The Sistine Chapel
They were asked to paint the side walls, divided horizontally in three sections and vertically spaced by elegant pilasters. Damask-like draperies with the pope’s coat of arms were frescoed on the lower part of the walls. Tapestries were hung above the draperies; some of them made by Raphael and his assistants in the second decade of the 16th century, can now be seen in the room dedicated to Raphael in the Vatican Pinacoteca. The middle section, the most important area, was painted with Biblical scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ, both seen as liberators of humanity. To stress the continuity between his pontificate and his predecessors’, Sixtus IV had the upper section, at window-level, decorated with portraits of the early pontiffs from the 1st century to the beginning of the 4th century, each in a monochromatic niche. Finally, golden stars on a blue background were painted on the chapel ceiling by Pier Matteo d’Amelia, as can be seen in a famous 16th century drawing now in the Uffizi. The chapel’s decoration was completed by Sixtus IV’s nephew, Giuliano della Rovere, who became Pope Julius II (1503-1513). He planned to renew the whole city of Rome, and to realize this grandiose task he summoned Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), who was already well known in Florence and had previously worked for the new pope. After some initial contention, Michelangelo agreed to fresco the vault. It took four years of hard work to complete the painting (from 1508 to 1512), and Michelangelo’s theme was the history of mankind before the coming of Christ.
Later on, between 1536 and 1541, Michelangelo also painted the “Last Judgement”, commissioned by Paul III Farnese (1534-1549), who confirmed the commission made by his predecessor, Clement VII (1523-1534). The theme represented is mankind’s inevitable Fate and God as the absolute judge of man’s destiny.
- Biblical stories on the side walls
Painted on the walls are the following: on the left, looking at the “Last Judgement”, scenes from the Old Testament, with the Stories of Moses, saviour of the Jewish people; on the right, scenes from the New Testament, with the Stories of Christ, the saviour of all humanity. These scenes are therefore parallel. Originally this wall also included the “Finding of Moses” and the “Nativity of Jesus”, but Michelangelo later obliterated them in 1534. This cycle ends on the main entrance wall with “Disputation over the Body of Moses” and the “Resurrection of Christ”, both re-painted in the 16th century. The captions above, restored recently, are “tituli” referring to the paintings below.
- The left wall
The first painting, “The Journey of Moses in Egypt”, attributed to Perugino, represents a scene when “Moses (...) took his wife and sons and, putting them on a donkey, started back for Egypt; and Moses took the staff of God in his hand” (Exodus 4:20). During the Journey, an angel stops Moses - and here the painting differs from the original story - who orders him to circumcise his second son (on the right).
Next is the “Trials of Moses”, painted by Botticelli and his assistants. This is one of the most complex paintings, since there are so many different episodes represented. One can see (from the right): the killing of an Egyptian who had hit a Jew, the flight into Madian, local maidens meeting and watering their herds, the Lord appearing from a burning bush (left) and above, in the centre, God appearing to Moses, asking him to take his shoes off in His presence (Exodus 2:11-20 and 3:1-6). The two superb female figures in the foreground are typical of Botticelli. The “Passage of the Red Sea” is attributed to the Florentine painter Biagio d’Antonio (1446-1516). Moses and his people, fleeing from Egypt and the Pharaoh’s army, cross the Red Sea when God parts the waters for them; then the sea closes, killing the pressing Egyptians (Exodus 14:23-30). In the lower left, a woman plays a hymn of thanks to the Lord (Exodus 15:1-20).
The “Handing Over of the Tables of the Law”, attributed to Cosimo Rosselli and Piero di Cosimo, illustrates the Bible’s account of the Golden Calf. Moses had climbed Mount Sinai to receive the tables of the Law (Exodus 23:12-15) and after they had waited for him, the Jews gathered around the priest Aaron. Then, gathering rings and other gold objects, they forged a golden calf, placed it on an altar and began to worship it. When Moses came back from the mountain with the tables and saw that his people had disobeyed the prohibition to make sacred images, he broke the tables in fury (Exodus 32:1-19). Botticelli’s “Punishment of Korah, Dathan and Abiram” refers to when the Jews revolted against the Lord during their Journey to the Promised Land. They complained about the terrible conditions in which Moses forced them to live, but God punished them: suddenly the earth parted under their feet, swallowing them and all their possessions (Numbers, 16). The Arch of Constantine can be seen in the background of this scene.
The “Legacy and Death of Moses “ by Signorelli also includes several different episodes: on the right, Moses blesses the Israelites (Deuteronomy, 33) and on the left, he gives the holy rod to Joshua. An angel in the upper centre points toward the promised land, and the death of Moses is shown on the left.
- The right wall
The “Baptism of Christ”, with episodes taken from the Gospel of Matthew, is by Perugino. John preaching before the Baptism of Christ appears on the left; the baptism scene is in the foreground and Jesus preaching to his followers is on the right. The Holy Trinity can be seen in the middle of the fresco, with the dove of the Holy Spirit, enclosed in a circle, hovering above Christ and the Eternal Father surrounded by angels.
The second panel contains the “Temptations of Christ” and “Cleansing of the Leper” by Botticelli, also taken from Matthew’s Gospel. Satan’s vain attempts to corrupt Christ and induce him to worship Satan are portrayed here (challenging him to turn stones into bread, to throw himself from a temple and be saved by angels, and offering him the world’s beauties, seen from a precipice; Matthew 4:1-11). The leper in the centre is purified according to a Jewish ritual. In the background, the façade of the hospital of Saint Spirit can be seen; built by Pope Sixtus IV, the hospital is located between Via della Conciliazione and the Tiber.
The “Calling of the first Apostles” by Ghirlandaio is a faithful rendering of the Gospel text (Matthew 4:18-22), which shows Jesus asking Peter and Andrew (on the left), two brothers who were fishermen, to kneel in front of Him (foreground) and calling out to Jacob and John, in a boat, to come to him (upper right). The “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:1-12) is attributed to Cosimo Rosselli and shows Christ curing the leper (Matthew 8:1-4) on the right, Christ pronouncing the famous Beatitudes, on the left. This painting is correlated to the opposite painting where Moses receives the Tables of the Law. The “Handing over of the Keys “ of the Church from Jesus to St Peter is by Perugino and it is probably the most beautiful painting on the Sistine Chapel’s walls. A typical Renaissance octagonal temple stands in the background of the floor in perspective, with two triumphant arches beside it resembling the Arch of Constantine in Rome, which allude to continuity between past and present. Cosimo Rosselli and Biagio d’Antonio’s “Last Supper” has a distinctive, semi-octagonal table and its shape is echoed by the walls and ceiling. Judas has his back to the viewer and a small devil on his shoulder. Scenes of Christ praying in the garden, his arrest and the Crucifixion are in the background.