ichelangelo (born March 6, 1475, Italy – died February 18, 1564, Rome) was a Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. He needs no introduction in the present-day world to art enthusiasts, students, pedagogues of liberal arts, travellers, historians or anyone who has ever seen his magnificent works, in real life, in books or on the internet. Michelangelo’s works are some of the most recognisable in the world. The artist is renowned for creating world-famous works like the Pietà circa 1499, rising to prominence with David, a sculpture he made for the cathedral of Florence, commissioned in 1501. The 34 frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City are probably some of his best works.

Those who have visited the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City know that one can’t see much of the details of the frescos at the height of approximately 60 feet. There are also long queues of people from across the globe waiting to catch a glimpse of the multi-figured compositions and very limited time to stop and listen to the audio description of each fresco, or read through the booklet one receives from the front desk. The same happened with the SEE founder and CEO Martin Biallas; while he visited the Sistine Chapel in person. He didn’t enjoy the experience as there were long thousands of people around, and a notorious no-photograph policy inside the actual chapel, which is bad news for one’s Instagram feed. Hence Martin decided to showcase the awe and wonder of arguably one of humanity’s most outstanding artistic achievements while allowing visitors to experience this art from an up-close, life-sized, and never-before-seen perspective.

I luckily got a chance to visit the exhibition, Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel on display in Birmingham’s creative quarter known as Digbeth. This area is full of vast and derelict factories and warehouses, reminiscent of the British colonial industrial past. A few of these have been turned into cultural spaces for regular creative activities like exhibitions, concerts, pubs, and studio spaces for independent creative practitioners. Some innovative entrepreneurs also run skateboard shops, bespoke stationery stores and cafes, to name a few. The exhibition under review was housed in a similar reclaimed factory called Secret Space on River Street. A boy at a ticket counter welcomed me and briefly explained the show when I entered the building. Upon paying for the ticket (£13) he gave me a Wi-Fi-enabled audio device giving extensive info about the historical and religious importance each piece of art.

On display in the exhibition were all the 34 frescoes made by Michelangelo reproduced as licensed, high-definition photographs of the originals shot by Austrian photographer Erich Lessing, with Bridgeman Images serving as a production partner. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel invites visitors to step into Michelangelo’s shoes and gain a new perspective on the most famous works of art by the artist, studying every stroke from the same distance as the incomparable artist who created them.

As I entered the main hall made with a temporary bifurcation, I was greeted by The Creation of Adam; a painting that illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. Adam lies casually on the left-hand side while the dynamic figure of God approaches from the right. The figure of God is depicted in front of a flowing red robe and is surrounded by many tiny beings. Multiple narratives are associated with this painting by Michelangelo; the most believed one, through certain traditions of theology, is that God writes on us with his finger. According to the Jewish tradition, that’s how he writes the tablets of the Ten Commandments for Moses. According to these traditions, the finger is the conduit through which God’s intelligence, ideas and morality seep into Man.

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel invites visitors to step into Michelangelo’s shoes and gain a new perspective on the most famous works of art by the artist, studying every stroke from the same distance as the incomparable artist who created them.

Then I approached Asa, one of the fourteen paintings from the Ancestors of Christ sequence. Michelangelo’s decision to give attention to the Genealogy of Jesus within these paintings has given historians much to contemplate. Asa was the third king of Judah and ruled between 913 and 873 BC. The next was Josiah, who was the king of Judah from 640 to 609 BC. After his father Amon was assassinated, he ascended to the throne at the age of just eight. Josiah was killed in battle with the Egyptians. Then I looked at the painting of Rehoboam, who is believed to be the son of King Solomon the Wise and the grandson of King David, the most important ruler of the Israelites. This painting shows a small child whose mother is protectively holding him in her arms. The figure of a father can only be dimly recognised in the background. Then comes Uzziah, descending from the House of David – his name means “God is my strength”. Michelangelo paints all the fourteen ancestors’ paintings in everyday commonplace backgrounds. Salmon comes next; his name means “spark”. In Salmon’s dictums, women’s handicraft is the evidence of their determination and holy life, which is supposed to be a positive presentation when compared to men, who are described as passive.

The next room unveiled the more significant, larger than life canvases, The Prophet Daniel being the first one. Michelangelo’s depictions of the prophets and sibyls holding scrolls or books must be intended to symbolise their intellectual abilities and undertakings. He also depicted the prophet, Daniel, writing as he also spent many years working as a scribe in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, where he was above all valued for his ability to interpret dreams. Next to the Prophet Isaiah, I noticed his fingers placed on his right hand between the pages of his book, as if he wanted to carry on reading. His attention, however, is focused on a small figure standing behind him. These figures always appear in pairs to portray the prophets and sibyls. They are considered to be conveyers of God’s message. The five sibyls painted by Michelangelo – Delphic Sibyl, Libyan Sibyl, Persian Sibyl, Cumaean Sibyl, and the Erythraean Sibyl – were said to have foretold the birth of a saviour.

In one painting, Michelangelo combines two scenes: on the right is the depiction of the creation of the sun and the moon, and on the left side, there’s God pointing towards green plants painted with light brushstrokes. The next one tells how God separated the earth from the waters. Michelangelo freely interpreted the individual acts of the creation of water, land, heavens, light, and earth and brought them together. Witnessing the last set of paintings, The Creation of Eve and The Fall of Man was a jaw-dropping experience. The Creation of Eve is the central painting on the chapel’s arched ceiling. It depicts Eve reaching out to her Creator.

Similarly, The Fall of Man depicts the story of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. In this painting, Michelangelo chose to combine two successive scenes. The left-hand side of the painting shows the fall of man, with Eve taking the forbidden fruit from the serpent and, in doing so, going against God’s will. The painting also shows Adam reaching out for fruit from the tree. The archangel Michael is shown extending his sword to expel the sinners from paradise on the right-hand side. Another exciting depiction of the Prophet Zechariah is positioned directly above the entrance of the Sistine Chapel due to him being depicted as an esteemed figure in the Bible, Quran and other sacred testaments. The Great Flood shows the punishment inflicted by God for the sins of humanity. According to Genesis, God sent 40 days of rain to erase all life on earth, sparing only Noah and his family. He told Noah to build a boat, Ark. The Sacrifice of Noah shows the gratefulness of Noah as he makes a sacrifice to his God. The Prophet Jonah forms part of a group of paintings depicting seven biblical prophets, all of which foretold the messiah’s coming. Prophet Jonah was swallowed by a whale but escaped after three days and three nights, the precise amount of time which Jesus spent in the tomb after being crucified and before his resurrection on the third day.

The exhibition ends with the extraordinary and colossal painting The Last Judgement painted by Michelangelo approximately twenty-five years after he finished the ceiling frescos. According to the New Testament, the last judgement will precede the complete renewal of God’s kingdom when Christ appears to judge the living and the dead. This fresco’s scale is smaller than the original one behind the altar across the entire western wall at the Sistine Chapel. The centre of the painting depicts the figure of Christ, with Mary to his left, while droves of saints form a whirlpool with Christ at heart.

I have visited many exhibition spaces in the past, both temporary and permanent, where one can’t avoid offering kudos to a curator or a creative head whose imminent focus is on turning it into a memorable experience for the viewer. This travelling exhibition was definitely one of those.

The writer is an art/ design critic. He heads the Department of Visual Communication Design at Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore