Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel
by MICHELANGELO

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1508 to repaint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel frescoed earlier by Piero Matteo d'Amelia with a star-spangled sky. The work was completed between 1508 and 1512. He painted the Last Judgement over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, being commissioned by Pope Paul III Farnese. This monumental fresco covers the entire end wall of the chapel which led the obliteration of the frescoes painted at the time of Sixtus IV: the first figures of the popes, the first two scenes of the life of Christ and life of Moses, the image of the Virgin of Assumption (by Perugino), together with the first two lunettes, representing the Ancestors of Christ frescoed earlier by Michelangelo himself. The two large windows set into the altar wall were closed up.

Preview Picture Data Info
Interior of the Sistine Chapel
1475-83, 1508-12, 1535-41
Frescoes
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Interior of the Sistine Chapel
1475-83, 1508-12, 1535-41
Frescoes
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Interior of the Sistine Chapel
1475-83, 1508-12
Frescoes
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Reconstruction of the interior
1480s
Frescoes
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Interior of the Sistine Chapel
1475-83, 1508-12
Frescoes
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


The ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


The ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


The ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


The ceiling (detail)
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


The ceiling (detail)
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


The ceiling (detail)
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Lunette and Popes
1475-83, 1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Detail of the wall decoration
1475-83, 1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Exterior of the Sistine Chapel
1475-83
Photo
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Exterior of the Sistine Chapel
1475-83
Drawing
Cappella Sistina, Vatican



Summary of works by Michelangelo
All genres
Sculptures | Paintings | Sistine Chapel | Drawings | Architecture
Sculptures
-1501 | 1502- | David | Julius II's Tomb | Medici Tomb | Pietās
Paintings
Easel paintings | Frescoes in Pauline Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Division of the ceiling | Genesis | Prophets | Sibyls | Ignudi
Spandrels | Lunettes | Triangles | Medallions
Last Judgment
Architecture
until 1530 | after 1530



© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.