Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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    • Altars >
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    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
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      • Chapel of St Helen
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  • Miscellaneous
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Walking Tours of Rome

The Sistine Chapel

Ceiling: Part One


Picture
The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Pope Sixtus IV died on August 12th, 1484. Nineteen years later, on November 1st, 1503, another member of the della Rovere clan was elected to the papacy in the shape of Pope Julius II (r. 1503-13). 

Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the nephew of Sixtus IV, was elected pope a month before his sixtieth birthday. It would not be long before he summoned Michelangelo to Rome with a very special commission in mind. Having seen the artist’s sculpture of the Pieta in St Peter’s Basilica, Julius II wanted Michelangelo to carve his tomb. However, no sooner had Michelangelo begun work on a funerary monument that was to have been 50 feet high and 34 feet wide, and would have incorporated no fewer than forty full-length marble statues, than the pope’s attention was distracted by a crack which had appeared in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The crack was duly repaired, but instead of simply repainting Piermatteo d’Amelia’s vision of the star-studded heavens, the pope came up with the idea of a completely new design for the vault. And he knew the perfect man for the job. 

The pope explained his ideas to Michelangelo. The spaces above the windows were to be decorated with images of the twelve apostles, while the ceiling should be painted with a geometric design of interlocking circles and squares all’antica. Michelangelo, who thought of himself primarily as a sculptor, was less than keen to put down his hammer and chisel to take up his brushes and paints. Fresco painting was also a very skilled and demanding technique and not one in which he’d had a great deal of practise. He also strongly objected to the pope’s design, arguing that it would be ‘una cosa povera’ (a poor thing). Michelangelo would later say that the pope accepted his objections and gave him carte-blanche to do what he liked. The second part of this story is highly unlikely. The pope would never have handed over to a mere artist responsibility for the decoration of the most important chapel in Christendom. Experts in theology would have been consulted, just as they had been for the painting of the walls. But we cannot say, with certainty, who devised the scheme which Michelangelo would eventually paint.
 
The scenes on the ceiling would complete the story of the history of mankind, which had been started on the walls of the chapel, by illustrating the first chapters, namely, the story of creation and of life before the Mosaic Law.

On May 10th, 1508, Michelangelo signed the contract and work began on making the ceiling ready for repainting.
One of the first problems Michelangelo had to address was that of scaffolding. As the chapel had to be kept open for use throughout the duration of the project, the use of ground-based scaffolding was out of the question. The artist came up with an ingenious solution in the form of a wooden bridge, or rather a series of stepped arches, which spanned the chapel about forty-five feet from the ground. The bridge only extended half the length of the chapel, but it gave painters and plasterers access to all parts of the ceiling within this range. Michelangelo then suspended beneath the scaffolding a large sheet of canvas, which he claimed was for the protection of the chapel’s precious pavement. He also knew full well that it would serve to protect his precious work from prying eyes. The canvas would have had a third use in screening the sixty-five feet drop from the eyes of his assistants.

Each day, work on the ceiling began with the application of a screed of plaster (sufficient for a day’s painting) called the intonaco. As soon as the plaster had developed a thin skin, the design was transferred onto the ceiling by a technique known as pouncing. The lines of Michelangelo’s cartoon, the preparatory sketch he had made for what he intended to paint, were pricked out. The cartoon was held up against the ceiling and dusted with charcoal. When the cartoon was removed the outline of the sketch remained on the ceiling as a series of charcoal dots. Sadly, not a single one of the cartoons Michelangelo made for the ceiling has survived.

The main body of the ceiling is divided by a painted architectural structure into frames, which contain the stories from the Book of Genesis. A series of prophets, through whom God spoke in the Old Testament, and sibyls, who had the gift of foresight in the classical world, sit opposite each other at either side of the scenes. The prophets and sibyls represent, respectively, Judaeo and Greco-Roman culture, the two components on which the Christian culture was founded. In the four corner pendentives, are depictions of biblical scenes which show God, as he works through his servants, to bring about the salvation of the world. 

Next

Reconstruction of the Sistine Chapel prior to Michelangelo's intervention, engraving by G. Togneti
Hypothetical reconstruction of the Sistine Chapel prior to Michelangelo's intervention, engraving by G. Togneti

walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2023. All Rights Reserved. 
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  • Images
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great in St Peter's Basilica in Rome
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
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      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
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      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
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      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
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      • Pope Gregory XIV
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      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Sala di Costantino
    • Sala dei Chiaroscuri
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fontana di Piazza delle Scole
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Four Fountains
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Venice Marries the Sea
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
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    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
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    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea al Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria del Priorato
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
      • Cloister
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Baptistery
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Palatine
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Aqueducts
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Baths of Diocletian
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
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    • Circus Maxentius
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    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
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    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Venanzio
    • S. Zenone
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
    • Churches
    • Domes
    • Fountains
    • Old Photographs
    • Palaces
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
  • Palazzi
    • Palazzo Barberini
    • Palazzo del Quirinale
    • Palazzo della Cancelleria
    • Palazzo della Consulta
    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni
    • Palazzo Farnese
    • Palazzo Farnesina
    • Palazzo Laterano
    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Spada
    • Palazzo Venezia
    • Villa Giulia
    • Villa Farnesina
    • Villa Medici
  • Galleries & Museums
    • Galleria Borghese
    • Galleria Colonna
    • Galleria Doria-Pamphilj
    • Musei Capitolini
  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta
    • Piazza del Campidoglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza della Repubblica
    • Piazza Farnese
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
    • Piazza Vittorio
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • Antico Caffè Greco
    • Babington's Tea Rooms
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Catacombs
    • Cloisters
    • Column of the Immaculate Conception
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • Fascism
    • House of the Owls
    • Jewish Ghetto
    • Jubilee Years
    • Knights of Malta
    • Mithraism
    • Monumental Complex of S. Spirito in Sassia
    • Ponte Sisto
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Tiber Island
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione I - Monti
    • Rione II - Trevi
    • Rione III - Colonna
    • Rione IV - Campo Marzio
    • Rione V - Ponte
    • Rione VI - Parione
    • Rione VII - Regola
    • Rione VIII - Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione IX - Pigna
    • Rione X - Campitelli
    • Rione XI - Sant' Angelo
    • Rione XII - Ripa
    • Rione XIII - Trastevere
    • Rione XIV - Borgo
  • On This Day in Italy
    • January
    • February
    • March
    • April
    • May
    • June
    • July
    • August
    • September
    • October
    • November
    • December
  • Pictures from Italy
    • Florence >
      • A Literary Tour
      • Anna Maria Luisa: Last of the Medici
      • Casa-Galleria Vichi
      • Column of Justice
      • Column of St Zenobius
      • Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Cosimo II de' Medici
      • Costanza Bonarelli
      • David With Fig Leaf
      • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
      • Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Equestrian Statue of Ferdinando I de' Medici
      • Festina Lente
      • Floods
      • Fontana del Bacchino
      • Fontana dei Puttini
      • Fountain of Neptune
      • Fountains of the Marine Monsters
      • Gian Gastone de' Medici
      • Girolamo Savonarola
      • Images of the Annunciation
      • Little Devil
      • Monument to Cellini
      • Palazzo Bartolini-Salimbeni
      • Palazzo Bianca Cappello
      • Palazzo Fenzi
      • Palazzo Viviani
      • Perseus and Medusa
      • Piazza Santa Maria Novella
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Porta della Mandorla
      • Rape of the Sabine Woman
      • Santa Maria Novella
      • Canons' Palace
      • Statue of Dante
      • Theft of the Century
      • Torre del Arnolfo
      • Twelve Good Men
      • Villa Gamberaia
      • Wheel of the Innocents
      • 'Wine Windows'
    • Lazio >
      • Bomarzo: Parco dei Mostri
      • Viterbo: Santa Rosa
    • Tuscany >
      • Arezzo: Giorgio Vasari
      • Lucca: Puccini
      • Pistoia: Ospedale del Ceppo
      • Siena: The Balzana
    • Venice >
      • Ab Urbe Condita
      • Acqua Alta
      • Bartolomeo Colleoni
      • Barque of Dante
      • Burano
      • Caffè Florian
      • Daniele Manin
      • Flagpoles
      • Giustina Rossi
      • Gondolas
      • Harry's Bar
      • Henry James
      • House of Three Eyes
      • King Victor Emmanuel II
      • Map of Venice
      • Martinmas
      • Master of the House
      • Palazzo Contarini Fasan
      • Ponte Borgoloco
      • Ponte Chiodo
      • Punta del Dogana
      • Scacciadiavoli
      • Shrine of St Lucia
      • Sior Antonio Rioba
      • The 'Book Shitter'
      • The Lion's Mouth
      • Tommaso Rangone
      • Torcello
      • Venus
      • 'Viennese Oranges'
      • Wellheads
      • Winged Lions