Buonaroti's Revenge

Have you been to the Sistine Chapel? Pretty impressive, huh? Because of its fame a lot of people forget it's only a "chapel" so are surprised by how relatively small it is. They usually have already been crushed by the sheer weight, volume and vast spaces of St. Peters and I think are expecting more of the same, abetted by outsize expectations of seeing Michelangelo's decor in the flesh, so to speak.

And flesh just might be the key word here. The Big M's work is mind blowing as expected but also, if I may be so bold, it's loin blowing too. The incredible flow of muscles-in-extremis and/or repose with magnificent pecs and abs; bubble butts and boobs; long sinewy and/or voluptuous torsos writhing in agony and, dare I say so, ecstasy. The artwork transcends the church and, to its credit, also transcends the officially unacknowledged pornography. Of course this relies on ones own definition of what porn is and I'll leave that to you as to how you perceive it.

This came to mind because of photos like this one. All that hot stuff on the walls and ceiling juxtaposed with a sea of red and white (cardinal and cream?) below. When those dudes in the red beanies raise their eyes to the heavens for guidance what images greet them? Yeah, there's a whole lot of penis up there! That Michelangelo, ya gotta love the guy.