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Sistine Chapel

            The Sistine Chapel was built in 1473 under Pope Sixtus. It is most famous for it's beautiful decorations and artwork. There are different colored marble floor mosaics, which are well known, but the paintings on the walls and ceilings are the chapel's most famous feature. Frescoes by many artists cover the walls depicting scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ. However the most famous achievements in the chapel are the artwork of Michelangelo. Across the ceilings he painted nine episodes from genesis that are representations of the stages of creation and man's temptation and fall. Below these scenes are the scenes of figures and prophets with episodes from the Old Testament, all designed for the salvation of Christianity. The last great work in the chapel was Michelangelo's Last Judgment on the altar wall.
             Over the following years the wall accumulated soot and animal glues from previous restorers. By 1980 cleaning and restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes began. Before beginning the restoration, computers were used to map every single inch of the 2,732-square-foot ceiling. A huge movable scaffold was used to test the areas, much like the one Michelangelo used while painting. After all the testing was done, full restorations were in progress. .
             The dull, dark ceilings of the Sistine chapel no longer exist. The vivid colors provide a new way of looking at Michelangelo's work. It took restorers a total of fourteen years (from 1981 to 1995) to remove the centuries" worth of grime and decay. .
             The restoration of the chapel is often called the restoration of the century. But it was followed by much controversy. After restoration was completed many people argued and were upset, saying that the restorers had distorted and destroyed all of the frescoes. Some people even said that it has been ruined. They complained that Michelangelo had used a second coat of paint to soften the colors and that the restorers not only removed the dirt and grime but also removed a second d coat of paint.


Essays Related to Sistine Chapel

1. Michelangelo Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel: Between 1508 and 1512 Michelangelo created some of the most memorable images of all time on the vaulted ceiling of the papal chapel in the Vatican. ... In the Sistine Chapel the frescoes are his interpretation of the book of Genesis, the story of the creation of the world. ... But he is best known for his magnificent murals on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. ... Sistine Chapel: Between 1508 and 1512 Michelangelo created some of the most memorable images of all time on the vaulted ceiling of the papal chapel in the Vatican. ... But he is best known for his magnificent murals...

  • Word Count: 1163
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Michelangelo Buonarroti: The Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Although sculpting is how Michelangelo started out, he soon was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Biography). ... The pictures in his painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling say a million more words than a sonnet. In 1508, 33 year old Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to repaint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. ... The Sistine Chapel was built between 1475 and 1483 in the time of Pope Sixtus IV. ... When the Sistine Chapel ceiling was actually painted the panels never actually named, the modern age gave them names (The Brain). ...

  • Word Count: 1062
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Michelangelo Paper

In Michelangelo's two frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, the ceiling and the Last Judgment, an obvious change occurs in Michelangelo's style of painting. ... Michelangelo's fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a biblical timeline that was commissioned to illustrate the political dominance that Rome possessed at the turn of the 16th century. ... On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Adam conforms to the border of the scene allowing there to be a harmonious, open space surrounding him as well as the figure that represents God. ... In some of the margins of the fresco on the...

  • Word Count: 643
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. Michelangelo Buonarotti

After finishing David, Julius II summoned Michelangelo to Rome to work on his other most famous project, the Sistine Chapel. Some of the scenes on the Sistine Chapel are: God separating Light from Darkness, the Creation of Adam, The Creation of Eve, Temptation and Fall of Adam and Eve, and the Flood. While he was working on the Sistine Chapel, the pope asked him to design his tomb for him. ... Since the pope was starting to get low on funds, he then asked Michelangelo to go and finish the Sistine Chapel instead. ... In class, we talked about the Sistine Chapel, Pieta, and David, and as I...

  • Word Count: 581
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Italian Renaissance Art: Expressing Social Humanistic Values

During the Italian Renaissance, social and humanistic values started to be expressed in many forms: literature and architecture but most importantly sculptors and paintings. The thought that the world was now a desirable place impacted many paintings and sculptors. This was quite different from th...

  • Word Count: 399
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. ART in the 18th Century

Although sculpting was the love of his life, his paintings of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and "The Last Judgement" are considered by many his best masterpieces. ... A short time after starting the tomb, Pope Julius II selected Michelangelo to fresco the Sistine Chapel ceiling. ... Michelangelo even wrote a sonnet in which he described the pain he felt while painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. ... The ceiling was completed just a little after the Pope had died but has given the Sistine Chapel tremendous appeal for having the best fresco ever done. ... Michelangelo rece...

  • Word Count: 1403
  • Approx Pages: 6
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7. The Renaissance Era And It's Artists

His most famous works range from the David in Florence, to the Pieta in Rome and the Sistine Chapel in Italy. Many people forget Michaelangelo as a sculptor because the Sistine Chapel was his most famous work. ... (Michaelangelo, Sistine Chapel 33-34). ... Pope Sixtus built the Sistine Chapel in 1473. ... The Sistine Chapel was Michaelangelo's first real Fresco, but many would not have known. ...

  • Word Count: 1504
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Michelangelo

The most important one was for the frescoes of the Sistine chapel ceiling. ... On the vault of the papal chapel, he devised an intricate system of decoration that included nine scenes from the Book of Genesis. ... Before the assignment of the Sistine ceiling in 1505, Michelangelo had been commissioned by Julius II to create his tomb. ... Due to a money shortage the pope ordered him to put aside the tomb project in favor of painting the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. ... In Rome in 1536, Michelangelo was working on the Last Judgment for the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, which he finished in...

  • Word Count: 868
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Michelangelo

Michelangelo Michelangelo was one of the greatest artists to ever live. Such works as the Sistine Chapel, the Pieta, and the David are a testament to his mastery. There is much to learn about Michelangelo, and the masterpieces he left behind. Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475...

  • Word Count: 328
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

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