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Sistine Chapel

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The Sistine Chapel is one of several papal chapels in the Vatican Palace. It is a rectangular brick building with six arched windows on each of the two main (or side) walls and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. It was named for Pope Sixtus IV, and built in 1473-83 by the architect Giovanni dei Dolci. Its construction began in 1475. The Sistine Chapel has many important works of art, including the frescoes by Michelangelo on the ceiling and on the west wall behind the altar.

Michelangelo’s first challenge was to build enormous scaffolding to reach the long, curved ceiling, 60-feet high. Over the next four years, he painted the ceiling while lying on his back.

Another challenge was the ceiling’s size. At 40-feet wide and 130-feet long, it covers more than 5,000 square feet. Michelangelo’s work included more than 300 figures, but nine main scenes dominate, depicting stories about the creation, fall, and rebirth.

Michelangelo's nine main paintings at the Sistine Chapel:

  • Separation of Light from Darkness
  • Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Planets
  • Separation of the Earth from the Waters
  • Creation of Adam
  • Creation of Eve
  • The Fall and Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
  • Sacrifice of Noah
  • The Deluge

Works of art inspired by the Sistine Chapel

  • Inspired by a magazine cut-out of the Sistine Chapel, stuck-up on her bathroom wall, Joana spent eight years knitting Michelangelo's masterpiece.
  • A needle-worker has created a jaw-dropping vision of the Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling in simple cross-stitch.

Virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel:

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