Judge Not

It's too late to blog much today but we are back in England and, not surprisingly, its raining buckets.

I was flipping through the 1700 photos I took over the last few days and thought if I had to pick just one for a quick post, this one is as good as any. This is Michelangelo's "The Last Judgment" from the rear wall of the Sistine Chapel. It was painted over an eight year period from 1534 to 1541. It depicts the second coming of Christ and then some. When it was completed, it was quite the controversy since there was so many naked bits on display. Michelangelo worked the likeness of one of his chief critics into the the bottom right hand corner or Hell. He also put his own self-portrait (just up and to the right of dead center) on a suit of flayed skin, representing St. Bartholomew, a saint who had been skinned alive. This was apparently a display of the resentment Michelangelo held towards doing this work.

Cheers!