How did Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel and what did the scaffold look like?

Question

did Michelangelo paint standing up or laying down? cuz wikipedia tells me that he painted standing up but other sites tell me that he was painting as he layed down on the scaffold. also im comfused about how he built the scaffold. a website tells me that he didnt build it up from the floor...i need help on those two things.

Answer 1

It's a myth that he painted lying down. I believe this comes from representation in the film, The Agony and the Ecstasy, before this movie no one ever thought of him as lying on his back.

Try lying on your back and controlling your arms, focusing in the near distance, it would be very very difficult

Michelangelo designed the scaffold himself, it was a wooden platform. As I understand it, and seems likely, a temporary device, light scaffolding would have been used to erect the platform, which was then accessed by ladder

Answer 2

My guess is that most parts were painted standing and a few while lying on his back.
I seem to remember that evidence was found of holes in parts of the plasterwork that may have supported a scaffolding frame.