“The ambitious pope had already discussed the Sistine ceiling with Michelangelo in 1506, probably while they were together in Bologna. No doubt Julius, an art lover, had heard of the huge success of the twin cartoons for the city hall… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“If an artist of the caliber of Leonardo or Michelangelo was paid a hefty commission for a new private piece of art, that artwork… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Florentine public didn’t care. When the full-sized preparatory cartoons were displayed, the entire city went into ecstasy over both works. This was the… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The floor is a fifteenth-century revival of medieval Cosmatesque mosaic style. The Cosmati family developed their unmistakable technique in Rome in the twelfth and… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Carafa, as Pope Paul IV, established the Index of Forbidden Books, banned all women from entering the Vatican, burnt volumes of Talmud and Kabbalah,… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Vatican preached that because the Jews had killed Jesus and rejected his teachings they were punished with the loss of their Holy Temple… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“The Jew cannot accept the New Testament since it is the words of one man intended to undo what the Creator had shared with… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“THE VATICAN The very name Vatican comes from a surprising source. It is neither Latin nor Greek, nor is it of biblical origin. In… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Buonarroti was later given the job of designing the huge dome of the new Basilica of St. Peter. It is well known how much… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“How to maintain the proper mood and not bore the congregation to sleep? Art was the answer. But not just pretty pictures that required… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Yet another strategy for encoding in Renaissance works involved environmental “special effects.” Messages were ingeniously inserted so that they could be viewed only when… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“But last and least known is its additional purpose as a Kabbalistic meditational device that thus, in one more way, links it to ancient… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“Thus, Michelangelo filled the chapel with hidden messages of his passionate loves and his righteous rages, along with mystic symbols of divine justice and… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“He infused his ceiling fresco with Kabbalistic images that reflected the Kabbalistic pavement design below. He linked the Jewish ancestral tree to Jesus. He… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“In 1510 the pope ordered the scaffolding dismantled and the first part of the fresco displayed to an eager public. The ecstatic reactions from… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
“In Jewish tradition, we find the cautionary adage “Be in the world, but not of the world.” In the Gospels, Jesus says: “Render unto… — Benjamin Blech Copy Share Image
