On This Day in History Quilt for March 6:
On this day in 1475 Michelangelo Buonarroti, best known of the Italian Renaissance artists, was born in the small village of Caprese. He became an apprentice at only 13 and was then taken on by Florentine ruler and arts patron, Lorenzo de’Medici. At age 33, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. It took several years to complete the frescoes, the most famous of which is The Creation of Adam in which the hands of God and Adam are outstretched towards each other.
Jacquelyn Lee Faulkner of East Lansing, Michigan created this quilt, “The Touch,” in 1984 as commission for the First Presbyterian Church of Lansing. Faulkner was inspired by another artist’s rendition of Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam.” The quilt was documented as part of the Michigan Quilt Project. Faulkner said:
“The artist had given the arms and background a surface design of different colored triangles that flowed over the painting…. The fabric background and muscle groups [for the quilt] evolved from there… I drew in muscle groups that gave the arms very flowing lines, using a few cracks in the ceiling as guidelines. I drew into the background flowing lines for piecing.”
View this quilt on The Quilt Index to read more about it’s history, design and construction. Be sure to use the zoom tool for a detailed view.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/michelangelo-born
Posted by Amy E. Milne
Executive Director, Quilt Alliance
amy.milne@quiltalliance.org