It depends on the genius of sculptor

What image his chisel and hammer create. /різець та молот/

Think it over, please, and share your impressions.

Exercise 2. Could you read the following article about Michelangelo which was devoted to his 525th anniversary; single out the facts and episodes of his life which will amaze you, who live half a millennium later:

There is, perhaps, no other character in the whole history of art whose stature /постать/ equals that of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564), who was one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time.

The text for test reading:

Sculptor of genius, painter, architect and poet of the Renaissance, he was also a great citizen and humanist to whom humanism was no mere abstraction, but the very essence of life; a man who defended man's freedom and dignity with chisel /різець/, brush and pen and also on the walls of Republican Florence. In 1529 the leaders of Republican Florence asked Michelangelo to create the fortifications for the city which was preparing for a long siege /облога/. As a result, Florence withstood the 11-month siege, but couldn't resist the united attack of Germany and Pope Clement VII.

He was always attracted by the heroic, that is clearly seen in his early work "The Battle of Centaurs"['sentɔ:] and "David" that stands in Signoria Square in Florence. David, the boy who killed the giant Goliath [gǝ'laıǝθ] , is not a jolly and carefree lad rejoicing in his victory. It is a heroic image of a man, a fighter, with the strong physique and beautiful and proud features, which express the intense thought projected into the future.

During his first visit to Rome Micheangelo produced the "Bacchus" and the breathtaking "Piet`a" of the Vatican. In 1504 he completed his "Holy Family", one of his best-known paintings. In 1508 Pope Julius II attracted Michelangelo to the project to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which was finally unveiled in 1512. This masterpiece consists of the scenes from "Genesis" ['ʤenısıs] /Книга Буття - the first book of the Old Testament/. At first Michelangelo wasn't in the mood of taking up the job, considering himself primarily a sculptor. But once he agreed, he devoted himself to this work, sparing neither time, nor health to complete the painting which still is second to none. Single-handedly, without anybody's assistance, the genius man covered with exquisite painting the area of more than 500 square metres. Sometimes he worked for some days on end with complete abandon, and that was the work of a titan. After the grand work had been accomplished Michelangelo lost his vision for some time.

Thousands of research essays and books have been written about these frescoes. But all visitors unanimously agree that there is nothing mystical about the composition, which, in fact, is a hymn to man. Here the characters from the Bible live, create, act, suffer like any other people, but heroic people. Adam, a young man with an impeccable body and face, embodies the idea of a harmoniously developed man, so typical of the ideas of the Renaissance. Human bodies, faces, feelings are in the focus of Michelangelo's masterpiece. In his fresco "The Flood" the painter doesn't concentrate on the fury of the element. It's the sufferings and emotions of the people, who became the victims of the tragedy, that draw his attention. Looking at the marvellous paintings visitors feel the power of life, triumph of lofty spirit and harmony.

After the defeat of Republican Florence, detecting the crash of the ideals of the Renaissance, Michelangelo painted quite a different fresco "The Last Judgement" /Страшний Суд/ on the wall of the Sistine Chapel. In this enormous painting, which covers an area of 200 square metres, Michelangelo embodied the tragedy of the defeat of Renaissance Culture, expressing his horror, sorrow and commotion of feelings.

Back in Florence again Michelangelo carved the Medici tombs with the celebrated reclining /напівлежати/ figures of "Day", "Night", "Dawn" [dɔ:n] /світанок/, "Dusk" /сутінки/. As a sculptor and an architect he erected Laurentian Library, the Palazzo Farnese, laid out the current plan for the Capitoline Hill and completed the whole ensemble [ɒn'sɒmbl] of St.Peter's Cathedral, which is the largest one in Italy, adding to the cathedral its grandious Dome. He created some more versions of "Pieta "/плач Богоматері/. One of them is in St.Peter's Cathedral.

The master had a new unsurpassed expressiveness in everything he created, and his heritage is enormous and fantastic. The perfection of his sculptures, murals, and

architecture have astonished people far and wide, even in places where his art is only known from reproductions. This genius sang a song to man, man strong and handsome in body and spirit, a fighter and creator. Having been working all his long life in sweat and pain he wondered where he had taken his energy and love of work. Once he said that his love of the hammer /молот/ had come to him with the milk of his wet-nurse /мамка/, the wife of a stone-mason, with whose family he lived from his birth until he was six. If it's so, blessed be the woman!