Sistine Chapel Vatican artist. The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel are the most famous murals in the world. Photography is not permitted inside the chapel.
The Sistine Chapel is a former church in the Vatican, which was built in 1473 - 1481 by the architect Giorgio de Dolci and named after Pope Sixtus IV. Nowadays conclaves are held here to elect a new pontiff. The chapel is also a museum of Renaissance works and is famous for the paintings of the artist Michelangelo Buonarroti.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as a work of art
In 1508, Pope Julius II set the young sculptor Michelangelo a difficult task - to paint the vault of the Sistine Chapel in the shortest possible time. At that time, the artist was 33 years old and had never done wall painting before.
Getting to work, Michelangelo Buonarroti built a stage near the ceiling - and either lying or standing, throwing his neck back, painted the frescoes. The paintings under the vault of the Sistine Chapel depict nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, which are divided into three groups:
- I - creation of the World;
- II - the creation of Adam and Eve, their fall and expulsion from Paradise;
- III - trials that befell all humanity.
Frescoes by Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Sistine Chapel
The first composition that Michelangelo completed is called “The Flood” - a worldwide catastrophe that befell people. In the center of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is the fresco “The Creation of Adam”, where God touches the hand of the first man, giving him life. This painting is one of the most famous in the history of world painting. Another theme of the central work is “The Creation of Eve”, and the final one is “The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise”.
A quarter of a century after Michelangelo Buonarroti presented his works to Rome under the vault of the church, the new pontiff Paul III assigned him a new task. The artist had to paint the walls of the Sistine Chapel. This is how the greatest fresco “The Last Judgment” appeared, executed in 1537 - 1541.
The technique for painting such a large-scale painting was that the entire fresco was divided into fragments in the Sistine Chapel - a total of 450 squares. In the upper part, Michelangelo depicted angels, in the center - Jesus and the Virgin Mary surrounded by the blessed. Particular attention is drawn to the lower tier, where the End of Times and the Last Judgment are depicted - sinners are descended into Hell, and the righteous ascend to Paradise.
1. From the outside, the Sistine Chapel is an unremarkable 15th century church, similar to a typical fortification.
2. Before Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel was painted by such masters as Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli. After 27 years, the young artist had to restore some of the paintings of his predecessors or apply his own frescoes on top.
3. In medicine, the term “Sistine Chapel Syndrome” appeared - loss of consciousness when the head is suddenly thrown back. To view a masterpiece from the ceiling, you need to throw your head back, which compresses the vertebral arteries and disrupts blood circulation to the brain. A person with this disorder loses consciousness.
4. In 1940, the Lascaux cave with ancient rock paintings was discovered in southwestern France, and it was soon called the “Sistine Chapel of primitive painting.” Scenes from the Late Paleolithic era are painted on the stones; the images are approximately 20 thousand years old.
5. It is known that the young artist Michelangelo reluctantly took up the job of painting the Sistine Chapel, as evidenced by the lines from the poem he wrote: “For my work I only received a goiter, an ailment... Yes, I wedged my chin into the womb. The chest is like that of a harpy; the skull, to annoy me, has climbed up to my hump, and my beard is standing on end, and mud is flowing from my hand onto my face...”
6. In the book “Secrets of the Sistine Chapel,” Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner give their interpretation of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s frescoes and reveal the true meaning of the images.
Tourist information: opening hours, tickets to the Sistine Chapel
Operating mode: Monday - Saturday - from 9:00 to 18:00 (ticket office open until 16:00).
Ticket price: 16 euros (full); 8 euros (preferential).
Visiting rules: Photos and videos are prohibited.
Where is the Sistine Chapel on the Vatican map:
100 meters from the Sistine Chapel is another famous landmark of the Vatican - St. Peter's Basilica.
The Sistine Chapel is a former church in the Vatican, which was built in 1473 - 1481 by the architect Giorgio de Dolci and named after Pope Sixtus IV. Nowadays conclaves are held here to elect a new pontiff. The chapel is also a museum of Renaissance works and is famous for the paintings of the artist Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Everyone has heard about the Sistine Chapel since school. This is one of the places you want to visit in your lifetime. But be sure to study the topic first so you know where to go? What? and in what order to watch.
The walls of the Sistine Chapel were painted by other famous masters: Botticelli, Perugino, Roselli, Pinturicchio, Vasari, Salviati, Zuccaro.
Michelangelo depicted most of the characters in his frescoes naked. However, Pope Paul IV (1555-1559) saw blasphemy in them (well, or showed the usual bigotry). He didn’t like the naked bodies in the temple so much that he decided to destroy all of Michelangelo’s work. The situation was saved by the artist Daniele da Voltera, “covering” parts of the naked bodies with painted pieces of fabric.
Restorers of the 20th century restored justice and removed what was unnecessary from great creations.
The restoration of the chapel's frescoes was carried out more than once. The most extensive work began in the 80s of the 20th century and lasted until 2000. The latest restoration caused controversy - a lot of high praise and cruel criticism. However, today it is thanks to the skill of the restorers of the last century that we have seen the masterpieces of the Renaissance in their original splendor.
Today the Chapel is a museum, an outstanding monument of the Renaissance, and conclaves are held here.
Sistine Papal Musical Chapel
The Sistine Chapel has a male choir - the Papal Chapel (Capella Papale). Its first composition was recruited under Sixtus IV. You can listen to the choir's acapella performance on major church holidays.
Opening hours of the Sistine Chapel
Mon-Sat from 9:00 to 18:00 (last entry at 16:00),
Every last Sunday of the month from 9:00 to 14:00 (last entry 12:30).
Entrance fees: Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
Full ticket – €17;
shortened – €8.00;
online booking costs €4.00.
Audio guide (optional) – €7.
See other options for visiting the Sistine Chapel.
To avoid standing in line, buy tickets on the official website.
How to get there
Take metro line A to Ottaviano station;
take tram 19 to the Risorgimento - San Pietro stop;
by bus number 49 - to V.le Vaticano/musei Vaticani; auto 32, 81, 982 - to Piazza del Risorgimento; auto 492, 990 - to Via Leone IV / Via degli Scipion.
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Outside view.
is a tall rectangular structure, the interior of which has the dimensions of Solomon's Temple according to the Old Testament (40.9 m in length and 13.4 m in width). The appearance of the chapel does not differ in any decorations or special architectural elements, which, in general, is typical for Italian churches of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It also does not have a facade, since the entrance to the chapel is from the rooms of the Papal Palace. The structure itself is divided into three levels, the lower of which is a very high basement with several windows and a doorway leading to the courtyard. Next comes the main room, the Sistine Chapel itself, the height of the vaults of which reaches 20.7 m. Here you can see six high arched windows. And above the vault there are guard rooms for the guards.
Internal view.
This fence separates priests and laity; previously it was located exactly in the middle of the hall.
View of the altar.
The Sistine Chapel is famous for its frescoes, especially those that decorate its vaults - a masterpiece by Michelangelo.
Most of the frescoes depicting the lives of Moses and Christ were created at the end of the 15th century by a team of Renaissance painters - Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Roselli.
And in 1483, the first mass in honor of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary took place in the Sistine Chapel.
In 1508-1512, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo worked on painting the vaults of the chapel, who was destined to create a masterpiece that changed all Western art. Here the great master painted the painting “The Day of Judgment” in 1535-1541.
As mentioned above, Michelangelo worked on painting the vaults of the Sistine Chapel. Here he depicted the Creation of the world by God, the relationship of God with man and the fall of man in the face of God. Here you can also see 12 biblical figures of men and women who predicted that God would send Jesus Christ to die for the salvation of mankind.
The dimensions of the painted vault are about 40 m long and 13 m wide, which means that the total area of the fresco exceeds 500 sq.m.!
It is worth noting a reliably known fact - Michelangelo painted frescoes while lying on his back on scaffolding that he himself constructed.
North wall with a cycle of frescoes from the life of Christ.
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The wall frescoes can be divided into three tiers.
Lower - imitation drapery. Tapestries are hung here.
Second - scenes from the life of Christ and Moses.
Third tier - portraits of dads located between the windows. The upper part of the third tier can be considered lunettes depicting the ancestors of Christ, according to the genealogy given by the Evangelist Matthew. To be precise, these are not the ancestors of Jesus, but of Joseph, Mary’s husband.
In 1515, Pope Leo X ordered Raphael a series of ten tapestries to decorate the lower tier of the walls in the chapel, depicting scenes from the life of the apostles Peter and Paul. It was, as it were, Pope Leo X's response to the ceiling previously painted by Michelangelo by order of Julius II. Raphael also saw this as an opportunity to enter into competition with Michelangelo. The trellises were made over four years in the Brussels workshop of Pieter van Aelst. During the sack of Rome in 1527, these tapestries were stolen. At the end of the 20th century, they were restored from seven surviving cardboards by Raphael. The tapestries were hung again in the Sistine Chapel in 1983.
The painting of the walls was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV in 1480. The development of the general design of the cycle belongs to S. Botticelli, but the pope himself, who was a prominent theologian, took part in drawing up the program. The theme of the wall paintings is the Gospel episodes and episodes from the life of Moses as a legislator and high priest, designed to convey the greatness of the church and the power of the pontiff. The ceiling was painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1511, commissioned by Pope Julius II. In 1537-1541. Michelangelo painted the wall above the altar with a scene from The Last Judgment. To do this, it was necessary to erase scenes from the life of Moses, the scene of the birth of Christ, images of several popes and the ancestors of Jesus. Two windows were blocked, and two of Raphael's tapestries turned out to be superfluous.
SECOND TIER OF FRESCOES
South wall (from the altar to the exit)
Circumcision of the son of Moses by Pietro Perugino.
One day, in a fit of rage, Moses killed an Egyptian overseer who was cruel to the Israelite slaves, and, fearing punishment, “fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian” with the priest Jethro. There he married his daughter Zipporah and tended his father-in-law's cattle.
The fresco depicts Moses' farewell to Jethro and the return of Moses and his family to Egypt. And on the right is the circumcision of the son of Moses. Ref. 4:24-26 “On the way, at an overnight stop, it happened that the Lord met him and wanted to kill him (the son of Moses). Then Zipporah, taking a stone knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and, throwing him at his feet, said: “You are the bridegroom of my blood.” And the Lord departed from him. Then she said, “The bridegroom is of blood according to circumcision.”
Scenes from the life of Moses. S. Botticelli.
The fresco depicts the murder of an Egyptian overseer.
The second episode is the protection of Jethro's daughters. Ref. 2:16-22 “The priest of Midian [had] seven daughters [who were tending the sheep of their father Jethro]. They came and drew water and filled troughs to water the sheep of their father [Jethro]. And the shepherds came and drove them away. Then Moses stood up and protected them, [and drew water for them] and watered their sheep." The third episode is the burning bush. "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a thorn bush. And he saw that the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not being burned. Moses said: I will go and see this great phenomenon, why is the bush not being burned up. The Lord saw that he goes to look, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said: Moses! You stand, there is holy land. And he said to [him], “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord said to [Moses], “I have seen the suffering of my people.” in Egypt and heard his cry from his guards; I know his sorrows and I am going to deliver him from the hand of the Egyptians and bring him out of this land [and bring him] into a good and spacious land, where milk and honey flow, into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, The Amorites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I see the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Go therefore: I will send you to Pharaoh [king of Egypt]; and bring my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."
Botticelli and his workshop completed all their work in 11 months, from 1481 to 1482. These works are considered relatively weak.
Crossing the Red (Red) Sea. B. d'Antonio.
Moses receiving the Tablets of the Covenant. Cosimo Rosselli
Moses is depicted ascending Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (“...the instruction and the commandment which I have written”), which were carved on the slabs “on both sides, on one side and on the other there was written on them. And these tablets were the work of God, and the writings were the writings of God.”
The second episode is the making of the golden calf.
The third episode is the punishment of idolaters.
The fourth is the return of the prophet with new tablets.
Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Avian. S. Botticelli.
Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, and Abnan the son of Peleph, the sons of Reuben, rose up against Moses, and with them of the children of Israel two hundred and fifty men, the leaders of the congregation, those called to the meetings, the people famous
And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the people of Korah, and all their goods; and they went down with all that belonged to them alive into the pit, and the earth covered them, and they perished from the midst of the community.
And all the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, so that, they said, the earth would not swallow us up. And fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who brought the incense.
On the right, a crowd of Jews wants to beat Moses (a man with a long gray beard) in order to choose a new leader and return to Egypt. Joshua came to Moses' defense.
In the center, a man in a blue cloak, swinging his censer, wearing the triple tiara of the Pope is Aaron, brother of Moses. On the left are two young men floating on a cloud, these are the innocent sons of Korah. The arch shown in the center is the Arch of Constantine (the first Christian emperor) in Rome. The fresco symbolizes the supremacy of the power of the Pope, received from God.
Testament and death of Moses. Luca Signorelli
Farewell speech addressed by Moses to the Israelites on the eve of their crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of Canaan (Deuteronomy). And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead even to Dan, and all the [land] of Naphtali, and [all] the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, even as far as the western sea, and the midday country, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of Palms, as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him: This is the land about which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: “To your seed I will give it”; I let you see it with your eyes, but you will not enter it. And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.
The cycle ends with the fresco of “The Dispute over the Body of Moses” on the wall above the exit. (Michael the Archangel, when he spoke with the devil, arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a reproachful judgment, but said: “May the Lord rebuke you”). In 1522, the architrave collapsed and Signorelli's fresco was destroyed. Pope Gregory XIII commissioned frescoes on the same themes as those destroyed by the artists Hendrik van den Broeck and Matteo da Lecce.
North wall (from the altar to the exit)
Baptism of Christ. Pietro Perugino.
Temptation of Christ. S. Botticelli.
Mf. 4:1-11. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and after fasting for forty days and forty nights, he finally became hungry. And the tempter came to Him and said: If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. He answered and said to him, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Then the devil takes Him to the holy city and places Him on the wing of the temple, and says to Him: If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: He will command His angels concerning You, and in their hands they will bear You up, lest You dash Your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, “It is also written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Again the devil takes Him to a very high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and says to Him: I will give all this to You if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus says to him: Get thee behind me, Satan, for it is written: Worship the Lord thy God, and serve him only. Then the devil left Him, and behold, the angels came and served Him.
At the top left, the devil, disguised as a hermit, offers Christ to turn stones into bread; at the top in the center, the devil elevated Christ to the roof of the temple; at the top right, to a high mountain. Here the angels set the table for the celebration of communion.
In the center foreground, the high priest is about to perform a sacrifice according to Jewish tradition. He picks up a vessel with animal blood, and on the right there are several people leading sacrificial animals and carrying firewood. In the middle left, Jesus explains to the angels what is happening in the foreground. Christ himself, as a lamb, was sacrificed to atone for the sins of mankind.
The Calling of the Apostles by Domenico Ghirlandaio.
Peter and Andrew are in the foreground, James and John are in the background. As always, Ghirlandaio introduced an image of a panorama of the ancient city. Mf. 4:18-22. Passing near the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers: Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, and He said to them: Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they immediately left their nets and followed Him. From there, going further, He saw two other brothers, James Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and called them. And they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Him.
Sermon on the Mount. Cosimo Rosselli.
On the right is the healing of a leper.
Mf. Ch.5-7. Seeing the people, He went up the mountain; and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy... Matt. 8:1-4. When He came down from the mountain, many people followed Him. And then a leper came up and, bowing to Him, said: Lord! if you want, you can cleanse me. Jesus, stretching out his hand, touched him and said: I want you to be clean. And he was immediately cleansed from leprosy. And Jesus said to him: See that you do not tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them.
Handing over the keys to the Apostle Peter. Pietro Perugino.
In the foreground Apostle Peter receives the silver and gold keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Two more episodes from the Gospel are depicted in the background. Mf. 16:13-20. Having come to the countries of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked His disciples: Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am? They said: some for John the Baptist, others for Elijah, and others for Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He says to them: Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Then Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven; and I say to you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it; and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then [Jesus] forbade His disciples not to tell anyone that He was Jesus Christ.
In the background on the left. Mf. 17:24-27. When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of didrachms approached Peter and said: Will your teacher give didrachms? He says yes. And when he entered the house, Jesus warned him and said: What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take duties or taxes? from your own sons, or from strangers? Peter says to Him: from strangers. Jesus said to him: So the sons are free; but, so that we don’t tempt them, go to the sea, throw a fishing rod, and take the first fish that comes along, and when you open its mouth, you will find a statir; take it and give it to them for Me and for yourself.
In the background on the right. In. 8:31-59 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I proceeded from God and came; for I did not come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My words. Your father is the devil; and you want to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks his own way, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me...
Then they took stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid himself and left the temple, passing through the midst of them, and went on. It is believed that the artist depicted himself as the fifth person from the right in the foreground. The temple in the center is Solomon's Temple. This solution to the landscape, as in this fresco, was subsequently used by many artists, including Raphael. Giorgio Vasari called Perugino a man of little faith, but in his works the artist manages to deeply express religious feelings.
Last Supper. Cosimo Rosselli.
There are three more episodes from the life of Christ in the windows; on the left is the prayer for the cup in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Last Supper. Detail - arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Mf. 26:34-56. Then Jesus comes with them to a place called Gethsemane, and says to the disciples: sit here while I go and pray there. And, taking Peter and both sons of Zebedee with him, he began to grieve and yearn. Then Jesus said to them: My soul is sorrowful unto death; abide here and watch with Me. And going away a little, he fell on his face, prayed and said: My Father! if possible, let this cup pass from Me; however, not as I want, but as You want. And he comes to the disciples and finds them sleeping, and says to Peter: Could you not watch with Me for one hour? Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again, going away another time, he prayed, saying: My Father! If this cup cannot pass from Me, lest I drink it, Thy will be done. And when he came, he found them sleeping again, for their eyes were heavy. And leaving them, he went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same word. Then He comes to His disciples and says to them: Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is being delivered into the hands of sinners; Arise, let us go: behold, he who betrayed Me has drawn near. And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. He who betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying: Whomever I kiss is He, take Him. And immediately approaching Jesus, he said: Rejoice, Rabbi! And kissed Him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, why have you come?” Then they came and laid their hands on Jesus and took Him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus, stretching out his hand, drew his sword, and striking the servant of the high priest, cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him: Return your sword to its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword; or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will present to Me more than twelve legions of Angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, that this must be so? At that hour Jesus said to the people, “It is as if you came out against a thief with swords and staves to take Me; Every day I sat with you, teaching in the temple, and you did not take Me. All this happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left Him and fled.
Last Supper. Detail - crucifix.
The cycle ends with the fresco "Resurrection" on the wall above the exit. In 1522, the architrave collapsed and Ghirlandaio's fresco was destroyed. Pope Gregory XIII commissioned frescoes on the same themes as those destroyed by the artists Hendrik van den Broeck and Matteo da Lecce.
THIRD TIER OF FRESCOES
The third tier contains images of all the Popes.
St Clement I St Anacletus St Evaristus St Alexander I St Sixtus I St Telesphorus St Iginus St Pius I St Anicetus St Soter St Eleutherus St Victor I St Zephirinus St Callistus I St Urban I St Pontianus St Anterus St Fabian St Cornelius St Lucius I St Stephan I St Sixtus II St Dionysius St Felix I
Four images of popes remain under the Last Judgment fresco. Images of popes are located in niches on both sides of the windows. They are usually depicted in full growth, turned to three quarters. The authors of this series are the same as those who painted the frescoes of the second tier.
Pope Sixtus II.
CEILING
In 1505, Michelangelo's complex and contradictory relationship with Pope Julius II began. The Pope, who decided to create a grandiose tomb for himself, entrusts its execution to Michelangelo. When the sculptor, who had already begun work, learns of the pope’s refusal to pay the bills, wounded in his dignity, he voluntarily leaves Rome and returns to Florence.
After long negotiations, the sculptor was finally granted forgiveness, and in 1508, by order of the same Julius II, the master began painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, previously painted blue with gold stars.
Initially, the Pope ordered the figures of the 12 apostles to be depicted, but Michelangelo categorically refused to do this, since he is a sculptor, not an artist. Then, as a compromise, the pope allowed Michelangelo to paint the ceiling with scenes from the Bible at his discretion.
Frescoes by Michelangelo
For this photograph of the ceiling, below is the altar wall with the “Last Judgment”, at the top is the exit. On the left is the southern wall with a cycle of frescoes about Moses, on the right is the northern wall, with Christ.
THE LAST JUDGEMENT
The fresco amazes with its monumentality and scope. It depicts about 400 figures in various, never repeated poses. Thanks to the artist’s skill, each figure seems three-dimensional, as if it were not painted, but sculptured.
Trumpeting angels herald the beginning of the Last Judgment. A book has been opened in which all human deeds are written.
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Christ Himself is not a merciful redeemer, but a punishing Master. The Judge's gesture sets into motion a slow but inexorable circular movement that draws into its flow the ranks of the righteous and the sinners. The Mother of God, sitting next to Christ, turned away from what was happening. She abandons her traditional role as intercessor and listens with trepidation to the final verdict.
There are saints around: apostles, prophets. In the hands of the martyrs are instruments of torture, symbols of the suffering they endured for their faith.
Below right is St. Lavrenty with the iron grate on which he was burned.
Bottom right St. Sebastian with arrows, next to St. Catherine of Alexandria with part of a wheel with knives. Bottom left is St. Bartholomew, holding a knife in one hand and in the other the skin that his tormentors tore off alive from him; Michelangelo depicted his own face in the form of a distorted face on this skin. To the right of St. Bartholomew (for viewers) - the Apostle Peter, in whose hands are the golden and silver keys to heaven.
The dead, opening their eyes with hope and horror, rise from their graves and go to God's judgment. Some rise easily and freely, others more slowly, depending on the severity of their own sins. Those who are strong in spirit help those in need of help to rise up.
The faces of those who have to go down to cleanse themselves are full of horror. Anticipating terrible torment, sinners do not want to go to hell. But the forces aimed at maintaining justice push them to where the people who caused suffering should be.
And the devils pull them to Minos, who, with his tail wrapped around his body, indicates the circle of hell to which the sinner should descend. (The artist gave Minos, the judge of dead souls, the facial features of the master of ceremonies of Pope Biagio da Cesena, who often complained about the nakedness of the depicted figures. His donkey ears are a symbol of ignorance.)
“And so, when Messer Biagio of Cesena, master of ceremonies and a scrupulous man, who accompanied the pope to the chapel, was asked how he found it, he declared that it was completely shameful in a place so pious to place so many pebbles, so obscenely showing their private parts, and that this work was not for the papal chapel, but for a bathhouse or a tavern, Michelangelo did not like it, and as soon as he left, he, in revenge, depicted him from life, without looking at him, in hell in the form of Minos, whose legs are entwined with a large snake. , among a pile of devils. And no matter how Messer Biagio begged both the pope and Michelangelo to remove him, he remained there as a keepsake, just as we see him now.” (Vasari)
And nearby you can see a barge driven by the ferryman Charon.
With one movement he takes away sinful souls. Their despair and fury are conveyed with stunning force. To the left of the barge there is a hellish abyss - there is the entrance to purgatory, where demons await new sinners. It seems that the screams of horror and the gnashing of teeth of the unfortunate people can be heard.
At the top left, outside the powerful whirlpool, wingless angels with symbols of the suffering of the Redeemer himself hover over the souls awaiting salvation.
At the top right, beautiful and young creatures bear the attributes of saving sinners.
All the years spent working on this painting, Michelangelo lived in solitude, only occasionally enjoying the company of a few friends. Despite the patronage of the Pope, and perhaps precisely as a result of this, misunderstanding, envy and anger haunted the artist. There were many critics who declared Michelangelo's creation obscene. When Pope Paul IV suggested that he put the painting “in order,” that is, “cover up the shameful parts,” the master replied: “Tell dad that this is a trivial matter... Let him, in the meantime, put things in order in the world, but you can put things in order in painting.” quickly...” Nevertheless, the Council of Trent decided to cover the nakedness of the figures with draperies. According to Vasari, Pope Paul IV in the 1550s. was going to knock down the fresco. But instead, in 1565, a year after the death of Michelangelo, the artist Daniele da Volterra was commissioned to “dress” the saints or cover their nakedness with loincloths, and Volterra received the nickname “undercoat”, with which his name remained associated forever. These records were partially removed during the restoration, which ended in 1993.
Michelangelo was disappointed. He failed to create a coherent scene. The figures and groups look disconnected from each other, there is no unity between them. But the artist managed to express something else - the great drama of all humanity, the disappointment and despair of an individual person.
Note: The most serious sin is “despair.” This sin degrades the all-holy Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, rejects His omnipotence, rejects the salvation He gave - it shows that arrogance and pride previously dominated in the soul, that faith and humility were alien to it. More than from all other sins, one must be guarded, as from a deadly poison, as from a fierce beast, from despair. I repeat: despair is the worst sin among all sins. (STAINED IGNATIUS (BRYANCHANINOV)
It is no coincidence that Michelangelo placed St. Bartholomew at the feet of Christ. In his left hand the saint holds the skin that was flayed alive from him by the persecutors of the first Christians. By giving the face distorted by suffering, which is depicted on the flayed skin, his own features, Michelangelo captured the unbearable mental anguish that he experienced while creating his great creation.
Michelangelo's fame exceeded any expectations. Immediately after the consecration of the Last Judgment fresco, pilgrims from all over Italy and even from abroad rushed to the Sistine Chapel. “And this in our art serves as an example of great painting, sent down by the earthly God, so that they could see how fate guides minds of a higher order who descended to earth, absorbing grace and divine wisdom” (Vasari).
One of the greatest monuments of Renaissance art, which every visitor to the Eternal City should touch, is the Sistine Chapel. The painting by outstanding painters of the Italian Renaissance amazes with both the scale of the idea and the filigree of execution. Traditional biblical stories are presented from the perspective of humanism - the defining worldview of that time. Not theological mysticism, but the human essence - whether high or low - found its embodiment on the walls of the chapel. This symbol of the power and wealth of the Catholic Church became a monument to the genius of one of the titans of the Renaissance - Michelangelo Buonarroti.
What is a "capella"? Sistine Chapel in Rome
A Catholic chapel is a religious building not intended for public worship. This term is translated into Russian as “chapel” or “house church.”
The Great Chapel, on the site of which the famous Sistine Chapel was later built, has served as a meeting place for the cardinals of the Roman Church since the return of the Popes to the Vatican from the Captivity of Avignon at the end of the 14th century.
By the end of the 15th century, the position of the papal state was ambiguous: on the one hand, enormous power and wealth, on the other, the constant threat of military invasion by secular rulers who wanted to have influence on the Catholic Church or profit from part of its property. This duality is reflected by the Sistine Chapel, built in the 80s of the 15th century: a fortress outside - a museum inside.
Architectural simplicity
The customer for the reconstruction of the chapel of the Roman cardinals was Pope Sixtus IV, whose name this building later received. The author of the project is Baccio Pantelli, the architect is Giorgio de Dolci.
Since it was possible that the building, located in the heart of the Vatican, next to St. Peter’s Basilica, would have to be used as a shelter from enemy troops, the Sistine Chapel was built in accordance with the requirements for the fortress. The rectangular three-story building has the dimensions of the Old Testament Temple of Solomon - 41 meters long and 13 meters wide. On the top floor there is a guardhouse and a circular defensive gallery.
There are no architectural features inside the building either: a large rectangular hall with an oval vault, divided into two unequal parts by a marble fence. Initially, it was planned that the decoration of this object would not be architectural delights, but the painting of the walls and ceiling.
First frescoes
The most prominent representatives of the Florentine art school were invited to decorate the interior. Among them are recognized masters Cosimo, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, Rosselli, Botticelli, as well as their students. In the period from 1481 to 1483, these painters created 16 frescoes with biblical motifs (12 paintings have survived to this day) and portraits of 28 Popes.
Among the surviving works of art by Florentine masters, six belong to the cycle of the history of Christ and six to the history of Moses. On the altar wall of the temple were located the first chronological frescoes of both cycles, known to us only from descriptions: “The Birth of Christ” and “The Finding of Moses.” Half a century later, Michelangelo’s masterpiece “The Last Judgment” was painted on top of them.
Art historians do not know who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo. We only know that the vault was a celestial sphere strewn with stars.
Titan of the Renaissance
In 1508, Pope Julius II invited the famous sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti to paint the ceiling (vaulted ceiling) of the chapel.
A descendant of an impoverished noble Florentine family, Michelangelo had an interest in stone and sculpture from childhood. This hobby did not find understanding with his father, who believed that working with his hands was beneath the dignity of an aristocrat. However, the young man’s first successes dispelled all doubts: he would be a great sculptor! A student of Ghirlandaio, a student of Lorenzo de' Medici, forced to leave his hometown for political reasons, he gained his fame in Rome.
In the last years of the fifteenth century, Michelangelo created the statue of Bacchus and the marble composition Pietà ("The Mourner" - in honor of the Virgin Mary mourning Christ). The work is recognized as a masterpiece! The success of the Pieta four years later, already in Florence, is repeated by the statue of David, put on public display in the central square.
In 1506, Julius II summoned the young sculptor to Rome to work on the statues of the papal tomb. Soon the Pope loses interest in this project, but a new idea appears in his mind.
Unwanted task
It was not otherwise that divine providence told Julia who exactly should paint the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was not happy with such an order: for the sake of the chapel frescoes, he had to postpone sculpting sculptures for the papal tomb in St. Peter's Basilica. Painting was not a priority for Michelangelo at that time. However, it was impossible to refuse the all-powerful customer, and work began in August of the same year.
The master, who had no experience in ceiling painting, had to face a number of difficulties, which is why at first he had to experiment a lot and endure a lot of disappointments. The painting was also complicated by the fact that Michelangelo refused any help - both artistic and technical. He forbade even the Pope to look at the unfinished work. The only person who helped him in his work was a student who mixed paints.
Difficulties of the initial stage
First of all, in order not to damage the existing frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo had to create completely new scaffolding that did not touch the walls. The artist was to spend the next four years on this structure, at a height of twenty meters...
The first problem was humidity. The fragment had to be painted over the course of one day, until the soaked area of plaster had dried (what was written on the dry side looked unnatural). But it turned out that the next day the drawing either dried out and became discolored, or was hidden under a wet spot. Here Julius showed persistence and “imposed” on the proud Michelangelo a consultant, with the help of whom a solution to the moisture problem was found.
Another difficulty was created by the uneven surface of the ceiling, which distorted the proportions. Here the master himself had to deform the paintings in such a way that the figures looked proportional from the floor.
Frescoes on the chapel ceiling
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, together with the adjacent lunettes, has an area of about 600 m2. A huge job for one person! The painting lasted from 1508 to 1512. What did the master depict?
In the center of the vault there are three groups of frescoes: “The Creation of the World”, “The Creation of Man”, “The Flood”. Each of them contains three paintings. The Creation series includes “The Separation of Light from Darkness,” “The Creation of the Sun and Stars,” and “The Separation of Water from Land.” The second group includes “The Creation of Adam” (perhaps the most famous fragment of the fresco), “The Creation of Eve”, “The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden”. The third group includes fragments “The Drunkenness of Noah”, “The Great Flood” and “The Sacrifice of Noah”.
These frescoes are surrounded by images of Old Testament prophets and Sibyls (soothsayers). Even lower we see numerous portraits of Christ’s ancestors. In addition, four large-scale paintings on themes from the Old Testament are depicted in the rounded corners of the ceiling.
"The Last Judgment"
Upon completion of this grandiose work, the Sistine Chapel was completely painted, so hardly anyone would have thought that Michelangelo would have to return to work on its frescoes. However, in 1534, the new Pope Paul III decided to decorate the altar wall of the chapel with a huge fresco depicting the Last Judgment. He sees only the author of the wonderful painting of the ceiling of the papal chapel as the artist. So fifty-nine-year-old Michelangelo takes on a new large-scale order.
To make room for the painting, two frescoes by Perugino, created by him in the 80s of the previous century, had to be plastered and several windows had to be closed. The entire space above the altar was reserved for the image of God's Judgment.
There is no point in retelling the plot of this fresco of the Sistine Chapel - it is better to see it with your own eyes in photographs, since today they are not difficult to find. It is only necessary to explain why from the power and greatness of man, displayed on the ceiling of the chapel, Michelangelo moves on to depicting people as victims of fate, powerless toys in the hands of higher powers. The reason is not only the plot of the Last Judgment, which can hardly be called life-affirming, and not only the age of the master. The whole life he lived, all the events that happened around him: coups, wars, civil strife, the occupation of part of Italy by neighbors, all the poverty and injustice of the surrounding world undermined Michelangelo’s faith in the power of human will and reason.
Further improvements
The pointlessness of ruling what was created by geniuses is not obvious to everyone and not always. Even during the life of the great Buonarroti, someone else's brush passed over his frescoes. All the characters in the Last Judgment were written naked, which many found indecent. In 1565, Daniele de Volterra painted loincloths for the figures in this fresco, thereby “immortalizing” himself under the nickname “Bragettone” (undershirt). Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel has taken on its familiar, decorous appearance.
But even with the “cuts” the fresco of the Last Judgment was not safe. In 1596, she was almost shot down at the behest of Pope Clement VIII. The masterpiece was then saved by the petition of the artists of the Roman Academy of St. Luke.
Restoration in the 20th century
Over four centuries, restoration work in the Sistine Chapel was carried out more than once, but soon the frescoes were again covered with candle soot and dirt. The last restoration was carried out in the nineties of the last century. Cleaned and carefully restored, the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel caused considerable surprise among researchers.
Previously, there was a widespread belief that Michelangelo used muted colors in his work. Not at all. After restoration, the master’s famous works shone with a bright range of colors. However, many connoisseurs did not accept the updated appearance of the chapel, considering the results of the restoration to be inconsistent with the appearance of the original.
Where is the Sistine Chapel located? In which city can you see Michelangelo's masterpiece?
Wanting to gain a reputation as a philanthropist, patron of the arts (and at the same time replenish the treasury), the Catholic Church opened many of its palaces and treasuries to visitors. The Sistine Chapel, like many other Vatican museums, can be visited by anyone. All it takes is twenty euros per ticket. Well, of course, first you need to get to Rome, because it is in this city that the papal capital is located with all its attractions.
But it would be wrong to think that the Sistine Chapel is just a museum. To this day, important meetings of cardinals are held in this building, the most important of which is the conclave, which meets after the death of the next Pope to elect his successor.
October 31, 2018
The restoration of the most important Christian monuments in Rome, which had fallen into disrepair and decay following the transfer of the papal throne to Avignon (1309 - 1377), was one of the most ambitious projects of the 15th century pontiffs. Pope Sixtus IV, elected in August 1471, made his considerable contribution to the revival of the monumentality of the Eternal City. By his decree, the main chapel of the Apostolic Palace was reconstructed, later named in his honor. To decorate the interior of the huge room, the Pope invited the best artists from Florence. And today, the magnificent frescoes of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican remain the most famous paintings of the Renaissance, which tourists come from all over the world to see.
Frescoes by Florentine artists
The first stage in the decoration of the chapel of the Apostolic Palace restored by Sixtus IV was the ceiling painting created by the Italian artist Pirmatteo Lauro da Amelia (1445 – 1503). The flattened vault that surrounded the walls at the level of the window arches was originally decorated with a starry sky. Against the background of bottomless blue, shimmering in the flickering flames of candles, stars written in gold glowed.
Ceiling painting by Italian artist Pirmatteo Lauro da Amelia
As part of the reconciliation of the existing enmity between Sixtus IV and Lorenzo de' Medici, the Florentine ruler offered to send his best artists to Rome to decorate the walls of the papal chapel. The proposal was accepted by the Pope on October 27, 1480. and from the following spring, a galaxy of Florentine painters - Sandro Botticelli, Cosimo Rosselli and Domenico Ghirlandaio - began work. According to many historians, the scheme for the frescoes of the side walls was developed by Pietro Perugino, and the general concept of iconographic painting was approved by Sixtus IV himself and his advisers. According to the approved project, The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel were divided into three levels.
Wall painting
The lowest part was decorated with a false drapery of damask curtains, with the coats of arms of the Pope applied to it. Somewhat later, in the period 1515 - 1519, ten tapestries were ordered in Brussels, which, during special ceremonies, covered the lower tier of the painting of false curtains.
Sistine Chapel tapestries covering frescoes of false damask curtains
The drawings on the tapestries were made according to sketches of which seven original works are today kept in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the tapestries themselves are in.
One of Raphael's sketches
Tapestry made from designs by Raphael Santi
Sixtus IV, in order to emphasize the continuity between his pontificate and his predecessors, demanded that the upper part between the arched windows be decorated with portraits of the pontiffs who headed the papal throne from the 1st to the 4th centuries.
The upper tier of the Sistine Chapel is decorated with portraits of pontiffs
In the central, most important tier of the painting, on two opposite walls, biblical scenes from the life of Moses, as the savior of the Jewish people, and Jesus Christ, as the savior of all mankind, are depicted. These frescoes of the Sistine Chapel are read in parallel, complementing each other.
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North wall
The stories presented on it are taken from the Gospel of Matthew and tell about the most important episodes in the life and deeds of Jesus Christ.
Baptism of Christ. Pietro Perugino
The Temptation of Christ and the Cleansing of the Leper. Sandro Botticelli
The Calling of the First Apostles. Domenico Ghirlandaio
Sermon on the Mount. Cosimo Rosselli
Handing over the keys to the Apostle Peter. Pietro Perugino
Last Supper. Cosimo Rosselli and Biagio Antonio
South wall
The Sistine Chapel frescoes on it present the biblical history of various episodes from the life of Moses and are read starting from the side of the altar.
Journey of Moses to Egypt. Pietro Perugino
Calling of Moses. Sandro Botticelli
Moses' crossing of the Red Sea. Cosimo Rosselli (Biagio di Antonio)
Moses' descent from Mount Sinai. Cosimo Rosselli
Rebellion against the laws and punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiron." Sandro Botticelli
Testament and death of Moses. Luca Signorelli and Bartolomeo della Gatta
Of the 16 original frescoes of the Sistine Chapel, executed by Florentine artists, today we can see only twelve. On the wall located on the opposite side of the altar, Ghirlandaio’s fresco “The Resurrection of Christ” was redrawn with some changes in 1572. by the Dutch artist Hendrik van den Broeck, and “The Dispute over the Body of Moses” by the painter Luca Signorelli - by the Italian Matteo da Lecce in 1574.
Resurrection of Christ. Hendrick van den Broeck, 1572
Two more frescoes of the Sistine Chapel by P. Perugino - “The Finding of Moses” and “The Nativity of Christ” were chipped in 1534. Michelangelo Buonarroti before writing “The Last Judgment” on the altar wall.
Painting of the vault of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
Conflicting with the rulers of Florence and fearing aggression from the Ottoman Empire, Sixtus IV planned to rebuild the chapel of the Apostolic Palace as an impregnable fortress. During the reconstruction of the previous building, which he carried out from 1475 to 1483, the thickness of the walls was significantly increased. The old foundation, unable to withstand the load, subsided somewhat, as a result of which in the spring of 1504. a large crack appeared on the vault of the chapel, ruining the previous painting done by Pirmatteo Lauro da Amelia. Services in the papal chapel were suspended and it was closed to the public.
In April 1506, Julius II, who headed the papal throne, sent a letter to Michelangelo Buonarroti, inviting him to paint a new painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Thus, the pontiff wanted to smooth out the conflict that arose with the sculptor due to intrigues that blocked the master’s work on the tombstone, which he began to do for the future tombstone of the Pope.
This is interesting!
Suspecting that such a large-scale project was proposed by the pontiff's entourage in order to discredit him as an artist, Michelangelo nevertheless agreed. In his work, which began in 1508, he limited himself to painting the main theme - the image of the figures of the twelve apostles on the vault, as was stipulated in the contract. Considering himself more a sculptor than an artist, Buonarroti even returned the remuneration due to Julius II, refusing to further continue such a large-scale project.
As a compromise, the Pope invited Michelangelo to paint the ceiling with biblical scenes of his own choosing. The result of the forced deal was a huge fresco of the Sistine Chapel, with an area of 512 square meters, on which the artist placed more than 300 figures. For the main theme, he took scenes from the history of mankind before the birth of Christ, described in the Book of Genesis. On October 31, 1512, Pope Julius II inaugurated the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel vault for public viewing.
Vault of the Sistine Chapel
Fresco "The Last Judgment" by Michelangelo
Two decades after the completion of painting the ceiling vault of the Sistine Chapel, in 1532. Pope Clement VII asked Michelangelo Buonarroti to design the altar wall of the chapel. Work began under the next pontiff, Paul III Farnese, and was carried out from 1535 to 1541. In the painting, which covers the entire area of the wall behind the altar, the artist depicted the Day of Judgment during the second coming of Christ, described in the 20th chapter of Revelations of John.
Fresco "The Last Judgment"
The new grandiose fresco of the Sistine Chapel was a symbol of the supremacy and restoration of the power of the pontiffs after the tragic events of 1527, during which Rome was sacked by Landsknecht mercenary troops, and the Lutheran crisis shook the authority of the Roman Church.
And I would like to add one more thing. Thousands of tourists, looking at the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel when visiting the main chapel of the Apostolic Palace, pay little attention to its floor. Inlaid with multi-colored marble using the Cosmatesque technique, it has been preserved in its original form since 1400. Floor mosaics show the location of the papal throne and the seats of the cardinals. A series of circles leading from the entrance mark the path of the ceremonial processions. Of course, the extremely large number of visitors prevent art gourmets from fully enjoying the masterpieces of the Renaissance. But it’s still worth trying!