Sistine Chapel ceiling Section reference. Michelangelo wrote a poem describing the arduous conditions under which he worked The overt subject matter of the ceiling is the doctrine of humanity's need for Salvation as offered by God through Jesus. It is a visual metaphor of Humankind's need for a covenant with God. The Old Covenant of the Children of Israel through Moses and the New Covenant through Christ had already been represented around the walls of the chapel. Some experts, including Benjamin Blech and Vatican art historian Enrico Bruschini, have also noted less overt subject matter, which they describe as being "concealed" and "forbidden."
The Crossing of the Red Sea (Sistine Chapel) Gozzoli's paintings in the Magi Chapel. The Crossing of the Red Sea (Sistine Chapel) The Crossing of the Red Sea is a fresco executed in 1481–1482 and located in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City. Of uncertain attribution, it has been assigned to one between Domenico Ghirlandaio, Biagio d'Antonio or Cosimo Rosselli. On 27 October 1480 several Florentine painters left for Rome, where they had been called as part of the reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici, the "de facto" ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel as early as the Spring