Michelangelo BUONAROTI
Painter, Sculptor and Architect of Florence
(1475-1564)

Name: Temur
Date: 2004-02-22
Comments: Nuova Sacristia is an absolutely incredible place. Having been there at least 10 times, I have always been fascinated by the plan resembling the christianized mandala with the center on the floor looked upon by the oculus from the ctiling, and the overwhelmingly important number of four for the whole construction.
Straight lines forming a cross are contained in the circle (see the manifold lined on the ceiling), and the point where the visitor is supposed to stand point to one end, which is eternity (the center). The corners of the Sacristia" square are contained in the circle. The smaller circle is manifested through the symbolic succession of day and night, dawn and dusk; it rotates, and so rotates the whole sacristia, symbolizing the universe, while the oculus in the center is still and unmoving, shedding light upon the living and the dead.
There is great religious thought behind Michaelangelos' incredible art that seems divine to us mortals.
When you stand in the middle of the Nuova Sacristia you feel you definitely touch eternity.