Vatican Ceiling Painting

Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the sistine chapel in 1508 and he completed his work in 1512.

Vatican ceiling painting. The sistine chapel is one of the most famous painted interior spaces in the world and virtually all of this fame comes from the breathtaking painting of its ceiling from about 1508 1512. Together with michelangelo s sistine chapel ceiling frescoes they are the grand fresco sequences that mark the high renaissance in rome. It already contained distinguished wall paintings and michelangelo was asked to add works for the relatively unimportant ceiling.

Michelangelo completed the first half of the ceiling that is from the entrance wall to the creation of eve in august 1510. The decorated ceilings of the vatican museums maybe only thanks to such widespread collecting many of the masterpieces have not sunk into oblivion but were kept in vatican museums. The ceiling and western wall of the sistine chapel are adorned with some of the most astonishing paintings in the world created by the famous artist michelangelo buonarroti.

They are famous for their frescoes painted by raphael and his workshop. Volta della cappella sistina painted by michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 is a cornerstone work of high renaissance art the ceiling is that of the sistine chapel the large papal chapel built within the vatican between 1477 and 1480 by pope sixtus iv for whom the chapel is named it was painted at the commission of pope julius ii. The stanze as they are commonly called were originally intended as a suite of apartments for pope julius ii.

The chapel was built in 1479 under the direction of pope sixtus iv who gave it his name sistine derives from sixtus. The ceiling of the sistine chapel the sistine chapel had great symbolic meaning for the papacy as the chief consecrated space in the vatican used for great ceremonies such as electing and inaugurating new popes. Michelangelo gave the vatican its defining glory when in 1508 he started to fresco the vaulted ceiling of the papal chapel built by pope sixtus iv hence sistine.

However the catholic church not only gathered masterworks but also created them since it was able to employ the most famous talented and expensive artists. The work must have been completed by 31 october 1512 as the pope celebrated mass in the chapel on 1 november. The sistine chapel ceiling italian.

This beautiful painting is the culmination of raphael s artistic career and is displayed in the pinacoteca vaticana in vatican city. In 1508 ce the pope commissioned the celebrated florentine sculptor and painter michelangelo 1475 1564 ce to paint scenes on the ceiling of the vatican s sistine chapel.