The Sistine Chapel   by Giuseppe Longo
 

The Sistine Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sistina) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Roman Catholic Pope in the Vatican City. The Sistine Chapel originally served as a Palatine Chapel. The chapel is rectangular in shape and measures 40.93 meters long by 13.41 meters wide, i.e. the exact dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament. It is 20.70 meters high and is roofed by a flattened barrel vault, with little side vaults over the centered windows. The architectural plans were made by Baccio Pontelli and the construction work was supervised by Giovannino de' Dolci. The first Mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on August 9, 1483. Its decoration, frescoed thoroughout by the greatest Renaissance artists, including Michelangelo, whose ceiling is legendary; and its purpose, as a site of papal religious and functionary activity, notably the conclave, at which a new Pope is selected.

History Built between 1475 and 1483, in the time of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, Its basic feature is the papal function, as the pope's chapel and the location of the elections of new popes. It was consecrated and dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin on 15th August 1483. The architectural plans were made by Baccio Pontelli and the construction was supervised by Giovannino de'Dolci. Later alterations modified the original exterior.

In 1481 Pope Sixtus IV summoned to Rome the Florentine painters Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, as well as the Perugian Pietro Perugino to decorate the walls with frescoes. (According to Vasari, Luca Signorelli was also involved in the decoration.) The painting of the walls took place over an astonishingly short period of time, barely eleven months, from July, 1481 to May, 1482. The ceiling was frescoed by Piero Matteo d'Amelia with a star-spangled sky.

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1508 to repaint the ceiling; the work was completed between 1508 and 1512. He painted the Last Judgement over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, being commissioned by Pope Paul III Farnese.

For great ceremonial occasions the lowest portions of the side walls were covered with a series of tapestries depicting events from the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. These were designed by Raphael and woven in 1515-19 at Brussels.

The building in some respects can be considered a personal monument to the Della Rovere family, since Sixtus IV saw to its actual construction and the frescoes beneath the vaults, and his nephew Julius II commissioned the ceiling decoration. Oak leaves and acorns abound, heraldic symbols of the family whose name means literally “from the oak”.

The decoration of the chapel was cleaned and restored in recent decades. The project started with the fifteenth century frescoes in 1965. The restoration of the lunettes, the vault and the Last Judgment started in 1980 and was terminated in 1994. The restoration produced a spectacular result.

Location Viale Vaticano - 00165 00120 Città del Vaticano

Frescoes 

Wall Frescoes 

The walls are divided into three orders by horizontal cornices; according to the decorative program, the lower of the three orders was to be painted with fictive "tapestries," the central one with two facing cycles - one relating the life of Moses (left wall) and the other the Life of Christ (right wall), starting from the end wall, where the altar fresco, painted by Perugino, depicted the Virgin of the Assumption, to whom the chapel was dedicated. The upper order is endowed with pilasters that support the pendentives of the vault. Above the upper cornice are situated the lunettes. Between each window below the lunettes, in fictive niches, run images of the first popes - from Peter to Marcellus - who practiced their ministry in times of great persecution and were martyred.

Alterwall 

The pictorial programme for the chapel was comprised of a cycle each from the Old and New Testament of scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ. The narratives began at the altar wall. Michelangelo began work on the large fresco on the altar wall in 1534, in the reign of Pope Paul III, when he was 59. As a counterpart to his depiction of the Creation on the ceiling he painted on this wall the final scene in the story of the world, the Last Judgment, depicting Christ returning as the Judge to summon the righteous to paradise and consign the damned to hell. The theme in all its details is based on the scriptural account. With its dramatic presentation of his subject, which Michelangelo sees as a judgment on the life of the individual human being, this ranks as one of the greatest achievements of European painting.

Right Wall 

The right-hand wall of the Sistine Chapel depicts events in the life of Christ, the liberator of mankind from sin - his baptism in the Jordan; the cleansing of lepers (a magnificent work by Botticelli); the calling of Peter and Andrew; the Sermon on the Mount; Christ giving the keys to Peter; and the Last Supper.

Left-hand Wall 

The left-hand wall of the Sistine Chapel has scenes from the life of Moses, liberator of the Jewish people from their captivity in Egypt; the circumcision of Moses; Moses with the shepherds and the burning bush; the crossing of the Red Sea; Moses receiving the tablets of the law on Mount Sinai; the destruction of the company of Korah; and the death of Moses.

The ceiling frescoes 

The frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were painted by Michelangelo in the reign of the great Pope and Renaissance prince Julius II, most of them being his own unaided work. They were painted between the autumn of 1508 and August 1510 and, after a pause, completed in 1511-12. Michelangelo's idea was an ambitious one, never attempted on such a scale before; no less than to depict the Creation as it is described in Genesis.

The central part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (beginning at the near end) depicts God separating light from darkness, creating the sun and the moon, separating land and sea, creating Adam and then Eve; the Fall; Noah's thank-offering; the Flood; Noah's drunkenness. In the lower ranges of the vaulting are colossal figures of the prophets and sibyls who conveyed God's message to the Jews and the Gentiles.

The Last Judgment

The Last Judgment was commissioned from Michelangelo by Pope Clement VII (1523-1534) shortly before his death. His successor, Paul III Farnese (1534-1549). forced Michelangelo to a rapid execution of this work, the largest single fresco of the century.

In the Last Judgment Christ is depicted as a powerful youthful god standing on a cloud, surrounded by the Virgin, the Apostles and other saints. The righteous (to the left) rising up into heaven, and the damned (on the right) tumbling into hell form a powerful upward and downward movement which determines the eternal fate of mankind, while below the dead are seen rising from their graves. In the middle are angels blowing their trumpets to summon all men to judgment, and up above other angels carry in triumph the instruments of the Passion. The 381 figures are represented with athletic forms, and many of them have readily recognizable attributes (Peter with his key, Sebastian with his arrows, Lawrence with his gridiron, Bartholomew with his flayed skin, which bears a portrait of Michelangelo himself, Catherine with her wheel).

Conclave 

The election of a new Pope, the conclave takes place in the Sistine Chapel. In those occasions a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which the smoke arises. If white smoke appears, a new Pope has been elected. Black smoke: no successful election yet. During present-day meetings of cardinals, the chapel is carefully searched for bugs, recorders and cameras, so that the conclave is kept secret.

Useful numbers Musei Vaticani e Cappella Sistina Tel. 06.69884947 - Fax 06.69885061 
 

About the Author:

Giuseppe Longo