Sistine Chapel Wonders: How to take in and enjoy what you see

The Sistine Chapel is filled with amazing art and a wealth of history. It houses works from some of the most famous artists of the Renaissance. What’s more, the chapel continues to make history each time a new pope is elected by the College of Cardinals. However, there is so much to see that it can easily overwhelm you. 

Here you’ll learn how to make sense out of what you see. We’ll go step-by-step through each part of the Sistine Chapel so you’ll appreciate how everything fits together. This will help you make the most of your time when you visit this amazing place.

Brief History of the Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel tells Christianity’s remarkable and inspiring story of the world’s creation through to its end. However, the chapel is much older than its fresco paintings. As you walk in you’re standing in a structure that is nearly 2,000 years old.

The ancient Cappella Magna (Great Chapel) built in the 12^th century was used as the footprint for the Sistine Chapel. Today, the space up to the windowsills is construction material from this older building.

In the 15th century, Pope Nicholas V decided to renovate the Cappella Magna into a space better suited to papal ceremonial and worship needs. The project’s source of inspiration was the famed Temple of Solomon mentioned in the Old Testament. So, the Sistine Chapel dimensions mirror those found in the Bible.

Several popes after Pope Nicholas V continued this vision finally making it a reality. Work started with the floors and transenna (screen), then the walls, the ceiling, and finally the altar.

Sistine Chapel Virtual Tour

Open the Vatican’s excellent virtual Sistine Chapel tour (opens in another window) and tab back and forth to see what we cover as you read. Don’t worry that seeing it takes away from visiting in person. In fact, the opposite is true. Instead, it will improve your visit because you’ll know what you see.

Let’s start with a few navigation details for the virtual tour. The tour’s transparent arrow moves you around the chapel as if you are walking. Using the arrow and zoom bar moves the view around you as if you were standing in place.

The virtual tour opens at the chapel’s entrance. But when you visit, most likely you’ll enter through the door on the right side of the altar (looking from the virtual tour’s entrance).

Since the ceiling is what you hear about the most, we’ll start there and work our way down. 

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

In 1508 Pope Julius II summoned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The 33-year-old came to Rome reluctantly. He had a lot of other projects he was working on at the time. Also, he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter (which makes what he created even more remarkable).

In the space of four years, Michelangelo transformed the ceiling into something sublime. The frescoes he painted during this time transcend mere beauty. They are unquestionably some of the most awe-inspiring works of art on the planet.

As a starting point, Michelangelo used the ceiling’s architectural features as the framework for his paintings. The ceiling is a flattened barrel vault, which is basically a long running, shallow arch that expands the space. Then, around the perimeter are:

• spandrels (triangles above the windows),
• pendentives (triangular, fan shapes in the four corners), and
• lunettes (crescent shapes above the windows).

The map below is a great guide that identifies every section, its location, and how each relates to the whole. I recommend you take it with you and use it while you are in the chapel. 

Center Section

When you look up in the virtual tour, look for the rectangular faux marble frame running lengthwise along the center of the ceiling. Within this frame you’ll see nine paintings in separate panels. These illustrate stories from Genesis, starting with creation (altar end) through Noah.

As you see above, two different sizes of paintings alternate along this central section. In the sections with the smaller panels, Michelangelo included medallions and Ignudi (Italian for nudes) posed on stone plinths. Each of the medallions contains a scene from the Old Testament.

Painting the ceiling was a mammoth task. So, Michelangelo had a group of assistants working with him under his strict supervision. He and his assistants started painting at the entrance end with Noah’s stories. However, halfway through he became unhappy with the quality.

So, at the panel of the Temptation of Adam and Eve, he started doing all the painting himself. As a result, when you look toward the altar the paintings become more dynamic, with more emphasis on the figures and little background detail.

Sibyls and Prophets

Surrounding this central panel are the figures of five Sibyls and seven prophets. Their prominent appearance indicates their importance because all foretold the birth of the Son of God. Each has a panel underneath that is inscribed with their name. But, not all names are the same as how they are known today. To help you identify them, the original name plates are translated to their present versions below.

There is so much to take in that I usually try to focus on a few figures that catch my eye and interest. If you do this, you notice more details such as:

• The interaction between Isaiah and the child;
• Behind the Eritrean Sibyl a child is lighting an oil lamp by blowing over a fire brand;
• The fish with Jonah; and
• The dynamic pose of the Libyan Sibyl as she tries to lift the book.

Pendentives and Lunettes

The pendentives in the four corners each tell a story about God’s deliverance of the Jewish people. The stories are Judith and Holofernes, David and Goliath, Punishment of Haman, and the Brazen Serpent. In the Judith and Holofernes pendentive, the face of Nebuchadnezzar’s general, Holofernes, is thought to be that of Michelangelo.

In contrast, the lunette arches around the windows and the triangular spandrels above are a transition from the Old Testament to the New Testament and show Jesus’ ancestors.

Finally, if your neck gets tired of looking up, think about what Michelangelo went through daily. For four years, he painted standing on scaffolding with his arm raised, head back, and paint dripping down onto his face.

Sistine Chapel Side and Entrance Walls

There are three distinct, horizontal levels on the side and entrance walls of the chapel. We’ll cover each in turn starting at floor level.

Floor Level

At floor level you see false curtains with elaborate faux pilasters between. These yellow and blue curtains are the heraldic colors of the della Rovere family of Pope Sixtus IV who was pope during this part of the renovation.

Later, the curtains became a backdrop for magnificent tapestries donated by Pope Leo X (de’ Medici).  Designed by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) and woven in Brussels, these tapestries now hang in the Pinocoteca at the Vatican.

However, on the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death in 1520, the tapestries were hung once again in their original location for one week to honor him. See them as they appeared again during their brief time in the chapel after 500 years.

Middle Level

Paintings on the second level were completed between fall of 1481 and the summer of 1483. This was an amazingly short period of time for the scope of work involved. 

Pope Sixtus IV commissioned a group of prominent artists to paint events in the lives of Christ and Moses. The artists followed strict guidelines. So, all paintings were consistent in appearance and color. Nevertheless, each painting is a masterpiece in its own right.

Stories of Moses from the Old Testament are on the left wall and the New Testament stories of Jesus are on the right. To emphasize the relationship between Moses and Jesus, each painting is positioned across from its counterpart on the opposite wall. So, you see the similar story for each in progression beginning at the altar end of the chapel.

Each story intentionally demonstrates the relationship of Moses – leader and lawgiver of the Old Testament, with Jesus – establishing a new order and Church in the New Testament. For example, Moses handing over the tablets of the law is across from Jesus delivering the Sermon on the Mount. The table below lists each painting’s theme and artist next to its complement on the wall across from it.

Painting Details

When you’re there, try to focus on a few paintings to notice the details. In particular, see if you can find the three temptations in Botticelli’s Temptations of Christ. Hint: you’ll need to look beyond the central scene to locate them.

From a papal perspective, the most important painting of the series was Perugino’s Handing Over of the Keys. Significantly, Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom to Peter as other apostles look on. Perugino painted the scene as a pictorial representation of Matthew 16:18-19:

“…And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

For Catholics, the verses are the foundation of the divine origins of papal authority. Thus, the panel affirms the institution of the papacy.

First, notice that the setting is a Renaissance piazza (square) reflecting the time period in which it was painted. Perugino uses perspective to draw you toward the center. As a result, you focus on Jesus and Peter along with the elaborate domed temple in the background. Additionally, two triumphal arches linking back to ancient Rome flank the temple.

If you turn toward the entrance wall, you see that the paintings on this wall  – Dispute Over the Body of Moses and Resurrection of Christ – look different from the others. In 1522, the originals were lost due to structural subsistence (i.e. settling). Afterward, both were reproduced near the end of the 16th century by da Lecce and van den Broeck.

Finally, at the top level, the figures of 28 popes look out from false alcoves that frame the windows.

Sistine Chapel Altar Wall

In 1533, Pope Clement VII (de’ Medici) summoned Michelangelo to Rome to complete another Sistine Chapel project. This time it was to paint a resurrection scene of the Last Judgement on the altar wall.

Once again, Michelangelo came to Rome with reluctance. He was almost sixty and was concerned about completing his other works that were in process.

Unexpectedly, Pope Clement VII died two days after Michelangelo arrived in 1534. This temporarily stopped the project. However, in 1536 Michelangelo began work under the new pope, Paul III (Farnese).

Before beginning the ambitious project, two windows were filled in and the existing paintings from all three levels on the wall were removed.

As you look at the Last Judgement today, thank Pope John Paul II. During his papacy, an extensive restoration removed centuries of smoke and grime. As a result, today the fresco appears in brilliant color as it did in Michelangelo’s time. 

Altar Wall Layout

Michelangelo set the composition of  200+ figures against a vivid blue background. For inspiration, he used Dante’s Divine Comedy with its depictions of heaven, purgatory, and hell.

As a result, you see this in the arrangement of the figures within the painting. Each group mirrors a level of salvation or damnation.

Top Section

At the very top are angels (no wings) with the cross, crown of thorns, and whipping post. These are symbols of the Passion of Christ and redemption of humanity.

Middle Section

Most important, below this in the central position is Jesus Christ as judge with Our Lady of the Assumption at his side. Saints, martyrs, and the blessed surround them.

If Jesus’ face and torso look familiar, you’ve probably walked through the Vatican’s Octagonal Courtyard. The courtyard contains the Apollo Belvedere (2nd century A.D.) and the Roman River God statues. Michelangelo used Apollo’s face and the river god’s torso as models for this epic work.

Looking closely, you can see John the Baptist with his fur cloak on the left side. On the right, St. Bartholomew holds a knife and his skin taken from being flayed alive. In particular, the head on the skinned figure is thought to be a self-portrait of Michelangelo.

Lower Section

Below Christ is a group of angels with trumpets blaring. One angel holds the book listing names of the saved while another angel holds a larger book that contains the names of the damned.

To their left are angels helping the fortunate elect ascend to heaven. Opposite, on the right the damned are being pulled down by demons. Below the angels, Charon is ferrying the damned across the river and into hell.

When the finished painting was unveiled to Pope Paul III on October 31, 1541, it became an instant sensation. But times were changing and the Reformation was at hand. So, the nudity in the work was criticized on a moral basis.

Consequently, shortly before Michelangelo’s death in 1564 the Council of Trent decided that all parts deemed “obscene” were to be covered. As a result, most of the “key” areas on the 200+ figures in the composition were concealed and remain so to this day.

Sistine Chapel Floors

Most of the time, people visiting the chapel are looking up. But don’t neglect noticing the floor. The elaborate marble inlays form swirling patterns that have a life of their own.  These are done in the Cosmati style, named after the artisan family that created it.

The designs are practical as well as beautiful. In particular, the shapes and patterns guide participants and create structure during the ceremonies taking place in the chapel.

For example, notice that the circle closest to the entrance contains a round disc of purple stone. This is a rare marble called Porphyry that was used exclusively by Rome’s imperial family.

In ancient Rome, its placement let visitors know where to kneel before the emperor. Afterward, the church carried this practice forward, using it to show worshippers where to stop and genuflect.

Sistine Chapel Transenna (screen)

Finally, the last feature covered here is the transenna, a screen that separates the space. During ceremonies, the pope and other religious were on the altar side while the lay congregation remained on the entrance side.

At the bottom of the transenna, notice the papal coat of arms for Sixtus IV carved in marble. This together with the chapel name (Sistine) stand as a legacy to his commissioning this monumental work.

Today there are eight candelabra atop the transenna. But originally there were only seven to symbolize the seven days of creation.

Recommendations

The chapel is often filled with people. Out of respect, visitors are asked to stay quiet. But it can still get loud. 

So, when you go, I recommend this great way to see the Vatican without the crowds. If you visit at the right time, you’ll be able to sit down and unhurriedly absorb everything around you in peace.

Also, if you bring an oculus or small binoculars, it will help you see the details far above.

To learn more about the Sistine Chapel, I suggest buying a guidebook at the Vatican gift shop while you’re there. There are several different options. But, the one I like best is the Guide to the Masterpieces of the Sistine Chapel with presentation by Antonio Paolucci.

Additionally, another great way to learn more is with this puzzle of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. As you piece the image together you definitely gain a better sense of each part in the whole.

I hope this overview gives you a better understanding of what you see during your visit and deepens your appreciation of this wondrous space. Be sure to comment below with any thoughts and suggestions to help others enjoy their visit!

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