Monday, June 16, 2008

Sistine Chapel

One of the things that I have yet to see in the past five weeks that I have been in Rome is the large frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel. It is the main chapel of the Vatican that contains paintings by Perugino, Botticelli, Signorelli, and of course Michelangelo. The artwork which covers the sides of the walls was finished between 1534 and 1541.

Mostly everyone who travels to Rome comes to see The Last Judgment, completed by Michelangelo in 1541. The fresco that took seven years to complete presents souls of the dead rising to heaven to face the wrath of God. Pope Paul III Farnese commissioned the painting as a warning to those practicing the Catholic Religion to remain faithful during the times of the reformation.

Although most of the crowd’s attention is captured by The Last Judgment, there are other fresco cycles that begin at the end of the chapel near the altar. Each fresco contains scenes which correspond to the central masterpiece of Michelangelo’s. These wall frescoes include the Punishment of the Rebels and the Temptation of Christ by Botticelli. Also covering the sides of the Sistine Chapel is Perugino’s Handing over the Keys to St. Peter, and the Crossing of the Red Sea by Rosselli.


Eyewitness Guide, pg. 244

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