapel to look up at this ceiling.

There is a magnificent scene of "Creation" depicted in the Old Testament "Genesis". God appears in the first moments of the world, illuminating the darkness and creating men and women of mankind, but mankind crashes against God's will, and God punishes mankind for the "Noah's Ark." These are the nine scenes in the center of the ceiling, a magnificent drama of God and humankind.

But the punishing god makes a covenant with humans and promises that he will never destroy humanity. Noah's descendants grow and spread on the ground, and because of their weaknesses, they encounter various hardships.It is the fate of the Jewish loss of homeland and exile. To the suffering people, the great prophets shout that the savior of mankind will soon appear and save them from their sins.That is the figure of the huge "prophet" and "priestess" drawn on both sides of the ceiling painting. Among the prophets Michelangelo painted his self-portrait, showing that he was a timeless prophet. The nomadic people are the "ancestors of Christ" painted on the lower half-moon and sail-shaped walls. Finally, the long-awaited Christ appears on the half-moon-shaped wall at the very end of the ceiling painting.

However, it is technically extremely difficult to imitate the part connecting the ceiling and the wall, which is composed of complicated curved surfaces, and the aspect showing subtle warpage with a ceramic plate, and such a curved surface. The "heroes of the Old Testament", "ancestors of Christ" drawn above, and "the prophets and shrine maidens" drawn by Michelangelo, which are considered to be the greatest figures, could not be reproduced in the chapel of Otsuka. 10 years after opening, as the only hall of fame where you can experience the arts of the world while staying in JapanOtsuka Museum of ArtIs attracting more spectators than it was at the beginning every day, and the Sistine Hall, where you can feel the vastness of the actual size, is the central space of this building.
 
That is why we are celebrating our 10th anniversary. Otsuka Museum of Art, And Otsuka Omi Ceramics Co., Ltd. made all-out technical efforts to completely reconstruct Michelangelo's feat, including curved surfaces. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the museum's opening, I would like to sincerely congratulate you on being able to provide the entire picture of the ceiling mural to spectators from all over the country.

Chiba University's emeritus professor
Otsuka Museum of Art Painting selection committee
The late Midori Wakakuwa

 Otsuka Museum of Art 2nd director Akihiko Otsuka was awarded the Order of St. Sylvestro Knights by the Pope for his achievements in introducing and deepening his understanding of the Christian tradition in Japan through numerous works of art on 2007/3/31.

 
Back to TOP