# Michaelangelo fucking with us for 500 years **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000 "2010-05-27T22:03:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000/21 "2010-05-28T19:05:07Z")
It may seem mundaine, It may seem pointless. But it’s still about the arts, so… Off to Cafe Society ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000/22 "2010-05-28T19:09:06Z")
Beware the dongs in the clouds… ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000/23 "2010-05-28T19:11:24Z")
> [@Gotterfunken](#): > > Considering Mich’s anatomical knowledge, I wouldn’t be too surprised if there’s some merit to these interpretations. But the HuffPo article is incredibly annoying with its speculation as to “why” Michelangelo would have hidden these references, citing the Protestant Reformation and the Church’s persecution of Copernicus as sufficient cause for an artist to utilize subterfuge lest he, too, become accused of heresy. > > Problem is, Michelangelo finished the ceiling frescoes in 1512–the Protestant Reformation didn’t start until 1517. Man, he really _was_ ahead of his time! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000/24 "2010-05-28T19:17:14Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Too bad it’s the Vatican. They’re not gonna show us where the dicks and boobies and stuff are. Not too long after the work was completed, the [Council of Trent](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniele_da_Volterra#The_loincloths_in_Michelangelo.27s_Last_Judgment) condemned nudity in religious art, and Daniele de Volterra was commissioned to paint loincloths or fig leaves on the figures, which had originally been nude. This is why the cover-ups look so unnatural, which wouldn’t have been the case if they had originally been painted that way. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000/25 "2010-05-28T20:32:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The focus of the work then transferred to the ceiling, which was completed in December 1989 and from there to the Last Judgment [portion of the ceiling]. Nitpick: The Last Judgment isn’t on the ceiling; it’s on the wall behind the altar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michaelangelo-fucking-with-us-for-500-years/541000.md?page=1)