Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes The conservation-restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant conservation-restorations of the 20th century. The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV within the Vatican immediately to the north of St. Peter's Basilica and completed in about 1481. Its walls were decorated by a number of Renaissance painters who were among the most highly regarded artists of late 15th century Italy, including Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Botticelli. The Chapel was further enhanced under Pope Julius II by the painting of the ceiling by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512
Illusionistic ceiling painting Sant'Ignazio, Rome. Illusionistic ceiling painting belongs to the general class of illusionism in art—art designed to create accurate representations of reality. Di sotto in sù (or "sotto in su"), which means "seen from below" or "from below, upward" in Italian, developed in late Quattrocento Italian Renaissance painting, notably in Andrea Mantegna's Camera degli Sposi in Mantua and in frescoes by Melozzo da Forlì. Italian terminology for this technique reflects the latter artist's influence and is called "prospettiva melozziana", or "Melozzo's perspective". Another notable use is by Antonio da Correggio in the Duomo of Parma, which foreshadows Baroque grandeur. The technique