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ROME
Museums
Sistine Chapel (Vatican)
 Famous throughout the world, above all for the frescoes of Michaelangelo, the Sistine Chapel was constructed between 1475 and 1480 by Baccio Pontelli, under the order of Sistus IV. It is on a rectangular plan with barreled vault and small side vaults.
It has a pavement of polychromic inlay. The presbytery is divided by a barrier and opens out to 12 windows.
The internal decoration was assigned to many artists: Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli, assisted by Pinturicchio, Piero di Cosimo, Bartolomeo della Gatta and Signorelli. The work began in 1481 and lasted two years. In 1508 Julius II commissioned Michaelangelo to decorate the vault, which originally represented a starry heaven.
After four years of intense work, this incredible work was finished. The vault is decorated by nine rectangular panels that show Genesis, the Expulsion from Paradise, and Noah.
Twenty-five years later, in 1533, Michaelangelo began working on The Last Judgment, which he was asked to do by Clement VII. In less than one and a half years the masterpiece of 200 meters square, with 391 figures, was finished.
The nudes, by order of Pius IV, were covered with draperies painted by Daniele da Volterra, who for this reason was called "Braghettone" ("bracche" are men's baggy undershorts).
This ridiculous intervention changed the message that Michaelangelo had wanted to give in his work. Fortunately with the latest restoration, recently finished, the draperies have been removed and the colors and figures have returned to their original splendor and force.
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