The Holy Family

The Holy Family painted for his friend Agnolo Doni is the only other finished painting by Michelangelo besides the famous ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. A round painting about 4' in diameter, it foreshadows his preoccupation with the muscular human form and his use of dramtic lighting effects revealing those forms in a sculptural way that made the Sistine Chapel such a definitive turning point in the devlopment of western art. It seemed a natural to use The Holy Family as a demo for this week's TV spots promoting the Little Italy Festa and its Corso degli Artisti street painting festival, because as the featured artist, I will be doing a detail from the Sistine Chapel ceiling as a new permanent piece in Little Italy's outdoor art collection. Sculpture was Michelangelo's preferred medium, and it is an interesting story that he accepted the Sistine Chapel commission from Pope Julius II in the hopes of securing a huge sculpture commission from Julius that he really wanted but never came to fruition. My favorite book about this is "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" by Ross King. (See the Amazon link in the sidebar). He gives a terrific, concise description of the method of fresco painting I'll share with you tomorrow, as well as why those methods are relevant today both to street painting with chalk and the custom handpainted murals I produce with modern acrylic paints. To see the development of The Holy Family demo piece I'm doing in chalk, be sure to check out the Fox 6 morning show between 8am and 9am on Thursday October 5 and Little Italy Festa media partner KNSD channel 7 morning shows at 6.30 am and 9am on Friday October 6. To see the Sistine Chapel piece come to life, come to Little Italy on Saturday and Sunday October 7 & 8.