Who Painted the Sistine Chapel Ceiling?

When did Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling?

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had an older chapel on the site restored between 1477 and 1480.^[1] In its 15th-century decoration, the ceiling was a starry sky painted by Pier Matteo d'Amelia.^[1] In 1508 Sixtus's nephew, Pope Julius II, gave the job of repainting it to Michelangelo Buonarroti.^[1] The Vatican Museums say the pope was probably moved by structural trouble: a long crack had opened in the ceiling in May 1504, and the old painting was damaged.^[2]

Michelangelo, then 33, was working on a marble tomb for Julius and, according to History.com, saw himself as a sculptor rather than a painter.^[6] The Vatican Museums date his contract to 8 May 1508, while a catalogue entry at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gives 10 May 1508.^[2][5] The contract called for twelve apostles and decorative patterns, but Michelangelo thought this a "poor thing", so the pope let him plan the whole scheme himself, probably with help from theologians at the papal court.^[2]

He finished the first half, from the entrance wall to the Creation of Eve, in August 1510.^[2] The ceiling was finished by 31 October 1512, and Julius II celebrated Mass in the chapel on 1 November.^[1][2]

What does the ceiling show?

Down the centre run nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, in three groups of three about the origin of the universe, of humankind and of evil.^[3] They begin with God separating light from darkness, continue through the creation of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and end with the story of Noah.^[3] The most famous, the Creation of Adam, shows God reaching toward Adam, his outstretched index finger almost touching Adam's.^[6]

The scenes sit inside painted architecture, flanked by nude figures holding medallions.^[2] At the base of this architecture, seven prophets and five sibyls sit on monumental thrones.^[1][2] The prophets foretold Christ to the people of Israel; the sibyls came from the pagan world and appear because of their prophetic gifts.^[4] Lower down, the ancestors of Christ fill the spandrels and the half-dome lunettes above the windows, while the four corner pendentives show the miraculous salvation of Israel.^[1][2][8]

How was the ceiling painted?

Michelangelo worked in fresco, painting onto wet plaster before it set, which the Met calls possibly the hardest painting technique.^[5] The Libyan Sibyl, about three times life-size, took 20 days of work in 20 giornate, or patches of fine surface plaster; her design was transferred from a full-size drawing by pricking and pouncing its outlines, a method called spolvero.^[5]

The Met says the first scene he painted, in 1508, was the Flood, which grew mould because its surface plaster was too watery.^[5] Michelangelo later told his biographer Giorgio Vasari: "Fresco painting is not an art for old men."^[5]

Did Michelangelo paint lying on his back?

History.com calls the popular image of Michelangelo lying on his back a misconception: he and his assistants stood on wooden platforms that he designed himself, fixed to the walls with brackets.^[6] It suggests the image may come from the 1965 film The Agony and the Ecstasy, starring Charlton Heston.^[6] The Met says he painted the vault in two campaigns, each marked by putting up the scaffolding, working from the entrance end toward the altar.^[5]

In a 1509 poem to his friend Giovanni da Pistoia, which History.com calls somewhat tongue-in-cheek, Michelangelo complained about the strain: he had grown a goiter, his face had become "a fine floor for droppings" and his spine was knotted.^[6] He ended: "I am not in the right place—I am not a painter."^[6]

What else did Michelangelo paint in the chapel?

The 15th-century wall paintings are older than Michelangelo's ceiling: in 1481 and 1482 a team made up initially of Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, with their workshops and assistants such as Luca Signorelli, painted the Stories of Moses and of Christ and portraits of popes.^[1]

Toward the end of 1533 Pope Clement VII asked Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgement on the altar wall.^[1] He began in 1536, under Pope Paul III, and finished in the autumn of 1541.^[1] It is centred on Christ just before he gives his verdict, with the risen ascending on the left and the damned falling on the right; the skin held by St Bartholomew is usually read as a self-portrait of Michelangelo.^[7] Its many nude figures drew years of objections, and in 1564 the Congregation of the Council of Trent decided to have some figures covered, a task given to the painter Daniele da Volterra.^[7]

How was the ceiling restored in the 1980s and 1990s?

The restoration's director, Fabrizio Mancinelli, told The Christian Science Monitor in 1986 that candle smoke and dust had soiled the frescoes quickly, but that the worst damage came from a glue made of animal fat, possibly applied as early as the 16th century to brighten the colours, which yellowed and trapped the grime.^[8]

The Vatican Museums say the chapel's frescoes were completely restored between 1979 and 1999, while History.com gives 1980 to 1999.^[1][6] The Monitor reported that the cleaning of Michelangelo's work began with the lunettes and that specialists had been on the ceiling since 1984; a Met catalogue entry dates the cleaning of his Sistine frescoes to 1984–1990.^[8][5] The restoration of the Last Judgement was completed in 1994.^[1] Japan's Nippon Television Network funded the work in exchange for exclusive rights to photographs and footage until 1995.^[8]

The cleaning uncovered bright greens, reds and violets.^[8] A small group of Italian critics, including the art historian Alessandro Conti of the University of Bologna, argued that it was also removing glazes Michelangelo had applied; the debate turned on whether he had retouched the frescoes after the plaster set.^[8] Mancinelli replied that only the glue was being dissolved and that the historical sources did not say Michelangelo had retouched his frescoes.^[8]