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Walking Tours of Rome

The Sistine Chapel

Ceiling: Part Two


Picture
Eastern Half of the Ceiling
The Flood was the first fresco that Michelangelo and his assistants painted. They did not begin work immediately above the entrance, but five meters to the west. The Flood tells the story of how God, regretting (on account of its wickedness) having created mankind, decided to destroy everyone except Noah, a ‘just and perfect man’.

Michelangelo departs from the chronology in Genesis by placing the depiction of the Drunkenness of Noah before, rather than after, the scene of the deluge. The artist makes a further departure from scripture in depicting the sons as well as the father naked.

The fresco of the Creation of Eve was painted in a significant position in the centre of the vault and directly over the cancellata, the marble structure which, at that time, divided the chapel into two almost equal parts. Eve, in her position above the entrance to the part of the chapel reserved for the clergy, can be seen as a prefiguration of Mary, who in Catholic theology represents the Mother of the Church.

With the completion of this fresco Michelangelo had reached the halfway mark of the ceiling. The scaffolding was duly taken down and, on August 15th (Feast of the Assumption) 1510, a grand Mass was held in the chapel in celebration.


​The removal of the scaffolding gave Michelangelo his first real opportunity to take stock of his work from the floor of the chapel. He was clearly dissatisfied with the size of the figures, for when, a year later, he recommenced painting, he increased the size of the prophets and sibyls to such an extent that the ones in the western half of the chapel are up to four feet taller than their compatriots in the eastern half.

NEXT
The Drunkenness of Noah, fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
The Flood, fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
The Sacrifice of Noah, fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
Prophet Zechariah, fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
The Temptation and Expulsion, fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
The Creation of Eve, fresco by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel

Private and SMALL-GROUP walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2021. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Home
  • Private Tours
  • Small-Group Tours
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • 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
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of Goddess Roma
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Venice Marries the Sea
    • St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
  • Gallery
    • Piazzas >
      • Piazza del Campidglio
      • Piazza del Quirinale
      • Piazza del Popolo
      • Piazza di Spagna
      • Piazza Navona
      • Piazza S. M. in Trastevere
      • Piazza San Pietro
    • Mosaics
    • Fountains
    • Churches
    • Ancient Rome
    • Palaces
    • Domes
    • Papal Coats of Arms
    • Street Shrines
    • Old Photographs
    • Borromini & the Baroque