Michelangelo’s Last Mural: A Short Story
Once, there was an artist named Michelangelo.
He was hailed as the greatest artist the world had seen.
His passion was to paint scenes onto walls and ceilings. Especially the ceilings of temples. His greatest piece was the mural he painted in fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
One day, it was announced that Michelangelo had repainted the ceiling, decorating it with a new mural, which was going to be revealed with a ceremony. The rumor around town was that the Master called it “The greatest artwork I’ll ever manage to create”.
When the news spread, crowds flocked in from near and far. Artists came from all over the world to catch a glimpse of this immortal beauty. They started to line up the night before, waiting to be the first ones to witness the mysterious artwork nobody had seen before.
When the time came for the reveal, all eyes were glued to the ceiling. As the great artist and his assistants slowly pulled the cover off the ceiling, the whole chapel fell into silence, followed by rousing sounds of awe. The greatest artists fell to their knees, jaws open; their hands fell to their sides, their shoulders sunk...in both admiration and instant admission of defeat. They immediately realized: This was indeed something no artist could ever match.
What caused this instant surrender?
The painting was alive!
Every moment, one breathtaking scene would slowly morph into another, even more beautiful, one. It would take a great artist years to paint a single one of these murals. Each was unique and beautiful. Some, happy and bright, almost singing with joy. Others, dark and gloomy, almost weeping with sadness. How did he manage to paint so many? And how do they change so seamlessly, without anyone visibly moving the old ones out and the new ones in? The real shock was when Michelangelo revealed that the painting was not only alive, but it was also immortal. This beautiful symphony of colors and images, he said, would continue for as long as time goes on. Even after the great artist's death. Nobody had seen anything like it.
As the crowd slowly walked out of the chapel, every face had an expression of ecstasy mixed with disbelief in what they had just witnessed... but also a little bit of puzzlement. Somehow, the art also looked familiar. Something they had seen before... a déjà vu of sorts.
Then a child exclaimed! “I know where I saw this before! Back in my village… from our backyard. Looking at the sky, I saw the same beautiful pictures of clouds and light, dancing with each other. Blue giving way to white, and white to yellow and pink… and sometimes when a mighty wind blew, the two white cotton candies would clash and become one. Sometimes, one of them looked like a lamb, another like a horse, which then turned into a unicorn, which turned into a mermaid. In fact, this painting was always there. Right above our head.. drawing one amazing scene after another. But, somehow, we stopped noticing them… and we stopped thinking about who is drawing these breathtaking murals that cover the entire sky… which is the ceiling... of the dome.. of our temple.
Not sure how they could have been so oblivious, the crowd turned around to head back and question the Master.. only to find him standing at the door, smiling at them, with the satisfaction of pulling the perfect prank..
Of course, all Michelangelo had done was to tear down the dome of the Sistine Chapel at night.. so that everyone could see the real art in the sky, where the roof had been.. the art constantly being painted instant by instant, by the true Master Michel-Angelo, the Esteemed Angel of the Sky and Wind, whom God appointed to conduct the orchestra in the sky… who, every moment of every day since the beginning of time, had been painting scene after scene, not only over the Sistine Chapel, but over every village and town; and every mountain and valley around the World. Like a great conductor, mixing the colors of the Sun, the shades of white and gray in the clouds, and the blue of the sky to create the immaculate silent symphony just above our heads.
And all the while moving millions of tons of water in the very same clouds, from oceans to gently rain over dry lands, giving a lift to thousands of species of birds to help them cross continents, and spreading seeds and pollens to bring life to the farthest corners of the Globe.
Who to better appreciate the Greatest Artist than a great artist? Michelangelo, the man, was the first to truly witness this majesty. He couldn’t live without showing it to the entire world.