The Sistine is located in the Vatican City and is the official residence of the pope. It was probably the most famous chapels in the world. The ceiling, which was painted by Michelangelo, is one of the best and greatest painted ceilings covering a total area of twelve thousands square feet. It also has another famous work of his, The Last Judgment. The Sistine Chapel has become one of the most famous art galleries in the western world.
Scenes that are depicted there are mostly those from the book of Genesis. The Sistine Chapel is always the place that any new popes are appointed. This has happened this way since Pope Sixtus IV in 1475. The Chapel’s most common usage is masses on Christmas Eve and during Easter. The first every mass was in the 15th century. This mass was a devotion to the Virgin Mary.
The ceiling was not originally painted by Michelangelo. It was first painted by a man by the name of Piero Matteo d’Amelia. He had originally painted the ceiling with a star-spangled sky. But in the early 1500’s Pope Julius II della Rovere asked Michelangelo to do it. Michelangelo wasn’t very happy about it though because he always saw himself as a sculptor and not as much a painter. But he did end up painting the ceiling and it is probably his most famous work. Scenes that are depicted there are mostly those from the book of Genesis.
When he was in his 60’s, Michelangelo was called back to the chapel to paint The Last Judgment. This painting was to be on the altar wall. He didn’t particularly want to paint this painting either. But he did it and he was even pressured to finish it earlier than it was initially planned. And even through all of that, it is considered to be a great masterpiece.
For important events in the chapel, tapestries depicting events in the Gospels and Acts cover the side walls. These tapestries were designed by Raphael and woven in 1515. Since that time, there have been “modesty” drapes added over some of the nude figures. These sorts of restorations have been very controversial. Some feel that it was a necessity to keep the chapel looking good. Others feel that what they are doing is ruining a masterpiece by defacing and defiling it.
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