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Sistine Chapel
Jesus in the Last Judgment in Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, Vatican City - Rome
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
Viale Vaticano - 00165
00120 Città del Vaticano - Roma (Italy)
Tel. +39 06.69884947 - Fax +39 06.69885061
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Opening time:
From April 1 to October 31: 8.45-16.45
From November 1 to March 31: 8.45-13.45
Closed all Sundays and holidays,
except for the last Sunday of the month
when the Musei are open with free admission.
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Architecture and Decoration
Sistine Chapel (In italian: Cappella Sistina) is the best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Its fame rests on its architecture, evocative of Solomon's Temple of the Old Testament and on its decoration which has been frescoed throughout by the greatest Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Sandro Botticelli.
Michelangelo's masterpiece
Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. He resented the commission, and believed his work only served the Pope's need for grandeur. However, today the ceiling, and especially The Last Judgement, are widely believed to be Michelangelo's crowning achievements in painting.
Former paintings
The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the old Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480. During this period a team of painters that included Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio created a series of frescoed panels depicting the life of Moses and the life of Christ, offset by papal portraits above and trompe l’oeil drapery below. These paintings were completed in 1482, and on August 15, 1483,[1] Sixtus IV consecrated the first mass in honor of Our Lady of the Assumption.
Sistine Chapel today
Since the time of Sixtus IV, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the ceremony by which a new Pope is selected. You can visit Sistine Chapel nearly at the end of the guided walk in Vatican Museums. Because of the impact of humidity, temperature and human breathing emissions on paintings and frescoes, people can stay in the Chapel only for a limited period, and in small groups.
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