Sistine Chapel the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo. The first mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on 15 August 1483, the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day, and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling. There is a permanent choir, the Sistine Chapel Choir, for whom much original music has
Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes out of the gloom above the lunette of Jesse. Arguimbau says: Richard Serrin, in an essay entitled "Lies and Misdemeanors: Gianluigi Colalucci's Sistine Chapel Revisited" says: Carlo Pietrangeli, former Director General of the Vatican Museums, writes of the restoration: "It is like opening a window in a dark room and seeing it flooded with light." His words resonate with those of Giorgio Vasari who, in the 16th century, said of the Sistine Chapel ceiling: Pietrangeli, in his foreword to "The Sistine Chapel", written after the restoration of the lunettes, but prior to the restoration of the ceiling, commends those who