Michał Anioł i Wolfgang Amadeusz – dwie wizje końca świata

Abstract

This article refers to the subject often undertaken by artists in the history of art – the vision of the end of the world. The author focuses on two specific masterpieces: Michelangelo Buonarotti’s fresco The Last Judgement (completed in 1541) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s funeral mass Requiem KV 626 (unfinished in 1791). Despite the fact that their works are divided by the period of over two centuries, common fragments can be found in both biographies. For example, the protectorate of lords and the price paid for being an artist. Connoisseurs of art often highlight that both the Judgement and the Requiem are an expression of the fear of death and the sense of guilt for the evils committed. In addition to theme, both works are connected to each other by one more thing: in the spring of 1770, Mozart after hearing Gregorio Allegris’s Miserere twice, wrote it down from memory. This piece of work was covered by several restrictions. It was allowed to perform it only during the great week and only in the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo had placed his fresco. It is possible that even 250 years after the creation of Last Judgement, Mozart had this fresco in mind when composing Requiem in Vienna. The author of the article tries to find these elements of the painting and music, in which both artist have included their own idea of the last hours of the world’s existence.