Ward Family Vacations - Italy 2001 Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel was built between 1473 and completed in 1481. It was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci. After the chapel was finished several great artists of the time, Perugino (will come back to him later), Boticelli and Ghirlaindo decorated it with frescos.

There are no photographs allowed in the Chapel so the photos below are taken from my Vatican book. Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius in May 1508 to paint the 12 apostles around the walls of the chapel. Michelangelo did not think that was "grand" enough and obtained the pope's authorization to follow his own plan which included painting the ceiling. The nine panels in the center of the ceiling are taken from the book of Genesis.


God separating the water from land.	The next panel is considered one of the incontrovertible masterpieces of all time and depicts God breathing the breath of life into Adam.

This is only a small portion of what is in the Sistine Chapel and I just cannot explain looking up and seeing the masterpieces of many famous Rennaisance artists, particularly Michelangelo. What blew me away is "The Last Judgment" that Michelangelo painted above the alter in the Sistine Chapel. He was commissioned by Pope Paul III when he was 60 years old in 1536 to paint The Last Judgment as an eternal warning of the transitory nature of life and the universe.

There are over 400 characters, the center being Christ as judge and the remainder of the fresco centers around Christ. The upper area is heaven with angels flying around while the saints, apostles and martyrs surround Christ and the Virgin Mary. The lower part of the fresco is filled with angels depicting the upcoming judgment and blowing their trumpets. On the right are those climbing into heaven and on the left are those being drug down to Hell.

I have no idea what theological training Michelangelo had, but every one of his works, from the Sistine Chapel, to the Pieta in St. Peter's Bascillica, the dome in that church; the statue of David in Florence.....I feel were all created by a man who had a strong belief in God. I truly believe after seeing them that his talent was clearly a God-given talent and a result of the divine inspiration of God. How he could have created these masterpieces otherwise, I don't know.

On a lighter note, I told you I would get back to one of the artists who had originally painted many frescoes in the Sistine Chapel when it was originally finished, Perugino. For Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgment over the alter he had to cover two frescos by Perugino depicting the ancestor's of Christ. There were many outspoken critics against Michelangeo when he painted over Perugino's lunettes. Michelangelo's most outspoken critic was the Pope's Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, who had often complained to the Pope about the nudity of the Michelangelo's painted figures. Biagio stated publicly "that it was a most dishonest act in such a respectable place to have painted so many naked figures immodestly revealing their shameful parts, that it was not a work for a papal chapel but for a bathhouse or house of ill-fame." Michelangelo used his likeness in The Last Judgment to depict Biagio de Cesena as Mino's, the judge of the damned in Hell, with donkey ears! Do not have to guess what Michelangelo thought about him!