SISTINE CHAPEL

Description

Essentials about the Sistine Chapel in brief

The Sistine Chapel is one of the chapels of the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope. Two reasons make it the most famous chapel in the world: first, the conclave, the papal election, is held here. And second, its paintings, especially the works of Michelangelo, are among the greatest masterpieces of Western art. The Sistine Chapel is located immediately north of St. Peter’s Basilica and is connected to it via the Scala Regia and Sala Regia. However, tourists can only enter via the Vatican Museums.

The architecture of the Sistine Chapel

The plans for the Sistine Chapel were made by Baccio Pontelli. It was built between 1473 and 1481 as a private chapel for Pope Sixtus IV (hence its name). The ground plan of the chapel is rectangular. The building is 40.9 meters long, 13.4 meters wide and 20.7 meters high. The chapel is built in the proportion of the Temple of Solomon, its length is approximately twice the height and three times the width. A marble wall divides the space into two unequal parts. The opus sectile floor is made of beautiful geometric patterns.

The wall frescos of the Sistine Chapel

The walls of the room are decorated with frescoes from the 15th century, created by some of the best artists from Umbria and Tuscany. But as fabulous as they may look, they are eclipsed by the work of Michelangelo Buonarotti, who created the famous ceiling painting between 1508 and 1512, and a mural of the Last Judgment between 1534 and 1541.

The ceiling fresco by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

Originally, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was reminiscent of a blue starry sky. In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint a new ceiling. Michelangelo hesitated at first because he saw himself more as a sculptor and architect than as a painter. Rumor has it that his rival Bramante convinced the pope to commission Michelangelo to do the painting, hoping that Michelangelo’s reputation would be damaged if he delivered poor work – after all, he had no experience with this kind of commission. Julius II had Bramante erect a scaffold for Michelangelo, but he deemed it useless and replaced it with his own scaffold instead. Shortly after beginning work on the ceiling frescoes, Michelangelo dismissed his assistants and continued painting the ceiling alone, always lying on his back.

Julius II expected Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling with paintings of the 12 apostles. Michelangelo, however, decided to paint scenes from Creation on the 520 square meters instead – a sensible decision, since the walls of the chapel were already decorated with other biblical events. Michelangelo painted the ceiling using the fresco technique that was common at the time, which meant that a fresh layer of plaster had to be applied every day and Michelangelo had to paint the area before the plaster had dried.

The ceiling is divided into nine main sections, all depicting scenes from the Bible, beginning with the “Creation of Light” and ending with the “Drunkenness of Noah” at the altar. Michelangelo, however, began painting at the other end. The stylistic differences that appeared as he perfected his style can still be seen. The most famous part of the fresco is probably the “Creation of Adam”. Here Michelangelo depicts the Almighty descending to earth to breathe life into Adam.

Michelangelo painted classical architectural elements such as statues and pilasters to separate the different areas. Around the biblical scenes he painted prophets and sibyls, prophetesses of antiquity. The lunettes show portraits of Jesus’ ancestors, and the four triangular pendentives in the corners depict scenes from the Old Testament.

Further frescos in the Sistine Chapel

More than 20 years after completing his masterpiece, Michelangelo also painted the Last Judgment on the wall behind the altar. However, while his earlier work enjoyed wide acclaim, the painting of the Last Judgment drew criticism from Puritans who complained of an alleged excess of nudity. Michelangelo responded to the criticism by giving Minos, the donkey-eared judge of the dead, the face of his harshest critic, Biagio da Cesena. After Michelangelo’s death, the painting was censored by the pope and all intimate areas were painted over.

The remaining walls are decorated with frescoes dating from 1481 to 1483. They were created under the guidance of Pinturicchio by a group of renowned painters such as Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Signorelli and Rosselli. The paintings depict scenes from the lives of Jesus and Moses, and they are considered masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. Most visitors, however, hardly notice them and instead give all their attention to Michelangelo’s works.