Sistine Chapel

Monday, June 16, 2025

In my estimation the Sistine Chapel should have a subtitle, “The Michelangelo Museum of Art.” When you first walk in, it is overwhelming to see all the frescoes on the walls. There isn’t one inch, I don’t think, without a major painting. 

Unfortunately we shared the room with about 500 other people and our time was limited. So it was hard to take it all in. 

First, the room is smaller than I expected. 

Second, we were not allowed to take any pictures (Patrick).

Third, it was visual overload. When I list all the paintings just on the ceiling of the room, you’ll get the idea. 

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So here’s a story about the wall behind the altar. The Pope commissioned Michelangelo to paint the wall and to make it his own. So he did. He portrayed the Final Judgement with some people going into heaven and others passing the gatekeeper into hell. 

When the work was nearing completion, this one dude came with the Pope to check on things and he made it known right away that he was not a fan. The artist, who loved to paint the muscles and shapes of the human body, had left clothing off of just about everybody. This dude insisted that Michelangelo rectify the situation. 

Later during the “grand opening,” the dude was shocked to find that not only had the artist not clothed anybody, he had replaced the face of hell’s gatekeeper with his (the dude’s) own. 

That didn’t go over well and he insisted that the Pope do something about it. I think the Pope was somewhat amused by the prank and he told the offended dude that hell was not in his jurisdiction so he basically had to get over it. 

I loved hearing back-stories like this. 

On to the other works of art. 

In the room, other artists besides Michelangelo have some of their works. Leonardo di Vinci has one fresco that he did in 1480. Raphael has four frescoes dating back to 1514-1520. And a handful of other artists each have one piece. 

Michelangelo painted the Final Judgement on the wall behind the altar. Then he painted the arched ceiling. Contrary to popular belief, he did not paint while lying down on scaffolding. There is a journal where he sketched himself standing with his head back. In the margin is a poem about the discomfort experienced while standing for such a long time each day with his neck craned back and his body aching. 

I’ve tried to count all the frescoes on the ceiling. I’ve come up with 58 different ones. 

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This is a busy graphic. Down the center of the ceiling from right (above the altar) to left are 9 works:

• 3 show the world’s creation 
• 3 show the creation and fall of Adam and Eve
• 3 show Noah and the great flood 

Bordering the rectangle are:

• 7 prophets
• 5 sibyls (female seers)

At the corners are 4 depictions of God defeating various villains. 

Above the arched windows are ancestors of Jesus — 33 of them. 

Michelangelo completed these works between 1509 and 1512. 

LORD, It is hard to imagine how difficult it would have been for one man to accomplish these major works of art so long ago. Thank you for the opportunity to see them first hand. Thank you for the work of art you created in each of us. We are uniquely yours.