Cappella Paolina

The Cappella Paolina, or Pauline Chapel, is a small papal chapel in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, commissioned by Pope Paul III in the 16th century. It is best known for two large Michelangelo frescoes.

The chapel contains Michelangelo’s major later frescoes - the Conversion of Saint Paul and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter - painted in the mid-1540s and occupying the chapel’s end walls. The interior is compact and normally experienced as part of restricted routes through the Apostolic Palace rather than large public access.

Built during the papacy of Paul III in the 16th century, the chapel has served as a private liturgical and ceremonial space for successive popes and high-level Vatican functions. Michelangelo’s frescoes were commissioned and painted while he continued work elsewhere in Rome.

Positioned in the Apostolic Palace within Vatican City, the chapel lies close to St. Peter’s Basilica and the official papal apartments.

• Artist and date: commissioned by Pope Paul III and decorated by Michelangelo with two major frescoes completed in the 1540s
• Access: located within the Apostolic Palace and adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica, it is a private papal chapel often closed to general circulation

What to See #

• Michelangelo frescoes: Michelangelo's two large frescoes depict the Conversion of Saint Paul and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, executed in the mid-1540s