Neoplatonic Symbolism by Michelangelo in Sistine Chapel’s Separation of Light from Darkness

Upon discovery of Michelangelo’s concealed neuroanatomicalimages in “Separation of Light from Darkness,” by Suk andTamargo in 2010, there remained a compelling need toinvestigate in greater detail the reasoning behindMichelangelo’s depiction of imagery of the brain, brainstem,spinal cord, eyeballs and optic nerves in the Sistine Chapel. Atcursory glance, “Separation of Light from Darkness” depictsGod’s first act of Genesis 1:3-5 (King James Bible), in whichhe creates light and separates it from the darkness, envelopingthe world he has just created. It is a seemingly simple,conspicuous act, but careful analysis reveals thatMichelangelo used his artistic, academic, and poetic genius toembed layers of symbolic meanings. The authors believe thatthe great artist infused a visual metaphor of a scene fromPlato’s “Allegory of the Cave” in Book VII of The Republik(~380BC) to represent his key ideologies in Neoplatonism andpious convictions.Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel during the flourishingperiod of High Renaissance (~1475–1527). High Renaissanceart followed and reflected the period of ‘rebirth’ in whichphilosophy, literature, art, and sciences drew on ancientknowledge from Classical Antiquity, principally the ancientGreeks. The Renaissance was a period of rapid growth wherepeople applied new found knowledge to the Classical Greekstudies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle (from about the 4th to3rd century BC). One of the most influential ancientphilosophers was Plato (~428-348 BC) whose teachingspropagated throughout Athens for about two centuries aroundhis lifetime, through his established school, the Academy. Hisphilosophy of Neoplatonism was resurrected by an Italianbaron, Cosimo I de Medici who employed Marsilio Ficino(1433-99) to lead the Florentine Platonic Academy (of whichMichelangelo was a student) and translate all of Plato’swritings into Latin.Through analysis of Michelangelo’s paintings, his preliminarysketches, poems, written letters, and the political and religiouscontext of his time, the authors attempt to provide key evidenceto reveal the meaning and symbolism behind Michelangelo’sconcealed anatomic representations