Report- Peer Seminar: 5- Sayan Chatterjee

The Peer Seminars are a unique monthly endeavour by the Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society. The primary objective for initiating and curating such a unique exertion is to create an exposure for students and inspire them for research and higher education. The Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College organized Peer Seminar Chapter: 5 on 29th November, 2023 at 2:45 PM. The speaker was Mr. Sayan Chatterjee; his paper was entitled- “Deconstructing Problematic Concepts through Michelangelo’s Paintings in the Sistine Chapel.” The seminar took place in room no. 129C, and was attended by the faculty members and the students from PG Semesters I and III of the Department of English.

Mr. Chatterjee’s presentation explored the problematic understanding of the concepts of beauty and nudity, with special focus on Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel. The Italian Renaissance, as Alberti stated, produced paintings which were perfect in proportion and mathematical in form. They were reflective of rigidness in social structure and a tradition in art followed during that period. Michelangelo deviated from this tradition and portrayed his perception of beauty, through the depiction of the Sibyls, in the paintings of the Sistine Chapel. He turned out to be one of the few artists who gives us “cross gendered” images, deviating from the stereotypical features of men and women portrayed in paintings during the classical era. The paper also explored the concept of the Nude figure, along with its connotation in art, carrying no uncomfortable undertone, linking it to religion to re-establish the point that it should not be associated with something obscene.

Mr. Chatterjee’s presentation ended with a discussion where he addressed many questions related to art and aesthetics with special emphasis on Michelangelo’s works.