Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is a special chapel inside the Apostolic Palace, which is the home of the pope in Vatican City. It was built a long time ago, between 1473 and 1481, by Pope Sixtus IV. It was first called the Cappella Magna, meaning 'Great Chapel'. Today, the Sistine Chapel is famous for the beautiful paintings on its walls and ceiling.

Many great artists worked on the chapel long ago. During the time of Pope Sixtus IV, artists like Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli painted scenes from the stories of Moses and Christ. These paintings filled the walls of the chapel.

Later, between 1508 and 1512, another famous artist named Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the chapel. This amazing work of art changed the way people looked at painting and is one of the greatest achievements in art history. Even today, people from all over the world come to see these wonderful paintings.

History

The Sistine Chapel is used for important church services and meetings. It was built between 1473 and 1481 under Pope Sixtus IV, replacing an older chapel that was in bad shape. Many famous artists, like Sandro Botticelli and Michelangelo, helped decorate it with beautiful paintings.

One special job of the Sistine Chapel is to host meetings where new popes are chosen, called conclaves. During these meetings, a chimney on the roof shows smoke: white smoke means a new pope has been chosen, and black smoke means they haven't decided yet. The first time this happened in the Sistine Chapel was in 1492. The chapel still holds these important services today and has its own choir that performs special music.

Architecture

The Sistine Chapel is about 35 metres (118 feet) long and 14 metres (46 feet) wide, with a ceiling up to 20 metres (66 feet) high. Outside, it looks simple because it was built during the Medieval and Renaissance times. You can only see it from windows inside the palace.

Inside, the chapel has a special design. The length, width, and height all follow the same ratio. There are windows along the sides and at each end, and the ceiling has a curved shape. The floor is made with marble and coloured stones in a pretty pattern. A marble screen divides the chapel into two parts, one for special church members and another for visitors.

Decoration

The Sistine Chapel has many beautiful paintings and decorations. The walls have three levels of artwork. The middle level shows paintings about The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ. These were painted by famous artists in the late 1400s.

The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. It shows stories from the Bible about God's creation of the world and important events. Later, more decorations were added, including special tapestries made by another famous artist, Raphael. These tapestries tell stories about early Christian leaders.

Frescoes

The Sistine Chapel has many beautiful paintings on its walls and ceiling. The southern wall shows stories from the life of Moses. These were painted in 1481 to 1482. They include scenes like Moses leaving for Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea.

The northern wall has stories from the life of Jesus. These were also painted in 1481 to 1482. They include the baptism of Christ and the Last Supper.

The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. He painted over 5,000 square feet of frescoes. These include stories from the Book of Genesis, such as the creation of Adam and Eve.

The Last Judgment was painted by Michelangelo between 1535 and 1541. It shows Christ returning. It covers the entire wall behind the altar.

See also: Gallery of Sistine Chapel ceiling

Main article: The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

Restoration and controversy

Main article: Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel began a big cleaning job on November 7, 1984. It finished on April 8, 1994. Some people were worried because the colors looked very bright after cleaning, especially the Ancestors of Christ. They thought too much original paint might have been removed.

The cleaners studied how Michelangelo painted the ceiling. They looked closely at the paintings in the small sections called lunettes and believed he painted everything while the plaster was still wet, called buon fresco. They thought he didn’t add details later on dry plaster, called "a secco".

Because of this, the cleaners removed extra layers like old glue, wax, and later paint. They used a special liquid, a solvent, to clean the ceiling back to just the original wet plaster paintings. After this, only the true buon fresco paintings remained.

Replicas

An artist named Gary Bevans painted a copy of the Sistine Chapel ceiling at English Martyrs' Catholic Church in Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex, England. The Mexican government worked with donors to make a full-size copy of the Sistine Chapel building. This copy was shown in Mexico City from June 1 to July 15, 2016. It used many photographs to show the paintings just like in the real chapel. Visitors watched a video about the chapel before going inside, where lights and sounds helped explain the paintings.

Quotes on Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

Two famous people talked about the wonderful paintings in the Sistine Chapel.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe said you need to see the Sistine Chapel to know what one person can create.

Giorgio Vasari said the paintings were like a bright light for art. He thought they showed painters new ideas and beautiful details.

Music

Since the Sistine Chapel opened, the Sistine Chapel Choir has always sung without musical instruments. Instruments were not allowed inside, so the oldest singer would choose the starting pitch.

In 2014, Canadian violinist Rosemary Siemens became the first solo instrumentalist to perform at the Sistine Chapel. She played for an event called Spiritual Elevation, with vocalist Mary Zilba and harpist Mark Edward Spencer. They performed songs like "Amazing Grace" and "Be Thou My Vision".

In 2016, The Edge from the band U2 became the first rock artist to give a concert at the chapel. He played songs such as "Walk On" and "Yahweh".

In 2017, Cecilia Bartoli became the first woman to sing with the all-male Sistine Chapel Choir.

The first live-streamed concert at the chapel happened in 2018. It featured a performance of Stabat Mater by composer James MacMillian.