Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo, lunetta, Jacob – Joseph

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Perugino: Taufe Christi

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Botticelli: Begebenheiten aus dem Leben des Mose

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Ghirlandaio: The.Calling.of.the.First.Apostles

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Perugino, Consegna delle chiavi

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Botticcelli, Sandro – The Punishment of Korah and the Stoning of Moses and Aaron

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

V&A – Raphael, St Paul Preaching in Athens

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Signorelli: Testament und Tod Mose

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo, The Libyan Sibyl

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Rosselli: Die Bergpredigt

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Detail from The Last Judgement by Michelangelo

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Rosselli: Das letzte Abendmahl

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Hendrick van den Broeck Resurrection of Christ

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo – Fresco of the Last Judgement

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Creazione di Adamo

Michelangelo Buonarroti 

Sistine Chapel Cappella Sistina(Italian) Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel, from the altar end
Location on a map of Vatican City
Basic information
Location	Vatican City
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
District	Diocese of Rome
Country	Vatican City
Year consecrated	15 August 1483
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Papal oratory
Leadership	Francis
Website	mv.vatican.va
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Baccio Pontelli, Giovanni de Dolci[1]
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	1473[1]
Completed	1481[1]
Specifications
Length	40.9 metres (134 ft)
Width (nave)	13.4 metres (44 ft)
Height (max)	20.7 metres (68 ft)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Vatican City
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iv, vi
Designated	1984[2]
Reference no.	286
State Party	Holy See
Region	Europe and North America

The Sistine Chapel(/ˌsɪstiːn ˈtʃæpəl/; Latin: Sacellum Sixtinum; Italian: Cappella Sistina[kapˈpɛlla siˈstiːna]) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored it between 1477 and 1480. Since that time, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescos that decorate the interior, and most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment by Michelangelo.

During the reign of Sixtus IV, a team of Renaissance painters that included Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, created a series of frescos 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 15 August 1483 Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass in the Sistine Chapel for the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.^[3][4]

Between 1508 and 1512, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel’s ceiling, a project which changed the course of Western art and is regarded as one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilization.^[5][6] In a different climate after the Sack of Rome, he returned and between 1535 and 1541, painted The Last Judgment for Popes Clement VII and Paul III.^[7]The fame of Michelangelo’s paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago.

History

While known as the location of Papal conclaves, the primary function of the Sistine Chapel is as the chapel of the Papal Chapel(Cappella Pontificia), one of the two bodies of the Papal household, called until 1968 the Papal Court(Pontificalis Aula). At the time of Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, the Papal Chapelcomprised about 200 people, including clerics, officials of the Vatican and distinguished laity. There were 50 occasions during the year on which it was prescribed by the Papal Calendar that the whole Papal Chapel should meet.^[8] Of these 50 occasions, 35 were masses, of which 8 were held in Basilicas, in general St. Peter’s, and were attended by large congregations. These included the Christmas Day and Easter masses, at which the Pope himself was the celebrant. The other 27 masses could be held in a smaller, less public space, for which the Cappella Maggiore was used before it was rebuilt on the same site as the Sistine Chapel.

The Cappella Maggiore derived its name, the Greater Chapel, from the fact that there was another chapel also in use by the Pope and his retinue for daily worship. At the time of Pope Sixtus IV, this was the Chapel of Pope Nicholas V, which had been decorated by Fra Angelico. The Cappella Maggiore is recorded as existing in 1368. According to a communication from Andreas of Trebizond to Pope Sixtus IV, by the time of its demolition to make way for the present chapel, the Cappella Maggiore was in a ruinous state with its walls leaning.^[9]

The Sistine Chapel as it may have appeared in the 15th century (19th-century drawing)

The present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481.^[1] The proportions of the present chapel appear to closely follow those of the original. After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo.^[9]

The first mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on 15 August 1483, the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.^[10]

The Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day, and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling. There is a permanent choir, the Sistine Chapel Choir, for whom much original music has been written, the most famous piece being Gregorio Allegri‘s Miserere.^[11]

Papal conclave

Main article: Papal conclave

One of the functions of the Sistine Chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election, a new Pope has been elected. If a candidate receives less than a two-thirds vote, the cardinals send up black smoke — created by burning the ballots along with wet straw and chemical additives — it means that no successful election has yet occurred.^[12]

The conclave also provided for the cardinals a space in which they can hear mass, and in which they can eat, sleep, and pass time attended by servants. From 1455, conclaves have been held in the Vatican; until the Great Schism, they were held in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.^[13] Since 1996, John Paul II‘s Apostolic ConstitutionUniversi Dominici gregis requires the cardinals to be lodged in the Domus Sanctae Marthae during a papal conclave, but to continue to vote in the Sistine Chapel.^[14]

Canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves—a sign of equal dignity. After the new Pope accepts his election, he would give his new name; at this time, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies. Until reforms instituted by Saint Pius X, the canopies were of different colours to designate which Cardinals had been appointed by which Pope. Paul VI abolished the canopies altogether, since, under his papacy, the population of the College of Cardinals had increased so much to the point that they would need to be seated in rows of two against the walls, making the canopies obstruct the view of the cardinals in the back row.

Architecture

Structure

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Exterior of the Sistine Chapel

The chapel is a high rectangular building, for which absolute measurements are hard to ascertain, as available measurements are for the interior: 40.9 metres (134 ft) long by 13.4 metres (44 ft) wide, the dimensionsof the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament.^[15]

Its exterior is unadorned by architectural or decorative details, as is common in many Italian churches of the Medieval and Renaissanceeras. It has no exterior façade or exterior processional doorways, as the ingress has always been from internal rooms within the Apostolic Palace (Papal Palace), and the exterior can be seen only from nearby windows and light-wells in the palace. Subsidence and cracking of masonry such as must also have affected the Cappella Maggiore has necessitated the building of very large buttresses to brace the exterior walls. The accretion of other buildings has further altered the exterior appearance of the Chapel.

The building is divided into three stories of which the lowest is a very tall basement level with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court. Internally, the basement is robustly vaulted to support the chapel. Above is the main space, the Sistine Chapel, the vaulted ceiling rising to 20.7 metres (68 ft). The building had six tall arched windows down each side and two at either end, several of which have been blocked. Above the vault is a third story with wardrooms for guards. At this level, an open projecting gangway was constructed, which encircled the building supported on an arcade springing from the walls. The gangway has been roofed as it was a continual source of water leaking in to the vault of the Chapel.

A reconstruction of the appearance of the chapel in the 1480s, prior to the painting of the ceiling.

The general proportions of the chapel use the length as the unit of measurement. This has been divided by three to get the width and by two to get the height. Maintaining the ratio, there were six windows down each side and two at either end. Defined proportions were a feature of Renaissance architectureand reflected the growing interest in the Classical heritage of Rome.

The ceiling of the chapel is a flattened barrel vault springing from a course that encircles the walls at the level of the springing of the window arches. This barrel vault is cut transversely by smaller vaults over each window, which divide the barrel vault at its lowest level into a series of large pendentives rising from shallow pilasters between each window. The barrel vault was originally painted brilliant-blue and dotted with gold stars, to the design of Piermatteo Lauro de’ Manfredi da Amelia.^[9] The pavement is in opus alexandrinum, a decorative style using marble and coloured stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior and also marks the processional way from the main door, used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday.

A screen or transenna in marble by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno, and Giovanni Dalmata divides the chapel into two parts.^[16] Originally these made equal space for the members of the Papal Chapel within the sanctuary near the altar and the pilgrims and townsfolk without. However, with growth in the number of those attending the Pope, the screen was moved giving a reduced area for the faithful laity. The transenna is surmounted by a row of ornate candlesticks, once gilt, and has a wooden door, where once there was an ornate door of gilded wrought iron. The sculptors of the transenna also provided the cantoriaor projecting choir gallery.

Decoration

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Diagram of part of the vertical fresco decoration of the Sistine Chapel

The first stage in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel was the painting of the ceiling in blue, studded with gilt stars, and with decorative borders around the architectural details of the pendentives. This was entirely replaced when Michelangelo came to work on the ceiling in 1508.

Of the present scheme of frescos, the earliest part is that of the side walls. They are divided into three main tiers. The central tier of the walls has two cycles of paintings, which complement each other, The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ. They were commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Roselli and their workshops. They originally ran all round the walls, but have since been replaced on both end walls.

The project was perhaps supervised by Perugino, who arrived at the chapel prior to the Florentines. It is probable that the commission of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli and Roselli was part of a reconciliation project between Lorenzo de’ Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel in the Spring of 1481.

Beneath the cycles of The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ, the lower level of the walls is decorated with frescoed hangings in silver and gold. Above the narrative frescos, the upper tier is divided into two zones. At the lower level of the windows is a Gallery of Popespainted at the same time as the Lives. Around the arched tops of the windows are areas known as the lunettes which contain the Ancestors of Christ, painted by Michelangelo as part of the scheme for the ceiling.

The ceiling was commissioned by Pope Julius II and painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. The commission was originally to paint the twelve apostles on the triangular pendentives which support the vault; however, Michelangelo demanded a free hand in the pictorial content of the scheme. He painted a series of nine pictures showing God’s Creation of the World, God’s Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind’s Fall from God’s Grace. On the large pendentives he painted twelve Biblical and Classical men and women who prophesied that God would send Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, and around the upper parts of the windows, the Ancestors of Christ.

In 1515, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Leo X to design a series of ten tapestries to hang around the lower tier of the walls.^[17] The tapestries depict events from the Life of St. Peter and the Life of St. Paul, the founders of the Christian Church in Rome, as described in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Work began in mid-1515. Due to their large size, manufacture of the hangings was carried out in Brussels, and took four years under the hands of the weavers in the shop of Pieter van Aelst.^[18] Raphael’s tapestries were looted during the Sack of Rome in 1527 and were either burnt for their precious metal content or were scattered around Europe. In the late 20th century, a set was reassembled from several further sets that had been made after the first set, and displayed again in the Sistine Chapel in 1983. The tapestries continue in use at occasional ceremonies of particular importance. The full-size preparatory cartoonsfor seven of the ten tapestries are known as the Raphael Cartoons and are in London.^[19]

At this point, the decorative scheme displayed a consistent iconographical pattern. The tier of Popes, which, in the scheme intended by Pope Julius, would have appeared immediately below the Twelve Apostles, would have emphasised the apostolic succession. It has been argued that the present scheme shows the two Biblical Testaments merged in order to reveal the Old predicting and framing the New, synthesizing, the logic of the Christian Bible.^[20]

This was disrupted by a further commission to Michelangelo to decorate the wall above the altar with The Last Judgment, 1537–1541. The painting of this scene necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the Lives, the Nativity of Jesus and the Finding of Moses; several of the Popes and two sets of Ancestors.

Frescoes

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Trials of Moses by Botticelli

The southern wall is decorated with the Stories of Moses, painted in 1481–1482. Starting from the altar, they include:

• Moses Leaving to Egypt by Pietro Perugino and assistants
• The Trials of Moses by Sandro Botticelli and his workshop
• The Crossing of the Red Sea by Cosimo Rosselli, Domenico Ghirlandaio or Biagio di Antonio Tucci
• Descent from Mount Sinai by Cosimo Rosselli or Piero di Cosimo
• Punishment of the Rebels by Sandro Botticelli
• Testament and Death of Mosesby Luca Signorelli or Bartolomeo della Gatta

Northern wall

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

The Delivery of the Keys by Perugino

The northern wall houses the Stories of Jesus, dating to 1481–1482. They include:

• Baptism of Christ by Pietro Perugino and assistants
• Temptation of Christ by Sandro Botticelli
• Vocation of the Apostles by Domenico Ghirlandaio
• The Sermon on the Mount, attributed to Cosimo Rosselli
• The Delivery of the Keys by Pietro Perugino
• The Last Supper by Cosimo Rosselli

Eastern wall

• Resurrection of Christ

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

• 

  Resurrection of Christ

  by Hendrick van den Broeck (1572) over Domenico Ghirlandaio’s original

 

• Disputation over Moses’ Body by Matteo da Lecce (1574) over Luca Signorelli’s original

Michelangelo’s frescoes

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 to repaint the vault, or ceiling, of the Chapel. It was originally painted as golden stars on a blue sky. The work was completed between 1508 and 2 November 1512.^[21] He painted the Last Judgment over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, on commission from Pope Paul IIIFarnese.^[22]

Michelangelo was intimidated by the scale of the commission, and made it known from the outset of Julius II’s approach that he would prefer to decline. He felt he was more of a sculptor than a painter, and was suspicious that such a large-scale project was being offered to him by enemies as a set-up for an inevitable fall. For Michelangelo, the project was a distraction from the major marble sculpture that had preoccupied him for the previous few years.^[23]

The sources of Michelangelo’s inspiration are not easily determined; both Joachite and Augustinian theologians were within the sphere of Julius influence.^[24]

Ceiling

: Sistine Chapel ceiling

: Gallery of Sistine Chapel ceiling

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling

To be able to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo needed a support; the first idea was by Julius’ favoured architect Donato Bramante, who wanted to build for him a scaffold to be suspended in the air with ropes. However, Bramante did not successfully complete the task, and the structure he built was flawed. He had perforated the vault in order to lower strings to secure the scaffold. Michelangelo laughed when he saw the structure, and believed it would leave holes in the ceiling once the work was ended. He asked Bramante what was to happen when the painter reached the perforations, but the architect had no answer.

The matter was taken before the Pope, who ordered Michelangelo to build a scaffold of his own. Michelangelo created a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall, high up near the top of the windows. Contrary to popular belief, he did not lie on this scaffolding while he painted, but painted from a standing position.^[25]

Michelangelo used bright colours, easily visible from the floor. On the lowest part of the ceiling he painted the ancestors of Christ. Above this he alternated male and female prophets, with Jonah over the altar. On the highest section, Michelangelo painted nine stories from the Book of Genesis. He was originally commissioned to paint only 12 figures, the Apostles. He turned down the commission because he saw himself as a sculptor, not a painter. The Pope offered to allow Michelangelo to paint biblical scenes of his own choice as a compromise. After the work was finished, there were more than 300. His figures showed the creation, Adam and Evein the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood.

The painted area is about 40 m (131 ft) long by 13 m (43 ft) wide. This means that Michelangelo painted well over 5,000 square feet (460 m²) of frescoes.^[26]

Last Judgement

Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement.

 The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

The Last Judgement was painted by Michelangelo from 1535 to 1541, between two important historic events, the Sack of Rome by mercenary forces of the Holy Roman Empire in 1527 and the Council of Trent which commenced in 1545. The work was designed on a grand scale, and spans the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. The painting depicts the second coming of Christ on the Day of Judgment as described in the Revelation of John, Chapter 20. High on the wall is the heroic figure of Christ, with the saints clustered in groups around him. At the bottom left of the painting the dead are raised from their graves and ascend to be judged. To the right are those who are assigned to Hell and are dragged down by demons.

The Last Judgement was an object of a bitter dispute between Cardinal Carafa and Michelangelo. Because he depicted naked figures, the artist was accused of immorality and obscenity. A censorship campaign (known as the « Fig-Leaf Campaign ») was organized by Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua‘s ambassador) to remove the frescoes.

The Pope’s Master of Ceremonies Biagio da Cesena said « it was most disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully, and that it was no work for a papal chapel but rather for the public baths and taverns, »^[27] In response Michelangelo worked da Cesena’s semblance into the scene as Minos, judge of the underworld. It is said that when he complained to the Pope, the pontiff responded that his jurisdiction did not extend to hell, so the portrait would have to remain. Michelangelo also painted his own portrait, on the flayed skin held by St Bartholomew.

The genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname « Il Braghettone » (« the breeches-painter »).

Restoration and controversy

Main article: Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

The Sistine Chapel’s ceiling restoration began on 7 November 1984. The restoration complete, the chapel was re-opened to the public on 8 April 1994. The part of the restoration in the Sistine Chapel that has caused the most concern is the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo. The emergence of the brightly coloured Ancestors of Christ from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe and removed the original intent of the artist.

Daniel, before and after restoration.

The problem lies in the analysis and understanding of the techniques utilised by Michelangelo, and the technical response of the restorers to that understanding. A close examination of the frescoes of the lunettes convinced the restorers that Michelangelo worked exclusively in « buon fresco« ; that is, the artist worked only on freshly laid plaster and each section of work was completed while the plaster was still in its fresh state. In other words, Michelangelo did not work « a secco« ; he did not come back later and add details onto the dry plaster.

The restorers, by assuming that the artist took a universal approach to the painting, have taken a universal approach to the restoration. A decision was made that all of the shadowy layer of animal glue and « lamp black », all of the wax, and all of the overpainted areas were contamination of one sort or another: smoke deposits, earlier restoration attempts, and painted definition by later restorers in an attempt to enliven the appearance of the work. Based on this decision, according to Arguimbau’s critical reading of the restoration data that have been provided, the chemists of the restoration team decided upon a solvent that would effectively strip the ceiling down to its paint-impregnated plaster. After treatment, only that which was painted « buon fresco » would remain.^{[citation needed]}

Replicas

The only reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by Gary Bevans at a church in Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, England.^[28] A full-size architectural and photographic replica of the entire building was commissioned by the Mexican Government and funded by private donors.^[29] It was on view at Mexico City from June 1 to July 15, 2016; it may then be exhibited at other Mexican cities and possibly elsewhere in the world. It took 2.6 million high definition photographs to reproduce the totality of the frescoes and tapestries.^[30] A video of the history of the Chapel is shown to the visitors before entering the building; inside, a light-and-sound demonstration explains the content of each of the frescoes.

Quotes on Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

« Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving. »

— Johann Wolfgang Goethe, 23 August 1787, ^[31]

« This work has been and truly is a beacon of our art, and it has brought such benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting that it was sufficient to illuminate a world which for so many hundreds of years had remained in the state of darkness. And, to tell the truth, anyone who is a painter no longer needs to concern himself about seeing innovations and inventions, new ways of painting poses, clothing on figures, and various awe-inspiring details, for Michelangelo gave to this work all the perfection that can be given to such details. »

— Giorgio Vasari on Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

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• Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
• Miserere (Allegri)

References

Citations

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d Ekelund, Hébert & Tollison 2006, p. 313
2. Jump up^ Vatican City, Whc.unesco.org, retrieved 9 August 2011
3. Jump up^ Pietrangeli 1986, p. 28
4. Jump up^ Monfasani, John (1983), « A Description of the Sistine Chapel under Pope Sixtus IV », Artibus et Historiae, IRSA s.c., 4 (7): 9–18, doi:10.2307/1483178, ISSN 0391-9064, JSTOR 1483178.
5. Jump up^ Gardner, Helen (1970) Art through the Ages, p. 469, Harcourt, Brace and World. ISBN 978-0-15-508315-8
6. Jump up^ Robert Coughlan, The World of Michelangelo, Time-Life International, (1966) p. 116
7. Jump up^ Robert Coughlan, p. 127
8. Jump up^ Pietrangeli 1986, p. 24
9. ^ Jump up to:^a b c John Shearman, « The Chapel of Sixtus IV ». In Pietrangeli 1986
10. Jump up^ « The Sistine Chapel », Vatican Museums, retrieved 9 August 2013
11. Jump up^ Stevens, Abel & Floy, James. « Allegri’s Miserere ». The National Magazine, Carlton & Phillip, 1854. 531.
12. Jump up^ Saunders, Fr. William P. « The Path to the Papacy« . Arlington Catholic Herald, 17 March 2005. Retrieved on 2 June 2008.
13. Jump up^ Chambers, D. S. (1978), « Papal Conclaves and Prophetic Mystery in the Sistine Chapel », Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, The Warburg Institute, 41: 322–326, doi:10.2307/750878, JSTOR 750878.
14. Jump up^ « Interesting Conclave Facts ». ewtn.com.
15. Jump up^ Campbell, Ian (1981), « The New St Peter’s: Basilica or Temple? » (PDF), Oxford Art Journal, 4 (1): 3–8, doi:10.1093/oxartj/4.1.3, ISSN 0142-6540, archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2015.
16. Jump up^ Hersey 1993, p. 180
17. Jump up^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 150
18. Jump up^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 152
19. Jump up^ Cheney, Iris. Review of « Raphael’s Cartoons in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen and the Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel » by John Shearman ». The Art Bulletin, Volume 56, No. 4, December 1974. 607–609.
20. Jump up^ Oliveira, Paulo Martins « The Sistine Chapel and the two Testaments« , 2013, (online, academia.edu)
21. Jump up^ Graham-Dixon 2008, p. 2
22. Jump up^ Stollhans, Cynthia (1988), « Michelangelo’s Nude Saint Catherine of Alexandria », Woman’s Art Journal, Woman’s Art, Inc., 19 (1): 26–30, doi:10.2307/1358651, ISSN 0270-7993, JSTOR 1358651.
23. Jump up^ Graham-Dixon 2008, p. 1
24. Jump up^ Graham-Dixon 2008, p. xii
25. Jump up^ 7 Things You May Not Know About the Sistine Chapel
26. Jump up^ Michelangelo – The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, « Seven Common Questions About the Frescoes »
27. Jump up^ Vasari 1987, p. 379
28. Jump up^ Welcome to The Sistine Chapel Reproduction United Kingdom
29. Jump up^ Vatican Approves $2.4 Million Replica of Sistine Chapel in Mexico City
30. Jump up^ Full-size replica of Vatican’s Sistine Chapel opens in Mexico City
31. Jump up^ Letter. Original: (in German) Ich kann euch nicht ausdrücken, wie sehr ich euch zu mir gewünscht habe, damit ihr nur einen Begriff hättet, was ein einziger und ganzer Mensch machen und ausrichten kann; ohne die Sixtinische Kapelle gesehen zu haben, kann man sich keinen anschauenden Begriff machen, was ein Mensch vermag. Italian Journey, 2nd journey to Rome.^{Italienische Reise, Teil 21}

Bibliography

• Deimling, Barbara (2000), Sandro Botticelli 1444/45–1510, Köln: Taschen, ISBN 3-8228-5992-3
• Earls, Irene (1987), Renaissance Art: A Topical Dictionary, Westport: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-24658-0
• Ekelund, Robert B.; Hébert, Robert F.; Tollison, Robert D. (2006), The Marketplace of Christianity, Cambridge: MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-05082-X
• Graham-Dixon, Andrew (2008), Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-297-85365-1
• Hersey, George (1993), High Renaissance Art in St. Peter’s and the Vatican, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-32782-5
• Michelangelo (1999), Bull, George, ed., Michelangelo, Life, Letters, and Poetry, Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-283770-2
• Pietrangeli, Carlo, ed. (1986), The Sistine Chapel, New York: Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-56274-X
• Seymour, Charles (1972), Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling: illustrations, introductory essays, backgrounds and sources, critical essay, New York: W. W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-04319-3
• Stinger, Charles (1998), The Renaissance in Rome, Bloomington: Indianapolis, ISBN 0-253-21208-1
• Talvacchia, Bette (2007), Raphael, Oxford Oxfordshire: Phaidon Press, ISBN 978-0-7148-4786-3
• Vasari, Giorgio (1987), The Lives of the Artists, George Bull, New York: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-044500-5
• Wright, Lawrence (1983), Perspective in Perspective, London: Routledge & K. Paul, ISBN 0-7100-0791-4

Further reading

• Ettlinger, Leopold (1965), The Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo: Religious Imagery and Papal Primacy, Oxford: Clarendon Press, OCLC 230168041
• King, Ross (2003), Michelangelo & the Pope’s Ceiling, New York: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-200369-7
• Lewine, Carol (1993), The Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, ISBN 0-271-00792-3
• Hirst, Michael; Colalucci, Gianluigi; Mancinelli, Fabrizio; Shearman, John; Winner, Matthias; Maeder, Edward; De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Nazzareno, Gabrielli; et al. (1994), Pietrangeli, Carlo, ed., The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration, Takashi Okamura (photographer), New York: H.N. Abrams, ISBN 0-8109-3840-5
• Pfeiffer, Heinrich (2007), Die Sixtinische Kapelle neu entdeckt (in German), Stuttgart: Belser, ISBN 978-0-8109-3840-3
• Stone, Irving (2004), The Agony and the Ecstasy, London: Nal Trade, ISBN 0-451-21323-8. Previously publish by Doubleday in 1961; a novel.
• Blech, Benjamin; Doliner, Roy (2008), The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo’s Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican, New York: HarperOne, ISBN 978-0-06-146904-6
• The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1982. ISBN 0-87099-348-8.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel

http://www.giacobbegiusti.com

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Resurrection of Christ

by Hendrick van den Broeck

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

A reconstruction of the way the Sistine Chapel may have appeared from the exterior at the time of Michelangelo

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Trials of Moses by Botticelli

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Perugino: Wanderung Moses nach Ägypten

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Signorelli: Testament und Tod Mose

 

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

The Delivery of the Keys by Perugino

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Rosselli: Das letzte Abendmahl

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Michelangelo, volta della Cappella Sistina

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Michelangelo, lunetta, Jacob – Joseph

Lunetta di Giacobbe e Giuseppe (dettaglio)

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Michel-Ange — File:Lastjudgement.jpg

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Das Jüngste Gericht in der Sixtinischen Kapelle nach der Restaurierung

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Michel-Ange — File:Lastjudgement.jpg

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Michel-Ange — File:Lastjudgement.jpg

Le Jugement dernier (détail).
Le Christ et la Vierge.

Giacobbe Giusti, Sixtinische Kapelle

Ansicht der Sixtinischen Kapelle von der Kuppel des Petersdoms aus
Daten
Ort	Vatikanstadt
Baujahr	1475–1483
Höhe	21 m
Grundfläche	550 m²

Die Sixtinische Kapelle (italienischCappella Sistina) ist eine der Kapellen des Apostolischen Palastes. Sie ist der Ort, an dem das Konklaveabgehalten wird, und beherbergt einige der berühmtesten Gemäldeder Welt. Ihr Name bezieht sich auf Papst Sixtus IV., unter dem sie zwischen 1475 und 1483 erbaut wurde. Am 15. August 1483 wurde die Kapelle geweiht. Sie steht unter dem Patrozinium der Aufnahme Mariens in den Himmel.

Sie liegt unmittelbar nördlich des Petersdoms und ist mit diesem über die Scala Regia und Sala Regiaverbunden. Für Touristen ist allerdings nur der Eintritt über die Vatikanischen Museenmöglich.

Architektur

Die Pläne für die Sixtinische Kapelle stammen von Baccio Pontelli. Der Grundriss ist rechteckig. Der Bau ist 40,9 Meter lang, 13,4 Meter breit und 20,7 Meter hoch. Die Kapelle ist in der Proportion des Salomonischen Tempels errichtet, ihre Länge entspricht in etwa der doppelten Höhe und der dreifachen Breite. Die Decke ist ein flaches Stichkappengewölbe.

Fresken

Blick in den Kapellenraum

Wandgemälde

Die Wandgemälde zeigen jeweils nach Osten Szenen aus dem Leben Jesu und Mose und wurden von verschiedenen Malern der Renaissance geschaffen: Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli, Biagio d’Antonio und Luca Signorelli.

Nordwand: Geschichten aus dem Leben Jesu

Ursprünglich wurden Episoden aus dem Leben Jesu Christi in acht Bildern dargestellt. Der Zyklus begann mit der Geburt Christi, einem Werk von Perugino, das zugunsten des Jüngsten Gerichts von Michelangelo wieder entfernt werden musste. Die Motive aus dem Leben Jesu:

1. Taufe Christi (Perugino)
2. Versuchung Christi (Botticelli)
3. Berufung der ersten Apostel (Ghirlandaio)
4. Bergpredigt (Rosselli)
5. Schlüsselübergabe (Perugino)
6. Das Letzte Abendmahl (Rosselli)
7. Auferstehung Christi (ursprünglich von Ghirlandaio, 1522 zerstört, 60 Jahre später von Hendrick van den Broeckerneuert)

• 

  Perugino: Taufe Christi

• 

  Botticelli: Die Versuchung Christi

• 

  Ghirlandaio: Berufung der ersten Apostel

• 

  Perugino: Christus übergibt Petrus den Schlüssel zum Himmelreich

• 

  Rosselli: Die Bergpredigt

• 

  Rosselli: Das letzte Abendmahl

• 

  van den Broeck: Auferstehung Christi

Südwand: Leben des Mose

Auch die Geschichten aus dem Leben Mose füllten acht Bildfelder. Das Fresko mit der Auffindung des Mose von Perugino musste ebenfalls dem Jüngsten Gericht Michelangelos weichen. Die Motive aus dem Leben Mose (mit Parallelen zum Leben Jesu):

1. Wanderung des Mose nach Ägypten (Perugino)
2. Begebenheiten aus dem Leben des Mose (Botticelli)
3. Durchzug durch das Rote Meer (d’Antonio)
4. Übergabe der Gesetzestafeln (Rosselli)
5. Bestrafung von Korach, Datan und Abiram (Botticelli)
6. Testament und Tod des Mose (Signorelli)
7. Streit um den Leichnam von Mose (ursprünglich von Signorelli, 1522 zerstört, 60 Jahre später von Matteo Perez d’Aleccio erneuert)

• 

  Perugino: Wanderung Moses nach Ägypten

• 

  Botticelli: Begebenheiten aus dem Leben des Mose

• 

  Botticelli: Die Bestrafung von Korach, Datan und Abiram

• 

  Signorelli: Testament und Tod Mose

Deckengemälde

Besondere Berühmtheit erlangte die Kapelle durch ihre Ausschmückung mit Fresken. Die Deckenmalereien malte Michelangelo Buonarroti zwischen 1508 und 1512 im Auftrag von Papst Julius II. Sie wurden am 1. November 1512 enthüllt und zeigen Szenen aus der Genesis auf insgesamt 520 m² mit 115 überlebensgroßen Charakteren. Besonders der Ausschnitt Die Erschaffung Adams ist ein weltbekanntes und oft reproduziertes Werk. Es zeigt, wie Gottvater mit ausgestrecktem Finger Adam zum Leben erweckt.

vergrößern und Informationen zum Bild anzeigen

„Ohne die Sixtinische Kapelle gesehen zu haben, kann man sich keinen anschauenden Begriff machen, was ein Mensch vermag.“

– Johann Wolfgang Goethe^[1]

Zentrale Bildfelder

Deckenfresken, Übersicht

Der zentrale Grat besteht aus neun waagerechten Bildfeldern unterschiedlicher Größe, die die Szenen aus dem Alten Testamentdarstellen, wobei immer drei Felder zusammengehören: Schöpfung, Adam und Eva sowie Noah. Michelangelo malte diese Fresken in umgekehrter zeitlicher Reihenfolge, indem er mit der Trunkenheit Noahs begann. Ab der Erschaffung Evas wird die Darstellung monumentaler, auch die begleitenden Propheten und Sibyllen werden expressiver. Diese narrativen Felder sind umgeben von Motiven aus der Bibel und der antikenMythologie.

1. Die Scheidung von Licht und Finsternis: „Und Gott sprach, es werde Licht!“ (Genesis 1, 3–5)
2. Die Erschaffung der Sonne, des Mondes und der Pflanzen: „Und Gott machte zwei große Lichter: ein großes Licht, das den Tag regiere, und ein kleines Licht, das die Nacht regiere …“ (Genesis 1, 16–17)
3. Die Scheidung von Land und Wasser: „Und Gott sprach: Es werde eine Feste zwischen den Wassern, die da scheide zwischen den Wassern.“ (Genesis 1, 6–7)
   

   Die Erschaffung Adams

4. Die Erschaffung Adams: „Und Gott sprach: Lasset uns den Menschen machen …“ (Genesis 1, 26)
5. Die Erschaffung Evas: „Da ließ Gott der Herr einen tiefen Schlaf fallen auf den Menschen, und er schlief ein. Und er nahm eine seiner Rippen und schloss die Stelle mit Fleisch. Und Gott der Herr baute ein Weib aus der Rippe, die er von dem Menschen nahm.“ (Genesis 2, 21–23)
6. Der Sündenfall und die Vertreibung aus dem Paradies: „Da sprach die Schlange zum Weibe: … und ihr werdet sein wie Gott und wissen, was gut und böse ist.“ (Genesis 3, 4–7)
7. Das Opfer Noahs: „Noah aber baute dem Herrn einen Altar und nahm von allem reinen Vieh und von allen reinen Vögeln und opferte Brandopfer auf dem Altar.“ (Genesis 8, 20)
8. Die Sintflut: „Da sprach Gott zu Noah: Das Ende allen Fleisches ist bei mir beschlossen, denn die Erde ist voller Frevel …“ (Genesis 6, 13 und 7, 6)
9. Die Trunkenheit Noahs: „Und da er von dem Wein trank, ward er trunken und lag im Zelt aufgedeckt.“ (Genesis 9, 20–22)

Benachbarte Darstellungen

Medaillon mit dem Tod des Urija

1. Medaillons: vergoldete Kreisscheiben mit Darstellung der Kämpfe aus dem Buch der Könige. Sie wurden von Michelangelos Helfern angefertigt, wobei auffällt, dass die vor dem Jahr 1511 gemalten Medaillons sorgfältiger ausgeführt wurden als die späteren.
2. Ignudi: Darstellung 20 nackter, muskulöser junger Männer, die mit Bändern und Eichenblättern geschmückt sind (Traubeneiche heißt übrigens auf italienisch „rovere“ und ist eine Anspielung auf den Familiennamen des Papstes Julius II.: „della Rovere“).

Propheten und Sibyllen

Cumäische Sibylle

Das Jüngste Gericht in der Sixtinischen Kapelle nach der Restaurierung

Detail aus dem Jüngsten Gericht

Selbstporträt Michelangelos auf der Haut des Bartholomäus

Neben den Propheten des Alten Testaments stellte Michelangelo auch Sibyllendar, Figuren aus der antiken Mythologie, die ebenfalls die Gabe der Weissagung besessen haben sollen. Die bekannteste dieser Sybillen ist die Cumäische, die die Geburt eines Erlösers vorhergesagt haben soll:

Das letzte Zeitalter, das von der Cumäischen Sibylle besungen wurde, wird kommen: „[…] seid freundlich gegenüber dem Knaben, der geboren werden wird […].“ (Vergil, IV. Ekloge)

Begleitet werden diese Darstellungen von Genien, die vermutlich deren Gedanken verkörpern und einen Kontrast zu deren Monumentalität bieten. Auffällig ist, dass die Propheten und Sybillen von einem Ende der Kapelle zum anderen größer werden. Es ist möglich, dass Michelangelo dadurch die perspektivische Verkürzung korrigieren wollte.

1. Prophet Sacharja
2. Delphische Sibylle
3. Prophet Jesaja
4. Sibylle von Cumae
5. Prophet Daniel
6. Libysche Sibylle
7. Prophet Jona
8. Prophet Jeremia
9. Persische Sibylle
10. Prophet Ezechiel
11. Sibylle von Erythrai
12. Prophet Joel

Vier Eckzwickel

Diese Gewölbezwickelbestehen aus vier großen Dreiecksfeldern an den Ecken des Gewölbes, die heroische Ereignisse aus dem Alten Testament schildern. Michelangelo nutzte bei diesen Feldern den Kunstgriff der Verkürzung, sodass diese Felder von unten richtig erfasst werden können.

1. David und Goliath
2. Judith und Holofernes
3. Die Bestrafung des Haman
4. Die eherne Schlange

Vorfahren Jesu

In den vierzehn halbkreisförmigen Lünetten über den Fenstern sind die Vorfahren Jesu dargestellt, wie sie bei Matthäus aufgezählt werden (Mt 1,1-16). Ihre Namen sind auf Schrifttafeln vermerkt. Die Abbildungen in den acht Stichkappen dienen vermutlich als Ergänzung, eine einwandfreie Identifizierung dieser Personen ist aber – ebenso wie bei den Lünetten – nicht möglich. Michelangelo stellte die Vorfahrenreihe vollständig dar, entfernte aber Jahre später eigenhändig die Bilder von Abraham bis Aram, um Platz für sein Jüngstes Gericht zu schaffen. So sind heute nur noch die Vorfahren Jesu ab Amminadab erhalten. Die Reihe beginnt vorn rechts an der Südwand und wird dann abwechselnd an Nordwand und Südwand fortgesetzt. Allerdings gibt es eine Ausnahme: Die Gruppe Joschijah, Jojachin und Schealtiël ist nach der Gruppe Hiskija, Manasse und Amon ebenfalls an der Nordwand platziert.

1. Amminadab
2. Nachschon
3. Salmon, Boas und Obed
4. Isai, David und Salomo
5. Rehabeam und Abija
6. Asa, Joschafat und Joram
7. Usija, Jotam und Ahas
8. Hiskija, Manasse und Amon
9. Joschija, Jojachin und Schealtiël
10. Serubbabel, Abihud und Eljakim
11. Azor und Zadok
12. Achim und Eliud
13. Eleasar und Mattan
14. Jakob und Josef

Bildprogramm

Das Bildprogramm des Deckengemäldes wird seit Erwin Panofskyneuplatonisch gedeutet. Michelangelo habe unter dem Einfluss Marsilio Ficinos (1433–1499) gestanden, eines einflussreichen Florentiner Philosophen, der die Lehren des Christentums mit denen Platons und Plotins in Einklang zu bringen versuchte. Ihn hatte Michelangelo in seiner Jugend wohl noch persönlich kennengelernt, sein theologischer Berater, der Generalprior des AugustinerordensAegidius de Viterbo, war ein entschiedener Anhänger Ficinos. Die einzelnen Tableaus des Deckenfreskos zeigen in dieser Interpretation den Aufstieg der in Leiblichkeit und Laster befangenen menschlichen Seele zurück zu ihrem göttlichen Ursprung, von der Trunkenheit Noahs, der Sintflut und dem Sündenfall über die die Gottebenbildlichkeit betonende Erschaffung Adams, in der die unmittelbar bevorstehende Berührung der Finger den geistigen Funken überspringen lässt, bis zur Scheidung des Lichts von der Finsternis am ersten Tag. Dabei werde Gott immer weniger anthropomorph dargestellt. Mit der Abbildung der heidnischen Sibyllen, gleichberechtigt mit den alttestamentlichen Propheten, habe Michelangelo im Sinne einer Philosophia perennis zum Ausdruck bringen wollen, dass das Christentum die Erfüllung sowohl der altisraelischen als auch der griechischen Weissagungen gebracht habe.^[2]

Stirnwandfresko ‘Jüngstes Gericht’

1532, über zwanzig Jahre später, wurde Michelangelo von Clemens VII. beauftragt, ein weiteres Fresko für die Wand über dem Altar anzufertigen, das das Jüngste Gericht darstellen sollte. Dieses Werk ersetzte drei Fresken des Malers Perugino (Geburt Christi, Auffindung Moses’, Himmelfahrt Mariens).

Michelangelo arbeitete von 1536^[3] bis 1541 an dem Fresko, um es im Alter von 66 Jahren fertigzustellen. Das Gemälde enthält auf über 200 m² ca. 390 Figuren, viele davon überlebensgroß. Es wird angenommen, dass Michelangelo alle Arbeiten an den Fresken ohne Mithilfe anderer Künstler und Assistenten ausführte, was zu seiner Zeit durchaus nicht üblich war.

Das Wandgemälde war Anlass für einen heftigen Streit zwischen Michelangelo und Kardinal Carafa, der die Darstellung als amoralisch und obszön bezeichnete^[4].

Auf diesem Bild stellt sich Michelangelo auf der abgezogenen Haut des Märtyrers Bartholomäus dar.

Rezeption

Durch die Darstellung von Geschlechtsteilen stieß das Gemälde seinerzeit oftmals auf Ablehnung. Kurz vor Michelangelos Tod 1564 wurde der Erlass („Pictura in Cappella Ap[ostoli]ca coopriantur“)verabschiedet, der Übermalungen von als unsittlich empfundenen Ausschnitten vorsah. Die Übermalungen wurden bald begonnen und auch noch viele Jahrzehnte später fortgesetzt. Hiermit beauftragt wurde Daniele da Volterra, was diesem den Spottnamen Braghettone(„Hosenmaler“) eintrug.

Erst bei der letzten ausgiebigen Restaurierung (1980–1994) wurde das Gemälde wieder in seinen Urzustand zurückversetzt, auch durch Behebung der Beschädigungen durch vorangegangene Restaurierungen. Unter anderem wurden dabei Rußspuren entfernt und verschattete, im Laufe der Jahrhunderte nachgedunkelte Flächen aufgehellt, so dass geradezu leuchtende Farben zum Vorschein kamen. Kunsthistoriker hatten lange geglaubt, dass Michelangelo mit sehr gedämpften Farben gemalt habe. Die Nacktheit der Heiligen konnte jedoch nicht wiederhergestellt werden, da Volterra die entsprechenden Stellen abgeschlagen und auf frischen Putz neu freskiert hatte. Die Fresken des Michelangelo für die Sixtinische Kapelle werden mitunter als die bedeutendsten Werke des Künstlers und der ganzen damaligen Kunstepoche bezeichnet.

Restaurierung (1982–1994)

Die Decke der Sistina und die Stirnwand mit dem Jüngsten Gericht wurden ab 1982 unter Finanzierung eines japanischen Konzerns sorgfältig mit destilliertem Wasser und mit einer mit Ammoniumcarbonat verdünnten Lösung restauriert. Nippon Televisionhat die Autorenrechte an 170.000 Metern Film (250 Stunden Spieldauer) und an 500 Dias, auf denen die Fresken vor, während und nach der Restaurierung zu sehen sind.

Schon hundert Jahre nach dem Tod Michelangelos hatten die Versuche begonnen, die ersten durch eindringendes Regenwasser, Schmutz und Kerzenschmauch entstandenen Schäden zu beheben. Doch häufig verschlechterte sich der Zustand der Fresken durch ungeschickte Arbeit. So entstanden im Laufe der Zeit Legenden: Michelangelo selbst habe einen Schleier über seine Fresken gemalt, um einen besonderen Effekt zu erzielen, oder vom Dunkel überlagerte Farben seien ein Charakteristikum des alternden Künstlers. Jetzt sorgen eine neue Dachkonstruktion, Klimaanlage und Feuchtigkeitsregelung dafür, dass die Fresken keinen Schaden mehr nehmen. Ein Spezialläufer in den Vorräumen sorgt sogar dafür, den Besuchern den Straßenstaub von den Schuhen zu nehmen.^[5]

Daniel (Michelangelo) vor und nach der Restaurierung

Bei dieser jüngsten Restaurierung ist eine dicke Schicht von Ruß und anderem Schmutz entfernt worden, und dabei trat eine ungeahnt starke Farbigkeit zu Tage. Die reinen Restaurierungsarbeiten waren 1994 abgeschlossen; am 11. Dezember 1999 fand die feierliche Wiedereröffnung der gesamten restaurierten Kapelle durch Papst Johannes Paul II. statt,^[6] knapp vor Beginn des heiligen Jahres 2000.

Die Restaurierung unter der Leitung des Chefrestaurators Gianluigi Colalucci wurde folgendermaßen ausgeführt: Zuerst wurde die Fläche mit doppelt destilliertem Wasser abgewaschen, dann wurde der größte Teil mit einem Lösungsmittel behandelt, um die Nacharbeiten früherer Restauratoren zu beseitigen. Lösungsmittel und Oberflächenschmutz wurden anschließend mit einem wassergetränkten Schwamm abgewischt. Diese Prozedur wurde mehrfach wiederholt, es lagen aber immer 24 Stunden Trockenzeit dazwischen.

In früheren Zeiten ging man mit dem Kunstwerk derber um. Frühere Restauratoren arbeiteten mit Brot und Wasser. War der Schmutz zu hartnäckig, diente griechischer Harzwein als Lösungsmittel. Es entstand eine Schicht, die zwar schützte, aber auch die Farben verdunkelte. Bereits wenige Jahrzehnte nach der Fertigstellung ließ man die Fresken durch sog. „mundatores“, also Reiniger, bearbeiten. Frische Farben sollten durch Leinfirnis erreicht werden, die sich mit dem Untergrund verbanden, also in das Originalmaterial des Freskos eindrangen. Damit waren spätere Restaurierungen an der Originalschicht ausgeschlossen.

Solcher Vorgang sieht inzwischen anders aus: Zuerst werden Ruß und Schmutz im Labor untersucht. Die Konzentration des Lösungsmittels kann dann der jeweiligen Verschmutzung angepasst werden. Das Lösungsmittel besteht aus einer Mischung aus Ammonium- und Natriumhydrogencarbonat, Carboxymethylcellulose und Fungiziden, verdünnt mit destilliertem Wasser. Die Spuren früherer Restauratoren lassen sich durch Infrarot-Analysen sichtbar machen. Die Schäden im Mauerwerk sind mittlerweile beträchtlich. An Stellen, wo sich der Putz vom Mauerwerk abzulösen droht, wird mit einer Spritze ein PVC-Kleber unter den Putz gebracht.

Im Oktober 2014 wurde eine neue LED-Beleuchtung in Betrieb genommen, die durch die Fenster eindringendes Tageslicht simuliert. Zudem wurde eine ausfahrbare Beleuchtung für besondere Anlässe installiert. Sie soll etwa beim Konklave den Kardinälen das Lesen von Wahlzetteln und Dokumenten erleichtern. Ziel des Anbringens einer neuen Beleuchtung war neben der Ausleuchtung der Fresken die durch LED-Technik verminderte Wärmeentwicklung und Energieersparnis bis zu 90 %.^[7][8]

Taufen in der Kapelle

Einer jüngeren Übung folgend, spendet der Papst jedes Jahr am Fest der Taufe des Herrn Kindern (zumeist vatikanischer Angestellter) in der Sixtinischen Kapelle das Sakrament der Taufe. Papst Benedikt XVI. feierte die Messe in italienischer Sprache am historischen Hochaltar der gewesteten Sixtina direkt unter dem Jüngsten Gericht des Michelangelo und nicht wie in früheren Jahren an einem nach der Liturgiereform für Messfeiern jeweils vor dem Hochaltar aufgebauten Volksaltar.^[9]

Orgel

Seit einigen Jahren befindet sich in der Kapelle eine Orgel. Das Werk von Mathis Orgelbau aus Näfels im Kanton Glarus (Schweiz) wurde im Dezember 2002 installiert. Die mechanische Schleifladenorgel besitzt 14 Register auf zwei Manualen und Pedal. Das Instrument hat folgende Disposition:^[10]

I Hauptwerk C–g3 1. Principal 8′ 2. Rohrflöte 8′ 3. Octave 4′ 4. Quinte 2 2⁄3′ 5. Flageolet 2′ 6. Terz 1 3⁄5′ 7. Mixtur II-III 1 1⁄3′

II Positiv C–g3 8. Gedackt 8′ 9. Blockflöte 4′ 10. Principal 2′ 11. Larigot 1 1⁄3′

Pedal C–f1 12. Subbass 16′ 13. Bordun 8′ 14. Choralbass 4′

• Koppeln: II/I, I/P
• Spielhilfen:Tremulant (ganze Orgel)

Literatur

• Berengaudus, Expositio super septem visiones libri Apocalypsis, in: Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologia. Latina 17, col. 845 C.
• Malcolm Bull, Iconography of the Sistine Ceiling, The Burlington Magazine, 1988
• André Chastel: Die Sixtinische Kapelle, Benziger, Zürich / Köln 1986, 1993, ISBN 3-545-34059-7.
• Ginaluigi Colalucci, Fabrizio Mancinelli et al.: Die Sixtinische Kapelle. Die Deckenfresken. Benziger, Zürich u. Düsseldorf 1997
• Ginaluigi Colalucci, Fabrizio Mancinelli und Loren Partridge: Die Sixtinische Kapelle. Das Jüngste Gericht. Benziger, Zürich u. Düsseldorf 1997
• Pierluigi DeVecchi und Gianluigi Colalucci: Die Sixtinische Kapelle. Das Meisterwerk Michelangelos erstrahlt in neuem Glanz.
  • Orbis 2001
  • 272 Seiten, München, Bassermann, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8094-2080-4
• Joachim von Fiore, Concordia novi et veteris Testamenti, Venedig 1519,
• Michael Petery: Michelangelo. Der Zorn des Schöpfers, edition mbr, München-Ismaning 2008
• Heinrich PfeifferSJDie Sixtinische Kapelle neu entdeckt. Belser, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-7630-2488-9
• Rolf Quednau: Rom bannt Luther. Michelangelos Jüngstes Gericht im Lichte der konfessionellen Spaltung. In: Andreas Tacke (Hrsg.), Kunst und Konfession. Katholische Auftragswerke im Zeitalter der Glaubensspaltung, 1517–1563. Regensburg 2008, S. 348–424.
• Robin Richmond: Michelangelo und die Sixtinische Kapelle. Herder Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, ISBN 3-451-26912-0
• King Ross: „Michelangelo“, 384 Seiten, B&T, London, 2002, ISBN 978-0-14-200369-5
• Ernst Steinmann: Die Sixtinische Kapelle. 2 Bände. Bruckmann, München 1901–1905
• Charles de Tolnay: Michelangelo, Band II: The Sistine Ceiling. Princeton 1945, 3. Aufl. 1969
• Charles de Tolnay: Michelangelo, Band V: The Final Period. Princeton 1960, 2. Aufl. 1971

Filme

Aufgeführt sind Spielfilme oder Fernsehserien, in denen die Sixtinische Kapelle (entweder als Studionachbau oder CGI) einen wichtigen Schauplatz der Handlung darstellt.

• Michelangelo – Inferno und Ekstase (1965)
• In den Schuhen des Fischers (1968)
• Michelangelo – Genie und Leidenschaft (1991)
• Illuminati (2009)
• Habemus Papam – Ein Papst büxt aus (2011)
• The Young Pope (2016)

Weblinks

Commons: Sixtinische Kapelle – Album mit Bildern, Videos und Audiodateien

• Virtueller Rundgang durch die Sixtinische Kapelle
• Infos zur Sixtinischen Kapelle bei Vatikanische Museen
• Weitere Seite über die Sixtinische Kapelle (englisch)

Einzelnachweise

1. Hochspringen↑ Johann Wolfgang Goethe: Zweiter römischer Aufenthalt. In: Werke. Hrsg. von Erich Trunz. Bd. 11. 9., überarbeitete Aufl. C.H. Beck, München 1978, S. 350–556, hier S. 386 (Rom, den 23. August 1787).
2. Hochspringen↑ Jörg Lauster: Die Verzauberung der Welt. Eine Kulturgeschichte des Christentums. C.H. Beck, München 2014, S. 284–287.
3. Hochspringen↑ Das Jüngste Gericht. Vatikanische Museen; abgerufen am 15. Oktober 2012.
4. Hochspringen↑ Karl Möseneder: Michelangelos „Jüngstes Gericht“. Über die Schwierigkeiten des Disegno und die Freiheit der Kunst, in dsb., Hg.: Streit um Bilder. Von Byzanz bis Duchamp. Reimer, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-496-01169-6, S. 95–118 (Lit.)
5. Hochspringen↑ Horst Schlitter im Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger vom 9./10. April 1994, S. 33.
6. Hochspringen↑ Ansprache von Johannes Paul II. bei der Einweihung der vollständig restaurierten Sixtinischen Kapelle
7. Hochspringen↑ http://www.focus.de/auto/neuheiten/coole-effizienz-gottes-erleuchtung_id_4196400.html
8. Hochspringen↑ http://www.osram.de/osram_de/news-und-wissen/innovation/innovation-news-neues-licht-fuer-die-sixtinische-kapelle/index.jsp
9. Hochspringen↑ Radio Vatikan: Taufe in der Sixtina 13. Januar 2008.
10. Hochspringen↑ Informationen zur Orgel

Cappella Sistina   Italian) Giacobbe Giusti, Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel, from the altar end
Location on a map of Vatican City
Basic information
Location	Vatican City
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
District	Diocese of Rome
Country	Vatican City
Year consecrated	15 August 1483
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Papal oratory
Leadership	Francis
Website	mv.vatican.va
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Baccio Pontelli, Giovanni de Dolci[1]
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	1473[1]
Completed	1481[1]
Specifications
Length	40.9 metres (134 ft)
Width (nave)	13.4 metres (44 ft)
Height (max)	20.7 metres (68 ft)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Vatican City
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iv, vi
Designated	1984[2]
Reference no.	286
State Party	Holy See
Region	Europe and North America

The Sistine Chapel (/ˌsɪstiːn ˈtʃæpəl/; Latin: Sacellum Sixtinum; Italian: Cappella Sistina[kapˈpɛlla siˈstiːna]) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope, in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, the chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored it between 1477 and 1480. Since that time, the chapel has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today it is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The fame of the Sistine Chapel lies mainly in the frescosthat decorate the interior, and most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment by Michelangelo.

During the reign of Sixtus IV, a team of Renaissance painters that included Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Roselli, created a series of frescos 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 15 August 1483 Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass in the Sistine Chapel for the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.^[3][4]

Between 1508 and 1512, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelopainted the chapel’s ceiling, a project which changed the course of Western art and is regarded as one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilization.^[5][6] In a different climate after the Sack of Rome, he returned and between 1535 and 1541, painted The Last Judgment for Popes Clement VII and Paul III.^[7] The fame of Michelangelo’s paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel ever since they were revealed five hundred years ago.

History

While known as the location of Papal conclaves, the primary function of the Sistine Chapel is as the chapel of the Papal Chapel (Cappella Pontificia), one of the two bodies of the Papal household, called until 1968 the Papal Court (Pontificalis Aula). At the time of Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, the Papal Chapel comprised about 200 people, including clerics, officials of the Vatican and distinguished laity. There were 50 occasions during the year on which it was prescribed by the Papal Calendar that the whole Papal Chapel should meet.^[8] Of these 50 occasions, 35 were masses, of which 8 were held in Basilicas, in general St. Peter’s, and were attended by large congregations. These included the Christmas Day and Easter masses, at which the Pope himself was the celebrant. The other 27 masses could be held in a smaller, less public space, for which the Cappella Maggiore was used before it was rebuilt on the same site as the Sistine Chapel.

The Cappella Maggiore derived its name, the Greater Chapel, from the fact that there was another chapel also in use by the Pope and his retinue for daily worship. At the time of Pope Sixtus IV, this was the Chapel of Pope Nicholas V, which had been decorated by Fra Angelico. The Cappella Maggiore is recorded as existing in 1368. According to a communication from Andreas of Trebizond to Pope Sixtus IV, by the time of its demolition to make way for the present chapel, the Cappella Maggiore was in a ruinous state with its walls leaning.^[9]

The Sistine Chapel as it may have appeared in the 15th century (19th-century drawing)

The present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481.^[1] The proportions of the present chapel appear to closely follow those of the original. After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo.^[9]

The first mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on 15 August 1483, the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.^[10]

The Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day, and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling. There is a permanent choir, the Sistine Chapel Choir, for whom much original music has been written, the most famous piece being Gregorio Allegri‘s Miserere.^[11]

Papal conclave

Main article: Papal conclave

One of the functions of the Sistine Chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election, a new Pope has been elected. If a candidate receives less than a two-thirds vote, the cardinals send up black smoke — created by burning the ballots along with wet straw and chemical additives — it means that no successful election has yet occurred.^[12]

The conclave also provided for the cardinals a space in which they can hear mass, and in which they can eat, sleep, and pass time attended by servants. From 1455, conclaves have been held in the Vatican; until the Great Schism, they were held in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.^[13] Since 1996, John Paul II‘s Apostolic ConstitutionUniversi Dominici gregis requires the cardinals to be lodged in the Domus Sanctae Marthae during a papal conclave, but to continue to vote in the Sistine Chapel.^[14]

Canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves—a sign of equal dignity. After the new Pope accepts his election, he would give his new name; at this time, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies. Until reforms instituted by Saint Pius X, the canopies were of different colours to designate which Cardinals had been appointed by which Pope. Paul VIabolished the canopies altogether, since, under his papacy, the population of the College of Cardinals had increased so much to the point that they would need to be seated in rows of two against the walls, making the canopies obstruct the view of the cardinals in the back row.

Architecture

Structure

 

Exterior of the Sistine Chapel

The chapel is a high rectangular building, for which absolute measurements are hard to ascertain, as available measurements are for the interior: 40.9 metres (134 ft) long by 13.4 metres (44 ft) wide, the dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, as given in the Old Testament.^[15]

Its exterior is unadorned by architectural or decorative details, as is common in many Italian churches of the Medieval and Renaissance eras. It has no exterior façade or exterior processional doorways, as the ingress has always been from internal rooms within the Apostolic Palace (Papal Palace), and the exterior can be seen only from nearby windows and light-wells in the palace. Subsidence and cracking of masonry such as must also have affected the Cappella Maggiore has necessitated the building of very large buttresses to brace the exterior walls. The accretion of other buildings has further altered the exterior appearance of the Chapel.

The building is divided into three stories of which the lowest is a very tall basement level with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court. Internally, the basement is robustly vaulted to support the chapel. Above is the main space, the Sistine Chapel, the vaulted ceiling rising to 20.7 metres (68 ft). The building had six tall arched windows down each side and two at either end, several of which have been blocked. Above the vault is a third story with wardrooms for guards. At this level, an open projecting gangway was constructed, which encircled the building supported on an arcade springing from the walls. The gangway has been roofed as it was a continual source of water leaking in to the vault of the Chapel.

A reconstruction of the appearance of the chapel in the 1480s, prior to the painting of the ceiling.

Interior of the Sistine Chapel

The general proportions of the chapel use the length as the unit of measurement. This has been divided by three to get the width and by two to get the height. Maintaining the ratio, there were six windows down each side and two at either end. Defined proportions were a feature of Renaissance architecture and reflected the growing interest in the Classical heritage of Rome.

The ceiling of the chapel is a flattened barrel vault springing from a course that encircles the walls at the level of the springing of the window arches. This barrel vault is cut transversely by smaller vaults over each window, which divide the barrel vault at its lowest level into a series of large pendentives rising from shallow pilasters between each window. The barrel vault was originally painted brilliant-blue and dotted with gold stars, to the design of Piermatteo Lauro de’ Manfredi da Amelia.^[9]The pavement is in opus alexandrinum, a decorative style using marble and coloured stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior and also marks the processional way from the main door, used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday.

A screen or transenna in marble by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno, and Giovanni Dalmata divides the chapel into two parts.^[16] Originally these made equal space for the members of the Papal Chapel within the sanctuary near the altar and the pilgrims and townsfolk without. However, with growth in the number of those attending the Pope, the screen was moved giving a reduced area for the faithful laity. The transenna is surmounted by a row of ornate candlesticks, once gilt, and has a wooden door, where once there was an ornate door of gilded wrought iron. The sculptors of the transenna also provided the cantoria or projecting choir gallery.

Decoration

Diagram of part of the vertical fresco decoration of the Sistine Chapel

History

The first stage in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel was the painting of the ceiling in blue, studded with gilt stars, and with decorative borders around the architectural details of the pendentives. This was entirely replaced when Michelangelo came to work on the ceiling in 1508.

Of the present scheme of frescos, the earliest part is that of the side walls. They are divided into three main tiers. The central tier of the walls has two cycles of paintings, which complement each other, The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ. They were commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Roselli and their workshops. They originally ran all round the walls, but have since been replaced on both end walls.

The project was perhaps supervised by Perugino, who arrived at the chapel prior to the Florentines. It is probable that the commission of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli and Roselli was part of a reconciliation project between Lorenzo de’ Medici, the de factoruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel in the Spring of 1481.

Beneath the cycles of The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ, the lower level of the walls is decorated with frescoed hangings in silver and gold. Above the narrative frescos, the upper tier is divided into two zones. At the lower level of the windows is a Gallery of Popes painted at the same time as the Lives. Around the arched tops of the windows are areas known as the lunettes which contain the Ancestors of Christ, painted by Michelangelo as part of the scheme for the ceiling.

The ceiling was commissioned by Pope Julius II and painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. The commission was originally to paint the twelve apostles on the triangular pendentives which support the vault; however, Michelangelo demanded a free hand in the pictorial content of the scheme. He painted a series of nine pictures showing God’s Creation of the World, God’s Relationship with Mankind, and Mankind’s Fall from God’s Grace. On the large pendentives he painted twelve Biblical and Classical men and women who prophesied that God would send Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind, and around the upper parts of the windows, the Ancestors of Christ.

In 1515, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Leo X to design a series of ten tapestries to hang around the lower tier of the walls.^[17] The tapestries depict events from the Life of St. Peter and the Life of St. Paul, the founders of the Christian Church in Rome, as described in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Work began in mid-1515. Due to their large size, manufacture of the hangings was carried out in Brussels, and took four years under the hands of the weavers in the shop of Pieter van Aelst.^[18] Raphael’s tapestries were looted during the Sack of Rome in 1527 and were either burnt for their precious metal content or were scattered around Europe. In the late 20th century, a set was reassembled from several further sets that had been made after the first set, and displayed again in the Sistine Chapel in 1983. The tapestries continue in use at occasional ceremonies of particular importance. The full-size preparatory cartoons for seven of the ten tapestries are known as the Raphael Cartoons and are in London.^[19]

At this point, the decorative scheme displayed a consistent iconographical pattern. The tier of Popes, which, in the scheme intended by Pope Julius, would have appeared immediately below the Twelve Apostles, would have emphasised the apostolic succession. It has been argued that the present scheme shows the two Biblical Testaments merged in order to reveal the Old predicting and framing the New, synthesizing, the logic of the Christian Bible.^[20]

This was disrupted by a further commission to Michelangelo to decorate the wall above the altar with The Last Judgment, 1537–1541. The painting of this scene necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the Lives, the Nativity of Jesus and the Finding of Moses; several of the Popes and two sets of Ancestors.

Frescoes

Trials of Moses by Botticelli

Southern wall

The southern wall is decorated with the Stories of Moses, painted in 1481–1482. Starting from the altar, they include:

• Moses Leaving to Egypt by Pietro Perugino and assistants
• The Trials of Moses by Sandro Botticelli and his workshop
• The Crossing of the Red Sea by Cosimo Rosselli, Domenico Ghirlandaio or Biagio di Antonio Tucci
• Descent from Mount Sinai by Cosimo Rosselli or Piero di Cosimo
• Punishment of the Rebels by Sandro Botticelli
• Testament and Death of Moses by Luca Signorelli or Bartolomeo della Gatta

Northern wall

The Delivery of the Keys by Perugino

The northern wall houses the Stories of Jesus, dating to 1481–1482. They include:

• Baptism of Christ by Pietro Perugino and assistants
• Temptation of Christ by Sandro Botticelli
• Vocation of the Apostles by Domenico Ghirlandaio
• The Sermon on the Mount, attributed to Cosimo Rosselli
• The Delivery of the Keys by Pietro Perugino
• The Last Supper by Cosimo Rosselli

Eastern wall

• Resurrection of Christ
  

  Resurrection of Christ

  by Hendrick van den Broeck(1572) over Domenico Ghirlandaio’s original

• Disputation over Moses’ Body by Matteo da Lecce(1574) over Luca Signorelli’s original

Michelangelo’s frescoes

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 to repaint the vault, or ceiling, of the Chapel. It was originally painted as golden stars on a blue sky. The work was completed between 1508 and 2 November 1512.^[21]He painted the Last Judgment over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, on commission from Pope Paul IIIFarnese.^[22]

Michelangelo was intimidated by the scale of the commission, and made it known from the outset of Julius II’s approach that he would prefer to decline. He felt he was more of a sculptor than a painter, and was suspicious that such a large-scale project was being offered to him by enemies as a set-up for an inevitable fall. For Michelangelo, the project was a distraction from the major marble sculpture that had preoccupied him for the previous few years.^[23]

The sources of Michelangelo’s inspiration are not easily determined; both Joachite and Augustinian theologians were within the sphere of Julius influence.^[24]

Ceiling

Main article: Sistine Chapel ceiling

See also: Gallery of Sistine Chapel ceiling

A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling

To be able to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo needed a support; the first idea was by Julius’ favoured architect Donato Bramante, who wanted to build for him a scaffold to be suspended in the air with ropes. However, Bramante did not successfully complete the task, and the structure he built was flawed. He had perforated the vault in order to lower strings to secure the scaffold. Michelangelo laughed when he saw the structure, and believed it would leave holes in the ceiling once the work was ended. He asked Bramante what was to happen when the painter reached the perforations, but the architect had no answer.

The matter was taken before the Pope, who ordered Michelangelo to build a scaffold of his own. Michelangelo created a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall, high up near the top of the windows. Contrary to popular belief, he did not lie on this scaffolding while he painted, but painted from a standing position.^[25]

Michelangelo used bright colours, easily visible from the floor. On the lowest part of the ceiling he painted the ancestors of Christ. Above this he alternated male and female prophets, with Jonah over the altar. On the highest section, Michelangelo painted nine stories from the Book of Genesis. He was originally commissioned to paint only 12 figures, the Apostles. He turned down the commission because he saw himself as a sculptor, not a painter. The Pope offered to allow Michelangelo to paint biblical scenes of his own choice as a compromise. After the work was finished, there were more than 300. His figures showed the creation, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the Great Flood.

The painted area is about 40 m (131 ft) long by 13 m (43 ft) wide. This means that Michelangelo painted well over 5,000 square feet (460 m²) of frescoes.^[26]

Last Judgement

Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement.

Main article: The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)

The Last Judgement was painted by Michelangelo from 1535 to 1541, between two important historic events, the Sack of Rome by mercenary forces of the Holy Roman Empire in 1527 and the Council of Trent which commenced in 1545. The work was designed on a grand scale, and spans the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. The painting depicts the second coming of Christ on the Day of Judgment as described in the Revelation of John, Chapter 20. High on the wall is the heroic figure of Christ, with the saints clustered in groups around him. At the bottom left of the painting the dead are raised from their graves and ascend to be judged. To the right are those who are assigned to Hell and are dragged down by demons.

The Last Judgement was an object of a bitter dispute between Cardinal Carafa and Michelangelo. Because he depicted naked figures, the artist was accused of immorality and obscenity. A censorship campaign (known as the « Fig-Leaf Campaign ») was organized by Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua‘s ambassador) to remove the frescoes.

The Pope’s Master of Ceremonies Biagio da Cesena said « it was most disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully, and that it was no work for a papal chapel but rather for the public baths and taverns, »^[27] In response Michelangelo worked da Cesena’s semblance into the scene as Minos, judge of the underworld. It is said that when he complained to the Pope, the pontiff responded that his jurisdiction did not extend to hell, so the portrait would have to remain. Michelangelo also painted his own portrait, on the flayed skin held by St Bartholomew.

The genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname « Il Braghettone » (« the breeches-painter »).

Restoration and controversy

Main article: Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

The Sistine Chapel’s ceiling restoration began on 7 November 1984. The restoration complete, the chapel was re-opened to the public on 8 April 1994. The part of the restoration in the Sistine Chapel that has caused the most concern is the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo. The emergence of the brightly coloured Ancestors of Christfrom the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe and removed the original intent of the artist.

Daniel, before and after restoration.

The problem lies in the analysis and understanding of the techniques utilised by Michelangelo, and the technical response of the restorers to that understanding. A close examination of the frescoes of the lunettesconvinced the restorers that Michelangelo worked exclusively in « buon fresco« ; that is, the artist worked only on freshly laid plaster and each section of work was completed while the plaster was still in its fresh state. In other words, Michelangelo did not work « a secco« ; he did not come back later and add details onto the dry plaster.

The restorers, by assuming that the artist took a universal approach to the painting, have taken a universal approach to the restoration. A decision was made that all of the shadowy layer of animal glue and « lamp black », all of the wax, and all of the overpainted areas were contamination of one sort or another: smoke deposits, earlier restoration attempts, and painted definition by later restorers in an attempt to enliven the appearance of the work. Based on this decision, according to Arguimbau’s critical reading of the restoration data that have been provided, the chemists of the restoration team decided upon a solvent that would effectively strip the ceiling down to its paint-impregnated plaster. After treatment, only that which was painted « buon fresco » would remain.^{[citation needed]}

Replicas

The only reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by Gary Bevans at a church in Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, England.^[28] A full-size architectural and photographic replica of the entire building was commissioned by the Mexican Government and funded by private donors.^[29] It was on view at Mexico City from June 1 to July 15, 2016; it may then be exhibited at other Mexican cities and possibly elsewhere in the world. It took 2.6 million high definition photographs to reproduce the totality of the frescoes and tapestries.^[30] A video of the history of the Chapel is shown to the visitors before entering the building; inside, a light-and-sound demonstration explains the content of each of the frescoes.

Quotes on Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

« Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving. »

— Johann Wolfgang Goethe, 23 August 1787, ^[31]

« This work has been and truly is a beacon of our art, and it has brought such benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting that it was sufficient to illuminate a world which for so many hundreds of years had remained in the state of darkness. And, to tell the truth, anyone who is a painter no longer needs to concern himself about seeing innovations and inventions, new ways of painting poses, clothing on figures, and various awe-inspiring details, for Michelangelo gave to this work all the perfection that can be given to such details. »

— Giorgio Vasari on Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

Giacobbe Giusti, システィーナ礼拝堂

システィーナ礼拝堂 Cappella Sistina （イタリア語） Sacellum Sixtinum （ラテン語） Giacobbe Giusti, システィーナ礼拝堂
システィーナ礼拝堂内部
バチカン市国における位置
基本情報
所在地	ヴァチカン
宗教	ローマ・カトリック
奉献年	1483年8月15日
教会的現況	ローマ教皇礼拝堂
管理者	フランシスコ
ウェブサイト	mv.vatican.va
建設
建築家	バッチオ・ポンテッリ、ジョヴァンニ・デ・ドルッチ[1]
形式	教会
着工	1473年[1]
完成	1481年[1]
建築物
横幅	40.9メートル (134 ft)
奥行(身廊)	13.4メートル (44 ft)
最長部(最高)	20.7メートル (68 ft)
世界遺産
正式名称: ヴァチカン市国
基準	i, ii, iv, vi
登録日	1984年[2]
登録番号	286
登録区分	文化遺産

システィーナ礼拝堂（システィーナれいはいどう、伊: Cappella Sistina）は、ローマ教皇の公邸であるバチカン宮殿にある礼拝堂。サン・ピエトロ大聖堂北隣に位置するその建物とともに、ミケランジェロ、ボッティチェッリ、ペルジーノ、ピントゥリッキオら、盛期ルネサンスを代表する芸術家たちが内装に描いた数々の装飾絵画作品で世界的に有名な礼拝堂である。とくにローマ教皇ユリウス2世の注文でミケランジェロが1508年から1512年にかけて描いた天井画と、ローマ教皇クレメンス7世が注文し、ローマ教皇パウルス3世が完成を命じた、1535年から1541年にかけて描いた『最後の審判』はミケランジェロの絵画作品の頂点とされている。

もともとバチカン宮殿に存在していた古い礼拝堂を1477年から1480年にかけてローマ教皇シクストゥス4世が建て直させた建物で、その教皇名（伊: Sisto IV）にちなんでシスティーナ礼拝堂と名付けられた。この建て直し時には、ペルジーノ、ボッティチェッリ、ギルランダイオらの芸術家たちが、一連の内装フレスコ壁画を手がけている。壁画に描かれているのは『旧約聖書』からの「モーセの生涯の物語」ならびに『新約聖書』からの「キリストの生涯の物語」と、歴代のローマ教皇の肖像画で、これらは1482年から1483年8月にかけて描かれた作品となっている^[3]。落成したシスティーナ礼拝堂で最初のミサを執り行ったのはシクストゥス4世だった。このミサは聖母被昇天に捧げられたもので、システィーナ礼拝堂を聖母マリアに奉献することを表明する式典でもあった^[4]。

シクストゥス4世以降、システィーナ礼拝堂は宗教的施設とローマ教皇執務室という二つの役割を果たしてきた。現在ではローマ教皇を選出する会議であるコンクラーヴェの会場としても使用されている。

歴史

システィーナ礼拝堂はローマ教皇を選出するコンクラーヴェが開催される場所として広く知られている。しかしながら、教皇礼拝堂 (Cappella Pontificia) の一角を構成するシスティーナ礼拝堂は、1968年まで教皇宮殿 (Pontificalis Aula) と呼ばれていた教皇公邸 (Domus Pontificalis) としての性格も持っている。シクストゥス4世が在位していた15世紀後半の教皇礼拝堂には、聖職者、聖座職員、高位の平信徒らおよそ200人の人々が関わっており、年間50件におよぶ式典、行事を執り行うことが定められていた^[5]。これらの行事で35件を占めるのがミサで、そのうち8件が通常サン・ピエトロ大聖堂で実施されており、多数の信徒が集まる一大式典だった。クリスマスやイースターのミサには教皇自ら典礼として参加していた。残り27件のミサは比較的小規模で大きな施設を必要としなかったこともあって、システィーナ礼拝堂が完成する以前にはマッジョーレ礼拝堂が使用されていた。

ローマ教皇シクストゥス4世

ヴァチカン宮殿にはマッジョーレ礼拝堂のほかにも、ローマ教皇と教皇庁職員が日々の祈りを捧げる場所として使用される礼拝堂があり、シクストゥス4世在位時にはニコラウス5世が建てた、フラ・アンジェリコが内部装飾を手がけた礼拝堂が使用されていた。マッジョーレ礼拝堂は少なくとも1368年までは存在していたことが記録として残っている。しかしながら、後年のトラブゾンのアンドレアスとシクストゥス4世とのやりとりには、当時のマッジョーレ礼拝堂は荒廃して壁は傾いており、新しい礼拝堂を建設するために取り壊す必要があることが記されている^[6]。

システィーナ礼拝堂はマッジョーレ礼拝堂の跡地に建てられている。シクストゥス4世の命でバッチオ・ポンテッリ (en:Baccio Pontelli) が設計し、ジョヴァンニ・デ・ドリッチの総指揮のもとで1473年から1481年にかけて建設された^[1]。現在でもシスティーナ礼拝堂の外観はほぼ建設当時のままである。建物の完成後、盛期ルネサンスを代表する芸術家であるボッティチェッリ、ギルランダイオ、ペルジーノ、ミケランジェロらによるフレスコ画で内部装飾がなされた^[6]。

完成後のシスティーナ礼拝堂で最初のミサが執り行われたのは1483年8月9日である。このミサは聖母被昇天に捧げられたもので、システィーナ礼拝堂が聖母マリアに奉献されることを公表する式典でもあった^[4]。現在でもシスティーナ礼拝堂はさまざまな式典や行事などに使用されており、ローマ教皇が外遊などで不在の場合を除いて、ローマ教皇庁の公式行事の重要な開催場所である。世界最古の聖歌隊の一つであるシスティーナ礼拝堂聖歌隊 (en:Sistine Chapel Choir) は、ルネサンス期に作曲された合唱曲を現在にそのまま伝えており、なかでもローマ楽派の作曲家グレゴリオ・アレグリの『ミゼレーレ』がとくに有名な楽曲となっている^[7]。

コンクラーヴェ

詳細は「コンクラーヴェ」を参照

システィーナ礼拝堂が持つ最重要機能として、枢機卿団 (en:College of Cardinals) が次代のローマ教皇を選出する会議であるコンクラーヴェの開催場所となっていることがあげられる。コンクラーヴェ開催中にはシスティーナ礼拝堂の屋根に煙突が設置され、そこから排気される煙の色でコンクラーヴェの状況が告知される。投票によって新たなローマ教皇が選出された場合には、投票に使用された用紙が燃やされて白い煙があがる。投票の結果、候補者の最大得票数が全体の三分の二に満たない場合には、投票用紙とともに湿った藁と化学添加剤が燃やされて煙突から黒い煙があがり、次代のローマ教皇は未決定であるということを知らせる^[8]。

コンクラーヴェの期間中は枢機卿団は外出が許されず、ミサの出席、食事、就寝など日々の生活はすべて、特に選別された世話係の手を借りてコンクラーヴェ会場内で行わなければならなかった。1455年以降コンクラーヴェはヴァチカン宮殿内で実施されており、教皇が複数鼎立した教会大分裂まではドミニコ会教会堂のサンタ・マリア・ソプラ・ミネルヴァ教会がコンクラーヴェの開催場所となっていた^[9]。

ヨハネ・パウロ2世が1996年に発布した『使徒憲章』「使徒座空位とローマ教皇選出について」(en:Universi Dominici Gregis) で、コンクラーヴェ期間中の枢機卿の宿舎はコンクラーヴェ会場のシスティーナ礼拝堂ではなくドムス・サンクテ・マルテ（聖マルタの家 (en:Domus Sanctae Marthae)）とするように変更されたが、ローマ教皇選出の投票自体は従前どおりシスティーナ礼拝堂で実施するよう定められている^[10]。

建物

外観

Giacobbe Giusti, システィーナ礼拝堂

システィーナ礼拝堂の外観

システィーナ礼拝堂はレンガ造りの長方形の建物である。簡素な外観で、建築様式上の特徴も装飾もなく、イタリアでよく見られる中世からルネサンス期に建てられた教会堂と変わりはない。ファサードも行列用の入場口もなく、礼拝堂への入り口はヴァチカン宮殿内から通じる一箇所のみとなっており、システィーナ礼拝堂はヴァチカン宮殿の窓あるいは光井戸からわずかに垣間見える程度である。礼拝堂は三階建てで、一階部分がもっとも大きく、実用的な窓がはめ込まれた壁面と円天井、そしてヴァチカン宮殿へと通じる出入り口で構成されている。システィーナ礼拝堂のもっとも重要な階層といえる二階は奥行き40.9m、幅13.4mで、これは『旧約聖書』の『列王記』6章にあるソロモン王の神殿の比率と同じである^[11]。円天井の高さは20.7mで、壁両側面にはそれぞれ6枚の細長いアーチ状の窓があり、片端面には2枚の窓がある。三階部分は衛士の控え室となっている。三階部分には建築途中で放棄されている、外壁のアーチ状構造物に支えられた、礼拝堂を巡る渡り通路がある。この渡り廊下の屋根からは頻繁に雨漏りが生じている。

地盤沈下とレンガのひび割れに悩まされたマッジョーレ礼拝堂を教訓として、システィーナ礼拝堂には外壁を補強する大規模な控え壁が採用された。システィーナ礼拝堂より後に建てられたヴァチカン宮殿付属の建物は、システィーナ礼拝堂とはまったく異なった外観で設計されている。

内装

システィーナ礼拝堂内部の東壁面と北壁面。

システィーナ礼拝堂二階の天井は、窓上部の壁から始まる丸みの少ないアーチ状の円天井である。この円天井の最下層部分は、それぞれの窓の間にある細い装飾用の付柱から伸びる大きな三角形のペンデンティヴに接している。当初の円天井は、ピエルマッテオ・ダメリア (en:Piermatteo Lauro de’ Manfredi da Amelia) がデザインした、金色の星がちりばめられた鮮やかな青一色で塗装されていた^[6]。床面は建設当初の内部レイアウトに従って、大理石と色石が使用されたコスマテスク様式 (en:Cosmatesque) の飾り石張りとなっている。また、聖枝祭のような重要な式典時にローマ教皇の行列が足を進める箇所には特別な飾りが施されている。

ミーノ・ダ・フィエゾーレ (en:Mino da Fiesole)、アンドレア・ブレーニョ (en:Andrea Bregno)、ジョヴァンニ・ダルマータ (en:Giovanni Dalmata) の手による大理石のトランセンナ（彫刻が施された柵）が室内を大きく二分している^[12]。このトランセンナは祭壇近くの礼拝堂関係者の場所と、巡礼者や礼拝堂を訪れる近隣住民ら一般信徒の場所を隔てるために使用されており、当初は礼拝堂の中心に置かれて礼拝堂関係者と関係者以外に同じ面積が割り当てられていた。しかしながら、ローマ教皇の随行員の増加に伴ってトランセンナが動かされ、一般信徒に与えられる場所は徐々に少なくなっていった。トランセンナの上部には一列に並んだ華美な燭台が置かれており、木製の扉がついている。かつてこの燭台は金箔で覆われており、扉も金箔が貼られた精緻な鉄製の扉だった。このトランセンナを制作した前述の芸術家たちの作品は、『カントリア』や聖歌隊席などの彫刻にも残っている。

ラファエロのタペストリ

『アナニヤの死』、ラファエロが描いた下絵。

ラファエロが描いた下絵をもとに制作されたタペストリ。

システィーナ礼拝堂で開催されるとくに重要な式典では、両側の壁がラファエロが礼拝堂のためにデザインした「聖ペテロの生涯」と「聖パウロの生涯」を描き出したタペストリで覆われる。『福音書』と『使徒行伝』からのエピソードをモチーフとしたもので、ラファエロが描いたデザイン用の下絵『ラファエロのカルトン』10点のうち現存する7点をイギリス王家のロイヤル・コレクションが所蔵しており、1865年からロンドンのヴィクトリア&アルバート博物館で展示されている^[13]。このラファエロのタペストリは1527年のローマ略奪で収奪されており、貴金属が剥ぎ取られヨーロッパ中に散逸してしまっていた。20世紀後半にシスティーナ礼拝堂に戻され（新しく作り直されたタペストリもある）、1983年から元通りシスティーナ礼拝堂で使用されるようになった。

内部装飾

三層に別れたシスティーナ礼拝堂の内部壁面。下から、金銀の布を描いたフレスコ画、キリストの生涯を描いたフレスコ画、歴代ローマ教皇の肖像とキリストの祖先たち。

システィーナ礼拝堂の内部壁面は三層に大別できる。下層は金銀の布が描かれたフレスコ画である。中層には互いを補完しあう「モーセの生涯の物語」と「キリストの生涯の物語」のフレスコ画がある。これらのフレスコ画は1480年にローマ教皇シクストゥス4世が依頼したもので、ギルランダイオ、ボッティチェッリ、ペルジーノ、ロッセッリ (en:Cosimo Roselli) らが、それぞれが率いていた工房の弟子たちとともに制作に当たった。おそらく当時すでにローマにあって、システィーナ礼拝堂内部装飾の責任者になっていたと考えられているペルジーノのもとに集められた当時のフィレンツェを代表する画家たちは、1480年10月27日にフィレンツェを発ってローマへと向かい、1481年の初春から壁画制作を開始している。フィレンツェの画家たちがシスティーナ礼拝堂の内部装飾に任命された背景には、当時シクストゥス4世と仲違いしていた、フィレンツェの支配者ロレンツォ・デ・メディチとの関係修復という意味合いもあった。上層はさらに上下に二分割できる。下部には歴代ローマ教皇の肖像が等身大で描かれている。上部のルネットにはミケランジェロの天井画の一部として、キリストの祖先とされる歴史上の人物たちが描かれている。

ミケランジェロがローマ教皇ユリウス2世の命でシスティーナ礼拝堂天井画を描いたのは1508年から1512年にかけてである。この天井画には『創世記』のエピソードから「天地創造」、「アダムとイヴ」、「失楽園」など9点のフレスコ画が描かれている。円天井を支える三角形のペンデンティヴには、神が救世主キリストを遣わすことを預言した『旧約聖書』の7人の預言者と古代の巫女（シビュラ）が描かれている。

1515年に、ローマ教皇レオ10世の命で、ラファエロが礼拝堂壁面最下層を飾る10点のタペストリをデザインした^[14]。当時のラファエロは25歳にしてフィレンツェではすでに多くの富裕なパトロンを持つ有力な芸術家だった。そしてラファエロは野心ある若者であり、ローマ教皇をパトロンに持つという栄誉を希求していた^[15]。ローマ教皇に気に入られ、活気溢れるローマに魅せられたラファエロは、その後の生涯をローマで送ることになる。

ラファエロはこのシスティーナ礼拝堂のタペストリ制作依頼を、自身の作品とミケランジェロの作品とを比較する絶好の機会だと見なしていた。またラファエロにタペストリ制作を命じたレオ10世にも、前任のローマ教皇ユリウス2世がミケランジェロに描かせた天井画への対抗心があったと考えられている^[16]。ミケランジェロがタペストリのモチーフとしたのは『使徒行伝』で、1515年半ばからデザインの制作が開始された。織り上げるためにブリュッセルに送られたタペストリのデザインは非常に大規模なもので、ピーテル・ファン・アールストの工房で4年間をかけて完成している^[17]。

フレスコ画

ボッティチェッリとその工房が描いた『モーセの試練』。

南壁面

システィーナ礼拝堂の南壁面は、1481年から1482年にかけて描かれた「モーセの生涯の物語」で装飾されている。主祭壇から順に以下の作品となっている。

• 『モーセのエジプト脱出』 – ペルジーノとその弟子作
• 『モーセの試練』 – ボッティチェッリとその工房作
• 『紅海横断』 – ロッセッリとギルランダイオまたはビアッジョ・ダントーニオ (en:Biagio d’Antonio) 作
• 『シナイ山から下山したモーゼ』 – ロッセッリまたはピエロ・ディ・コジモ作
• 『反逆者たちの懲罰』 – ボッティチェッリ作
• 『モーゼの死と遺言』 – シニョレッリとバルトロメオ・デッラ・ガッタ (en:Bartolomeo della Gatta)

北壁面

システィーナ礼拝堂の南壁面は、1481年から1482年にかけて描かれた「キリストの生涯の物語」で装飾されている。

• 『キリストの洗礼』 – ペルジーノとその弟子作
• 『キリストの誘惑』 – ボッティチェッリ作
• 『使徒の改宗』 – ギルランダイオ作
• 『聖ペテロへの天国の鍵の授与』 – ペルジーノ作
• 『最後の晩餐』 – ロッセッリ作

西壁面

• 『キリストの復活』 – ヘンドリク・ファン・デン・ブルック作（1572年）、ギルランダイオのフレスコ画に上描き
• 『モーセの遺体をめぐる争い』 – マッテオ・ダ・レッチェ作（1574年）、シニョレッリのフレスコ画に上描き

壁面フレスコ画

• 

  『反逆者たちの懲罰』
  （ボッティチェッリ）

• 

  『キリストの洗礼』
  （ペルジーノとその弟子）

• 

  『使徒の改宗』
  （ギルランダイオ）

• 

  『聖ペテロへの天国の鍵の授与』
  （ペルジーノ）

• 

  『最後の晩餐』
  （ロッセッリ）

ミケランジェロのフレスコ画

天井画

ミケランジェロが描いたシスティーナ礼拝堂天井画『アダムの創造』。神が人間を創造し、命を与えるエピソードの象徴となっている、システィーナ礼拝堂のフレスコ画の中でも世界的にもっとも有名な作品である。

詳細は「システィーナ礼拝堂天井画」を参照

ミケランジェロがローマ教皇ユリウス2世にシスティーナ礼拝堂天井画の描き直しを命じられたのは1508年だった。それまで、天井とヴォールトには金の星々がきらめく青い空が描かれていた^[6]。この縦40m、横13mで、総面積は460平方メートルという大規模な天井画^[18]の制作は1508年に開始され、1512年11月2日に完成した^[19]。

当初ミケランジェロはユリウス2世からのこの壮大な天井画制作依頼を嫌がり、ユリウス2世が考えていた計画の下では作業をしたくないと断っている。ミケランジェロは自身を画家ではなく彫刻家であると自負しており、このような大規模で実現困難な絵画制作がまわってきたのは、失敗させて自分を陥れるための罠なのではないかと疑ってさえいた。ミケランジェロにとってみれば、システィーナ礼拝堂の絵画制作依頼は、数年前から専念していた大理石彫刻の制作の邪魔にしか思えなかったのである^[20]。

ミケランジェロが天井画のデザインとして採用したのは、依頼主のユリウス2世が持っていたシスティーナ礼拝堂の天井に空を背景とした十二使徒を描きだすという構想^[21]からかけ離れた、はるかに複雑なものだった。ミケランジェロが天井画に『創世記』を中心とした構成に変更した理由は定かではない。この天井画に対して影響を与えたような過去の作品は存在せず、ミケランジェロが描きあげたこの絵画はそれまでの絵画作品とは隔絶したものといえる^[22]。

ユリウス2世は、天井に絵を描くための足場制作をミケランジェロ自身に任せた。ミケランジェロはシスティーナ礼拝堂の壁面、窓最上部とほぼ同じ高さの箇所に穴を開けて腕木を渡し、その上に平らな板を載せて足場とした。そしてこの板に仰向けとなって天井画を描いたといわれている^[23]。 システィーナ礼拝堂の天井中央部分に描かれているのは『旧約聖書』に記された『創世記』の9つのエピソードで、これら9つのエピソードはさらに大きく3つの物語に分けることができる^[24]。神による天地創造の物語、神による最初の人間であるアダムとイヴの人類創造と神にそむいたアダムとイヴがエデンの園から追放される失楽園の物語、そして大洪水とノア一族」の物語である。作品の構成としては、必ずしも『創世記』に記述されている時系列順とはなっていない。9つのエピソードからなる3つの場面は互いの内容を補完しあう構成となっており、これは中世の絵画作品やステンドグラスでよく用いられた技法である^[25]。

天井中央部に描かれている『創世記』のエピソードは、主祭壇から後陣に向かって以下の順番になっている。

• 『光と闇の分離』
• 『太陽、月、植物の創造』
• 『大地と水の分離』
• 『アダムの創造』
• 『エヴァの創造』
• 『原罪と楽園追放』
• 『ノアの燔祭』
• 『大洪水』
• 『ノアの泥酔』

システィーナ礼拝堂の左右それぞれ5箇所と後陣側と主祭壇側それぞれ1箇所にあるペンデンティヴ部分には、この天井画の中で最も大きな人物像が描かれている。描かれているのはメシアの到来、あるいは到来するメシアの容貌を預言したとされる12名の人物たちである。これら12名のうち7名は『旧約聖書』に記された男性預言者で、残る5名がシビュラと呼ばれる古代の女性巫女となっている。主祭壇側には預言者ヨナが、後陣側には預言者ゼカリヤがそれぞれ描かれている。残りの10名は左右に分かれて男女交互に描かれており、プットー（幼い天使）が支える彩色大理石板に刻まれた銘文によって誰が描かれているのかを識別することができる。主祭壇上部のヨナから時計回りに以下の人物像が描かれている。

• 『ヨナ』 – 主祭壇上部
• 『エレミヤ』
• 『ペルシアの巫女』 (en:Persian Sibyl)
• 『エゼキエル』
• 『エリュトレイアの巫女』 (en:Erythraean Sibyl)
• 『ヨエル』
• 『ゼカリヤ』 – 後陣上部
• 『デルフォイの巫女』 (en:Delphic Sibyl)
• 『イザヤ』
• 『クエマの巫女』 (en:Cumaean Sibyl)
• 『ダニエル』
• 『リビアの巫女』 (en:Libyan Sibyl)

建物四隅にもペンデンティヴがあり、ミケランジェロはこの部分に『旧約聖書』に登場するユダヤの偉人とされるモーセ、エステル、ダヴィデ、ユディトによるイスラエルの民救済のエピソードを描いている。

• 青銅の蛇
• ハマンの処刑
• ダヴィデとゴリアテ
• ユディトとホロフェルネス

これらのほかに、14箇所のアーチ状のルネット部分と、8箇所の三角状のスパンドレル (en:Spandrel) 部分には、アブラハムらキリストの祖先とされている人物とその家族が描かれている。

天井中央部分の『創世記』

• 

  『太陽、月、植物の創造』

• 

  『イヴの創造』

• 

  『原罪と楽園追放』

• 

  『ノアの燔祭』

• 

  『大洪水』

ペンデンティヴ部分の預言者と巫女

• 

  『ヨナ』

• 

  『エリュトレイアの巫女』

• 

  『ゼカリヤ』

• 

  『デルフォイの巫女』

• 

  『イザヤ』

最後の審判

システィーナ礼拝堂主祭壇の『最後の審判』。

詳細は「最後の審判 (ミケランジェロ)」を参照

ミケランジェロは、ローマ教皇クレメンス7世と、後継のローマ教皇パウルス3世の命で、1533年から1541年にかけて主祭壇背後の壁に『最後の審判』を描いた^[26]。これはローマのルネサンス芸術崩壊の引き金となった、神聖ローマ皇帝カール5世の軍勢がローマに侵攻したいわゆるローマ略奪（1527年5月）よりも後年で、トリエント公会議（1545年）の直前となる時期にあたる。『最後の審判』はシスティーナ礼拝堂主祭壇の後壁面全体に描かれた、1370cm × 1200cmという非常に大規模な作品で、キリストの再臨と現世の終末を、天使に囲まれたキリストが生前の行いによって人々の魂を裁いている情景となっている。

この作品は、枢機卿オリヴィエーロ・カラファ (en:Cardinal Carafa) とミケランジェロとの間にちょっとした騒動を巻き起こした。ミケランジェロが裸体の人物像を多く描いたことが、不道徳で猥雑であると非難されたのである。そして『最後の審判』の裸体を隠そうという「イチジクの葉運動」と呼ばれる一種の検閲運動が、カラファとマントヴァ公使セルニーニによって開始された。ローマ教皇の儀典長ビアジョ・ダ・チェゼーナも「このうえなく下品であり、聖なる場所にこのような裸体画があってはならない。恥ずべき作品で、ローマ教皇の礼拝堂には相応しくなく、公衆浴場か酒場に飾るべきだ」と酷評している^[27]。ミケランジェロは不仲だったチェザーナを地獄の裁判官ミノスとして『最後の審判』に描いた。チェザーナがこのことについてパウルス3世に不平をもらすと、ローマ教皇の権威は地獄にまでは及ばないと返されたといわれている^[28]。オリジナルの『最後の審判』に描かれていた人物の局部は、後年になって「ズボンの画家 (Il Braghettone )」と嘲笑めいたあだ名をつけられたダニエレ・ダ・ヴォルテッラによって布で覆われた状態で上描きされた^[29]、

フレスコ画修復

詳細は「システィーナ礼拝堂壁画修復」を参照

修復前後のダニエル。

システィーナ礼拝堂のフレスコ画、とくにミケランジェロが描いた天井画は過去に何度も修復されており、もっとも近年で大規模な修復作業が、1979年に開始された試験的な修復を経て1980年6月から1999年12月にかけて実施された。修復作業を手がけたのはジャンルイージ・コラルッチ、マウリツィオ・ロッシ、ピエルジョルジョ・ボネッティ、ブルーノ・バラッティらからなるチームだった^[30]。修復作業の様子は克明に記録されており、記録写真を担当したのは日本テレビから嘱託された美術写真家の岡村崔である^[30]。

最初に修復対象となったのはミケランジェロの天井画のルネット部分で、1984年に完了している。天井画全体の修復が完了したのは1989年12月のことで、引き続きミケランジェロの『最後の審判』の修復が開始された。フレスコ画全体の修復作業の様子がローマ教皇ヨハネ・パウロ2世に公開されたのは、全体の完成間近の1994年4月8日だった^[31]。最後に修復された箇所はボッティチェッリ、ギルランダイオ、ペルジーノらが描いた壁面のフレスコ画で、1999年12月11日になって公開された^[32] 。

修復後、それまでロウソクの煙による煤などの影響でほとんどモノクロームに見えるまでに色褪せていた色彩は鮮やかにきらめき、春を思わせる薄いピンク色、青リンゴ色、色鮮やかな黄色、空色などの彩色がパールグレイの壁面と好対照を成している。この修復により、今まで煤に覆われていたフレスコ画はもとの彩りを取り戻したのである^[32]。しかしながら、この修復作業と結果にも賛否両論が存在する。否定派はオリジナルのミケランジェロのフレスコ画に表現されていた、明暗や陰影、微細な表現などが汚れの除去とともに失われてしまったと主張している^[33]。

複製

日本・徳島県鳴門市の大塚国際美術館には、システィーナ礼拝堂天井画を陶板にて原寸大で再現した展示がある。 陶板による複製画は、オリジナル作品とは違い、2000年以上にわたってそのままの色と姿で残るので、これからの文化財の記録保存のあり方に大いに貢献するといわれている。現にオリジナルの礼拝堂天井画は近年劣化に悩まされており、現在では入場制限も検討されている^[34]。

脚注

1. ^ ^a b c d Ekelund, Hébert & Tollison 2006, p. 313
2. ^ “Vatican City”. Whc.unesco.org. 2011年8月9日閲覧。
3. ^ Monfasani, John (1983), “A Description of the Sistine Chapel under Pope Sixtus IV”, Artibus et Historiae (IRSA s.c.) 4 (7): 9–18, doi:10.2307/1483178, ISSN 0391-9064, JSTOR 1483178.
4. ^ ^a b Pietrangeli 1986, p. 28
5. ^ Pietrangeli 1986, p. 24
6. ^ ^a b c d John Shearman, « The Chapel of Sixtus IV ». In Pietrangeli 1986
7. ^ Stevens, Abel & Floy, James. « Allegri’s Miserere ». The National Magazine, Carlton & Phillip, 1854. 531.
8. ^ Saunders, Fr. William P. « The Path to the Papacy« . Arlington Catholic Herald, 17 March 2005. Retrieved on 2 June 2008.
9. ^ Chambers, D. S. (1978), “Papal Conclaves and Prophetic Mystery in the Sistine Chapel”, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes (The Warburg Institute) 41: 322–326, doi:10.2307/750878, JSTOR 750878.
10. ^ Domus Sanctae Marthae & The New Urns Used in the Election of the Pope from EWTN
11. ^ Campbell, Ian (1981), “The New St Peter’s: Basilica or Temple?”, Oxford Art Journal 4 (1): 3–8, doi:10.1093/oxartj/4.1.3, ISSN 0142-6540検索された 2014-06-06
12. ^ Hersey 1993, p. 180
13. ^ Cheney, Iris. Review of « Raphael’s Cartoons in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen and the Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel » by John Shearman ». The Art Bulletin, Volume 56, No. 4, December 1974. 607–609.
14. ^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 150
15. ^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 80
16. ^ Hall, Marcia B. Rome: Artistic Centers of the Italian Renaissance. London: Cambridge University Press 18 April 2005. 138.
17. ^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 152
18. ^ Michelangelo – The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, « Seven Common Questions About the Frescoes »
19. ^ Graham-Dixon 2008, p. 2
20. ^ Graham-Dixon 2008, p. 1
21. ^ Giacometti, Massimo (1986). The Sistine Chapel.
22. ^ Graham-Dixon 2008, p. xii
23. ^ Michelangelo 1999, pp. 64–66
24. ^ Paoletti and Radke pp. 402 – 403
25. ^ See en:Poor Man’s Bible
26. ^ Stollhans, Cynthia (1988), “Michelangelo’s Nude Saint Catherine of Alexandria”, Woman’s Art Journal (Woman’s Art, Inc.) 19 (1): 26–30, doi:10.2307/1358651, ISSN 02707993, JSTOR 1358651.
27. ^ Vasari 1987, p. 379
28. ^ Reported by Lodovico Domenichi in Historia di detti et fatti notabili di diversi Principi & huommi privati moderni (1556), p. 668
29. ^ Simons, Marlise (19 June 1991), “Vatican Restorers Are Ready for ‘Last Judgment”, New York Times 2009年3月7日閲覧。
30. ^ ^a b Carlo Pietrangeli, Foreword to The Sistine Chapel, ed. Massimo Giacometti. (1986) Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-56274-X
31. ^ “Homily preached by the Holy Father John Paul II at the mass of to celebrate the unveiling of the restorations of Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel”. Vatican Publishing House (1994年4月8日). 2007年9月28日閲覧。
32. ^ ^a b Pietrangeli 1994
33. ^ Beck (1995)
34. ^ バチカン、システィーナ礼拝堂の入場制限を検討

参考文献

• Deimling, Barbara (2000), Sandro Botticelli 1444/45-1510, Köln: Taschen, ISBN 3-8228-5992-3
• Earls, Irene (1987), Renaissance Art: A Topical Dictionary, Westport: Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-24658-0
• Ekelund, Robert B.; Hébert, Robert F.; Tollison, Robert D. (2006), The Marketplace of Christianity, Cambridge: MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-05082-X
• Graham-Dixon, Andrew (2008), Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-297-85365-1
• Hersey, George (1993), High Renaissance Art in St. Peter’s and the Vatican, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-32782-5
• Michelangelo (1999), Bull, George, ed., Michelangelo, Life, Letters, and Poetry, Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-283770-2
• Pietrangeli, Carlo, ed. (1986), The Sistine Chapel, New York: Harmony Books, ISBN 0-517-56274-X
• Seymour, Charles (1972), Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling: illustrations, introductory essays, backgrounds and sources, critical essay, New York: W. W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-04319-3
• Stinger, Charles (1998), The Renaissance in Rome, Bloomington: Indianapolis, ISBN 0-253-21208-1
• Talvacchia, Bette (2007), Raphael, Oxford Oxfordshire: Phaidon Press, ISBN 978-0-7148-4786-3
• Vasari, Giorgio (1987), The Lives of the Artists, George Bull, New York: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-044500-5
• Wright, Lawrence (1983), Perspective in Perspective, London: Routledge & K. Paul, ISBN 0-7100-0791-4
• Pietrangeli, Hirst and Colalucci, eds. (1994). The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration. Italy, Harry N Abrams
• James Beck and Michael Daley, Art Restoration, the Culture, the Business and the Scandal, W.W. Norton, 1995. ISBN 0-393-31297-6

関連文献

• Ettlinger, Leopold (1965), The Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo: Religious Imagery and Papal Primacy, Oxford: Clarendon Press, OCLC 230168041
• King, Ross (2003), Michelangelo & the Pope’s Ceiling, New York: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-200369-7
• Lewine, Carol (1993), The Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, ISBN 0-271-00792-3
• Hirst, Michael; Colalucci, Gianluigi; Mancinelli, Fabrizio; Shearman, John; Winner, Matthias; Maeder, Edward; De Vecchi, Pierluigi; Nazzareno, Gabrielli et al. (1994), Pietrangeli, Carlo, ed., The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration, Takashi Okamura (photographer), New York: H.N. Abrams, ISBN 0-8109-3840-5
• Pfeiffer, Heinrich (2007) (German), Die Sixtinische Kapelle neu entdeckt, Stuttgart: Belser, ISBN 978-0-8109-3840-3
• Stone, Irving (2004), The Agony and the Ecstasy, London: Nal Trade, ISBN 0-451-21323-8. Previously publish by Doubleday in 1961.
• Blech, Benjamin; Doliner, Roy (2008), The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo’s Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican, New York: HarperOne, ISBN 978-0-06-146904-6
• Efetov, Konstantin (2006), A shocking secret of the Sistine Chapel, Simferopol: CSMU Press, ISBN 966-2969-17-9
• Paoletti, John T.; Radke, Gary M. (2005). Art in Renaissance Italy, Laurence King. ISBN 1-85669-439-9

関連項目

ウィキメディア・コモンズには、システィーナ礼拝堂に関連するメディアがあります。

• ルネサンス期のイタリア絵画
• ルネサンス美術
• バチカン宮殿
• ローマ教皇
• 大塚国際美術館 – システィーナ礼拝堂内部が複製陶板画で再現されている

外部リンク

• Vatican Museums Online: Sistine Chapel A virtual detailed tour of the frescoes and panels
• High-resolution interactive virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel
• Web Gallery of Art: Visit to the Sistine Chapel in Vatican
• BBC News: Sistine Chapel Restored (1999)
• The Restoration of the Sistine Chapel: Right or Wrong?
• www.christusrex.org Capella Sistina Master Plan & Pictures

[表示] 表 話 編 歴 ローマ遺跡(一覧)

典拠管理 WorldCat VIAF: 268642532 LCCN: n96096549 GND: 4104970-6 BNF: cb139022841 (データ) NLA: 36437812

カテゴリ:

• システィーナ礼拝堂
• バチカンの世界遺産
• キリスト教建築物の世界遺産

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixtinische_Kapelle

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