The Sistine Chapel is a world famous monument of painting and architecture located in Rome (in the Vatican). This magnificent religious building of Catholic Christianity was built in the second half of the 15th century by order of Roman Pope Sixtus IV by the famous Italian architect D. de Dolchi. Today, the Sistine Chapel is both a museum and an operating temple - it is here that the cardinals of the Catholic Church elect the pope.
The decoration of the Sistine Chapel
The chapel is made in the classical style characteristic of the art of Renaissance Italy. It is a small rectangle in area, covered by a high arch. There are 12 windows along the perimeter of the rectangle, on the right side there are choirs for singers. The mosaic floor is crossed by a marble partition. Interestingly, according to the plan of Pope Sixtus IV, the proportions of the chapel accurately reproduce the proportions of the first great temple of King Solomon in the city of Jerusalem. The chapel symbolizes the inviolability of the Catholic faith and is a kind of stronghold of faith.
The Sistine Chapel is famous for its unique frescoes. The greatest
Renaissance artists worked on their creation
. Among them were S. Botticelli, C. Rosselli, Perugino, D. Ghirlandaio, B. della Gatta, Piero di Cosimo, Pinturicchio, Biagio d'Antonio, L. Signorelli and many others. The number of artistic images housed in a relatively small space amazes the viewer. Here we can see scenes from the earthly
life of Jesus Christ - this is “Baptism” (Pinturicchio, Perugino), “The Temptation of Christ” (Botticelli), “The Calling of Peter and Andrew to the Apostolate” (Ghirlandaio), “Sermon on the Mount” (C. Rosselli) , “Passing the keys to Saint Peter” (Perugino), “Supper” (Rosselli). The frescoes depicting episodes from the life path of the
prophet Moses and portraits of thirty popes also come to an attentive look.
The Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo and his frescoes
But truly a pearl are the frescoes of Michelangelo Buonarotti. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by the world famous artist, today is rightfully considered a masterpiece of pictorial art. He worked on his paintings by Michelangelo for a long time, for five years (1508-1512). The frescoes written by him are dedicated to the initial chapters of Genesis: the creation of the first man from the dust of the earth - Adam, a beautiful young man with a perfect soul and body. Along the perimeter of the upper part of the chapel, Michelangelo arranged the figures of the greatest prophets of antiquity who predicted the coming of the Savior into the world. A quarter century later (in 1536) Michelangelo returned to his work in the chapel. His brush belongs to a fresco called the Last Judgment. The scale of it amazes the imagination of observers - the majestic figure of Jesus Christ, sinners and righteous people were portrayed so naturally that they caused delight among the artist's contemporaries. The same thing is experienced by today's viewers before this masterpiece.
The Sistine Chapel was and remains the greatest monument of art of all time.