With Great Admiration

Passionate, intriguing, resourceful, honest, independent... these are some of the qualities that I admire in a person. When presented by Marsha at her third By Invitation Only party with the challenge of naming the thing/person/place we've always wanted to experience, but have not yet, it was harder than I imagined. After mulling over what that meant to me, I came up with two individuals who I would love to meet. Thus the list of qualities above.

I would love to spend a day with Michelangelo Buonarrati and also with Mary of Magdela.

There are very obvious reasons why we admire Michelangelo. His sculptures and frescoes are legendary. His creativity and passion flowed through into his works. But life was not always a bed of roses for him. When he was summoned to Rome by Pope JuliusII in 1508, he thought he would be working on his commission to sculpt figures for the papal tomb. Instead, he was given the assignment of painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, having never worked in the art of fresco before. This required him to not only learn from scratch the intricate and precise steps of painting buon fresco, but also to design the scaffolding for the project.

Raphael's image of Michelangeo in his The School of Athens

 
He was passionate about every commission that he received and would tackle each project with his all. He never stopped working, even accepting the role of chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica in his seventies. I would have loved to observe his preparatory work and watch him in action.

Michelangelo's sketch of Libyan sybyl

Sketch of Sistine Chapel section

In 1536, Michelangelo met Vittoria Colonna, fifteen years his senior. They had an intense friendship for the next eleven years until her death. Michelangelo wrote many sonnets dedicated to her.

Love sonnet by Michelangelo

He died in 1564 at the age of 88 years.

Mary of Magdela is a woman much misaligned in history. She was closer to Jesus Christ than any other person, was his greatest follower, yet was pegged by the threatened Catholic Church as a prostitute. Although we will never know the truth about the many speculations surrounding her (ie. she was Jesus' wife), she exemplified great courage and strength during her life and was for me a great role model. She taught and promoted the beliefs of Jesus throughout her life and helped to bring the religion to Europe. I would love to find out what made her tick, watch her quiet force in action.

Mary Magdalene by Pietro Perugino

Mary Magdalene by Antonio Frederic Augustus Sands

 Don't forget to visit my fellow bloggers over at Splenderosa for the

  By Invitation Only blog party

MARSHA HARRIS

http:www.splenderosa.blogspot.com/

TISH JETT

http://afemmeduncertainage.blogspot.com/

YVONNE PRATT

http://stonegable.blogspot.com/

CHARLOTTA WARD

http://spaceforinspiration.blogspot.com/

GREET LEFEVRE

http://belgianpearls.blogspot.com/

CATHERINE ROBINSON

http://www.catherinerobinsoncashmere.com/

ANNIE BOUTERSE

http://plumsiena.blogspot.com/

COTY FARQUHAR

http://cotyfarquhar.blogspot.com/

DEBORAH PETERSON

http://www.dumbwittellher.com/

DUSTJACKET ATTIC, Debra

http://dustjacketattic.blogspot.com/

TINA

http://theenchantedhome.blogspot.com/

MONA THOMPSON

http://providenceltddesign.com/

FIFI FLOWERS

http://www.fififlowers.com/

JACQUELINE MUMFORD

http://home-biba.blogspot.com/

KARIN JANSKY

http://lapouyette-unddiedingedeslebens.blogspot.com

VICKI ARCHER

http://frenchessence.blogspot.com/

CECILIA GONZALEZ

http://desdemventana.blogspot.com/

RENEE GRANIER & ANGELA FOSTER

http://underspanishmoss.com/

LISA

http://amidprivilege.com

FRANCINE GARDNER

interieurs.com blog

CHRISTINA FLUEGGE

http://greigedesign.blogspot.com/

STACEY BEWKES

quintessence.com

LEANN SHULTZ

http://linenandlavender.blogspot.com/

LENE

http://theessenceofthegoodlife.blogspot.com/

SHARI MILLER

http://www.littlebluedeer.com/

SHARON SANTONI

http://myfrenchcountryhome.blogspot.com/

KAREN MALAN

Pas Grand-Chose Blog

http://athousandmiles-k.blogspot.com/