Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most famous buildings in Italy. It is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City. It is famous for its architecture and its decoration that was frescoed throughout by Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling is widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievement in painting.
Pope Sixtus IV wanted the chapel to be built so they kindly named it after him. The chapel is forty meters long and thirteen meters wide. I think this work of art is beautiful. Piero Matteo d’Amelia included a starry sky, which was probably gorgeous, but Pope Julius had Michelangelo repaint the ceiling. Michelangelo painted scenes from the Book of Genesis along with 300 characters on the ceiling. It is a good thing the ceiling had so much art work because the chapel itself was bland in color.
At first, Michelangelo was mad about having to paint the ceiling but I bet he is glad he painted it. Today, his Sistine Chapel ceiling painting is one of his most famous works of art. Years later, Michelangelo was called back to paint The Last Judgment on the altar wall. Around 1980, the Sistine Chapel was cleaned and restored which took about 14 years. He painted the ceiling while on a scaffold, which in turn damaged his eyesight. He aslo ended with a bad back and bad lungs, most likely from inhaling all that paint.
The Chapel contains choristers’ gallery, an altar, and a marble screen that divides the chapel into rooms for clergy and congregants. The Sistine Chapel was mainly built for the purpose of the pope’s chapel and the site of papal elections. The papal elections are decided by the papal conclave. The papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect the new Pope.
The chimney released black smoke which is believed to mean that the pope died and white smoke was released meaning there is a new pope. The Sistine Chapel is beautiful and had a lot of work but into it. I hope to one day be able to see it in person. That would be an amazing experience and well worth the trip. Maybe we could take a field trip to it one day for history class!
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