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Rome's Famous Sistine Chapel - You Must See It
Even though the Sistine Chapel was named after the Pope who commissioned its construction, Pope Sixtus IV, the real fame of the chapel came to it much later when Pope Julius II commissioned an artist by the name of Michelangelo to take on the job of putting a painting on the 10,000 foot Sistine Chapel ceiling.
On your way to view the Sistine Chapel and its amazing ceiling, you'll find many other amazing artistic delights. Nearby to the Chapel is the Vatican Museum - a marvel that should require you to spend at least 1 - 2 days exploring its treasures. Also, St. Peter's Basilica (with its magnificent Dome) contains Michaelangelo's "The Pieta" - another treasure of the great artist himself.
The actual Sistine Chapel is relatively small by Roman building standards, at 135 feet wide by 44 feet tall. But inside of this small chapel is some of the greatest art of the western world. Art that any museum in the world would be thrilled to have. A huge restoration project done on the chapel between 1979 and 1999 assured that this treasure would be here for us to enjoy for decades to come.
Inside the Sistine Chapel, take time to look at their entire collection of great art because many well known masters have works there. Botticelli is well represented, including two of his best works, the 1482 "Life of Moses" as well as "The Punishment of Korah". Near those art works you will find other great masters such as Rosselli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino.
But it is that magnificent ceiling that most people associate with the Sistine Chapel. Before Michelangelo began his work there, what passed for art on that ceiling was a simple pattern of painted stars. Michelangelo invested four difficult years of tedious work to transform that ceiling into a magnificent nine-panel masterpiece we know it for today.
For subject matter, Michelangelo drew from various characters of the Old Testament including Noah, a variety of male nudes, Sibyls and of course, the world famous image of Jehovah himself reaching out to mankind through Adam to give life at the touch of his divine finger.
Since the Vatican ordered the painting restored and cleaned in the 1990s, it once again explodes with the colors that the great master wanted us to see. The great thinker Goethe wrote the following words concerning the painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling:
"Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving."
Michelangelo had to invent a special kind of scaffold that he would use for the four year time frame as the painting was created. The work was hard and dangerous and at times the paint itself almost blinded him. And the master had to develop and put to use many new innovations in painting never used before. One such invention was a completely new kind of plaster called intonaco which was capable of resisting mold and that held paint in place much better than previous designs. This plaster is still used by painters of modern times.
Michelangelo finished his master work in 1512 but in his mind, he was not done. Twenty years later he returned to the Sistine Chapel to paint one more installment of his vision. It was entitled "The Last Judgment" and it took the master from 1525 to 1541 to finish it. So be sure you look for that artwork as well. It will jump out at you when your eyes come down from the ceiling as it fills an entire wall behind the alter of the chapel.
The Last Judgment had many challenging and fascinating concepts presented in artistic form, including a self portrait depiction of St. Bartholomew having his skin flayed. During his lifetime, Michelangelo endured much criticism for his work, particularly for his use of nudes in his paintings. While his stature allowed Michelangelo to win against his adversaries, sadly after his passing, many of his paintings were marred by censors who went back and blotted out the genitals of those nudes.
Even tourists for whom great art is not a passion will come away awe struck by the Sistine Chapel ceiling. And when you go home from your time in Rome, you will know that your trip was complete because you took the time to see this great masterpiece in the only place it will ever be shown, on the ceiling of this ancient chapel.
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