Michelangelo’s

Sistine Chapel
Ceiling

“No one who has not seen the Sistine

ceiling can have a clear idea of what a
human being can achieve.” (Goethe)
 The Sistine
Chapel
La Capella
 EXTERIOR
Sistina
 Chapel decoration
was started by
Pope Sixtus in
1473
 Ceiling had been
frescoed earlier
with a star-
spangled sky In
1508
Michelangelo was
commissioned by
Pope Julius II della
Rovere to repaint
the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel
 .
The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine
Chapel
 The ceiling was
completed in 1512
when M was 37.
 He returned and
painted the Last
Judgement over
the altar, between
1535 and 1541on
request of Pope
Paul III Farnese.
 The ceiling is 40m
long and shaped
like a barrel
 Right
hand wall
showing
Perugino’
s Christ
Giving
the Keys
to St.
Peter
 It took 4 years and 5 months (1512 days)
to paint the ceiling. Although he had some
assistants mixing paint etc, Michelangelo
was such a perfectionist he did most of the
work himself.
 There are over 300 figures on the ceiling
 The ceiling is 40m x 14 m long (520m 2)
(~ 2 ½ tennis courts) and the height of a 3
storey building.
 Restoration of the ceiling started in the
80s and finished in the 1990s. Restorers
used pure water and chemicals to clean
away centuries of smoke and grime and
reveal the true colours used by
Michelangelo.
 The Pope v the artist
 Michelangelo’s relationship with Pope Julius
II was stormy. He initially refused to paint
the ceiling, saying he was a sculptor.
 Julius II was very ambitious, a warrior
pope who had led armies in battle. He was
impatient with those who worked for him.
 He often visited the Sistine Chapel, climbing
the scaffolding to see how the work was
going
 He constantly asked
Michelangelo how soon
it would be completed
 A dangerous job
 Michelangelo painted the ceiling
using traditional fresco technique
 Extremely difficult and dangerous
given the size of the ceiling and its
height.
 Scaffolding was 16m above floor.
 Michelangelo had to bend over
backwards and paint above his
head
 He invented a stool that he leaned
on/rested his head on.
 Paint splattered his face all day
long and by evening his body was so
cramped he could only read letters
from his family by holding them
above his head.
 The Decorative Scheme
 The CEILING is Divided into 3
zones.
 The lowest zone: shows the
ancestors of Christ – 40
generations worth, as described in
Genesis.
 The middle zone consists of Old
Testament prophets and pagan
sibyls [prophetesses]. Both
“have knowledge of the Divine
and mediate between man and
God" (Fleming 192). Biblical AND
Classical.
 The center of the ceiling depicts
the story of the creation of the
world and man’s relation to God.
9 scenes taken from Genesis.
Begins with creation and ends with
the Last Judgement.

 Diagram shows layout of the

WALLS.
 Layout of each band of the
ceiling
 Prophets / Sibyls on the outside
 Ignudi, medallions
 Scene from Genesis in the central
The restoration process revealed
surprising bright colours to Art
Historians