The Sistine Chapel is The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Capella is a small church intended for members of the same family, residents of the same castle or palace. In Russian, the word "chapel" is sometimes translated as "chapel", but this is not entirely true. There is no altar in the chapels; some church sacraments cannot be held there. Whereas the chapel is a full-fledged church with the whole set of attributes. The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is the most famous building of this type.

History of Creation

The Sistine Chapel was built between 1475-1483 by order of Pope Sixtus IV, whose name it bears to this day. This pontiff was a controversial figure. On the one hand, during his reign, corruption and bribery flourished, it was under him that the Inquisition was introduced, and the first public burnings of heretics took place.

On the other hand, he became famous for encouraging the development of science and art. He moved the papal residence to the Vatican and did much to restore and improveRome. On his initiative, a library and the world's first public museum were opened, and the Sistine Chapel was built to host the most significant ceremonies of the Catholic Church. In this place and now a conclave of clergy gathers to elect the Pope.

Architectural solution

In the 15th century, the powers between the religious and secular governments were not completely separated, armed clashes periodically occurred. Yes, and ordinary parishioners, driven to the extreme by exorbitantly high taxes, sometimes decided to openly express their anger. In this regard, the Popes wanted to have a special refuge in the Vatican, where they could take refuge with their court in turbulent and troubled times.

The Sistine Chapel became such a refuge at the request of Sixtus IV. This building was supposed to look like a fortress from the outside, and emphasize the greatness and power of the papal power with the interior decor.

Giovanni de Dolci, a young architect from Florence, was invited to solve these problems. He built a building that looked like a bastion and supervised the interior painting work.

The Sistine Chapel is a relatively small building (its area is only 520 m²), rectangular in shape, with a high (height 21 m) vaulted ceiling. Its proportions, as conceived by Sixtus IV, resemble those of the legendary Temple of Solomon, the first temple in Jerusalem.

Interior decoration

In 1480 Sixtus IVinvited the most famous painters of that time to create murals. The work was attended by Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlondaio, Luca Signorelli, Pietro Perugino and the young Pinturicchio.

It took the artists two years to paint the walls of the chapel. The middle tier was occupied by images of scenes from the life of Moses and Jesus Christ. In the upper tier, in the piers between the windows, portraits of the first popes, from St. Peter to Marcellus I, were placed. Traditionally, the lower tier was left for hanging the pontiff's regalia.

Above the altar was a fresco by Perugino "The Assumption of the Virgin Mary". The ceiling was adorned with a star-studded sky. These elements are known to us only in descriptions, because several decades after the opening of the chapel, they were replaced by frescoes by Michelangelo.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo

At the beginning of the 16th century, a crack appeared on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, running along its entire length. Pope Julius II ordered to cover it up and ordered Michelangelo, who was working at that very time on statues for the future tomb of the pontiff, to cover the ceiling with frescoes.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, born in the year of laying the Sistine Chapel (1475), in 1508 was already a fairly well-known sculptor. But monumental painting was unfamiliar to him. He tried in every possible way to evade this work, but Julius II managed to insist on his own. So, the famous Sistine Chapel got its finished look. Description, the history of the creation of frescoes have become the subject of research for many generationsart critics.

The central part of the plafond is occupied by 9 consecutive plots of the Old Testament, among them the "Flood", "Fall", scenes of the creation of the first people (Adam and Eve) and others. Along the perimeter of these frescoes, the author depicted the prophets and sibyls, and on the side parts of the arch - the predecessors of Jesus Christ. In total, more than 300 characters were depicted, who still conquer with their power and physical beauty.

Researchers still cannot come to an unambiguous interpretation of these images. Some see them as a special interpretation of the Bible, others as a new understanding of the heroes of Dante's Divine Comedy, others are convinced that Michelangelo presented the stages of man's ascent from a sinful primitive state to the stage of tatanism and divine perfection.

The Last Judgment fresco

22 years later, Michelangelo was again invited to work on the design of the Sistine Chapel. In 1534, Pope Clement VII ordered him to paint the wall above the altar. As a result, the Last Judgment fresco was created, which art critics call one of the most grandiose in the entire history of world painting.

This time the artist depicted a man weak and helpless in the face of imminent disaster. Not a trace remains of the former belief in the greatness and beauty of people. There is not a single life-affirming or admirable character in the Doomsday scene.

Jesus himself is placed in the center. But his face is menacing and impenetrable. His hands froze in a punishing gesture. The faces of the apostlessurrounding Christ on all sides, are also filled with anger. In their hands they hold instruments of torture that do not bode well for the sinners spread before them.

Later painting and restoration work

The Sistine Chapel is the greatest monument of monumental painting of the Renaissance. But later corrections and additions are also important historical evidence.

The scene of the "Last Judgment" with dozens of naked bodies from the very beginning was ambiguously perceived by the clergy. It is known that Pope Paul IV ordered the student of Michelangelo - de Volterra to cover the intimate places of the depicted figures with draperies, and Clement VIII ordered the destruction of the fresco. It was possible to save her only thanks to the intercession of artists. Attempts to finish the clothes were also made in the XVII-XVIII centuries.

As a result, when at the end of the 20th century a group of specialists began restoration work, they faced a serious problem - which version of the painting should be restored. It was decided to leave the draperies completed by de Voltaire at the end of the 16th century, and remove the rest of the edits.

After cleaning the frescoes from soot and dust, they again shone with bright colors. This made it possible to see the images as they were painted by the great masters of the Renaissance.

Answering the question of what a chapel is, it should be mentioned that this word is used not only to refer to a religious building. A chapel is a place inthe cathedral, where there are singers, a musical or singing ensemble performing sacred music, or even a professional musical institution, such as the Academic Chapel (Petersburg, Moika embankment, 20).