michelangelo painted the ceiling in the sistine chapel.
michelangelo painted the ceiling in the sistine chapel.
who painted the ceiling in the sistine chapel?
michelangelo
bullet::::- shearman, john (1986b) "the fresco decoration of sixtus iv" in "the sistine chapel", ed. massimo giacometti.









































bullet::::- vasari, giorgio (1568). "lives of the artists, 'michelangelo"'. trans. george bull, 1965, penguin classics.









































bullet::::- vecchi, pierluigi de, ed. (1994). "the sistine chapel: a glorious restoration", abrams.









































section::::external links.









































bullet::::- vatican museum









































bullet::::- 3-d interior view









































bullet::::- visual/interactive tour of the sistine chapel ceiling and upper walls, with identifications and detail images









































bullet::::- zoomable panoramic view of the sistine chapel ceiling (html5)









































bullet::::- michelangelo's ceiling of the sistine chapel, smarthistory video (22:03)
sistine chapel ceiling
in the same year (1506), pope julius conceived a program to paint the ceiling of the sistine chapel. the walls of the chapel had been decorated twenty years earlier. the lowest of three levels is painted to resemble draped hangings and was (and sometimes still is) hung on special occasions with a set of tapestries designed by raphael. the middle level contains a complex scheme of frescoes illustrating the "life of christ" on the right side and the "life of moses" on the left side. it was carried out by some of the most renowned renaissance painters: botticelli, ghirlandaio, perugino, pinturicchio, signorelli and cosimo rosselli. the upper level of the walls contains the windows, between which are painted pairs of illusionistic niches with representations of the first 32 popes. a draft by pier matteo d'amelia indicates that the ceiling was painted blue like that of the arena chapel and decorated with gold stars, possibly representing the zodiacal constellations. it is probable that, because the chapel was the site of regular meetings and masses of an elite body of officials known as the papal chapel (who would observe the decorations and interpret their theological and temporal significance), it was pope julius' intention and expectation that the iconography of the ceiling was to be read with many layers of meaning.
sistine chapel ceiling