Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, built between 1473 and 1481 under Pope Sixtus IV. It is internationally renowned for its Renaissance frescoes, especially the ceiling and altar wall painted by Michelangelo.

The principal visual attractions are Michelangelo’s ceiling (painted 1508-1512) and The Last Judgment on the altar wall (painted 1536-1541), together with side-wall frescoes by a generation of leading Renaissance artists. The chapel functions as both a museum highlight and an active liturgical space for papal ceremonies.

Commissioned in the late 15th century, the chapel’s interior decoration was carried out by prominent artists of the period under successive popes, culminating in Michelangelo’s major commissions in the early 16th century. It has since been conserved and studied as a central work of High Renaissance art.

The chapel is located in the Apostolic Palace adjacent to St. Peter’s Basilica within Vatican City and is accessed by visitors through the Vatican Museums complex in the north of the Vatican.

• Entry and photography: Entry to the chapel is via the Vatican Museums and is part of a timed-ticket programme; photography is prohibited inside the chapel.
• Papal use: The chapel was built in the late 15th century during the papacy of Sixtus IV and retains its role for papal ceremonies, including the conclave held in the Sistine Chapel.

What to See #

• Ceiling frescoes: A series of ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, covering the chapel vault with scenes from Genesis including the Creation of Adam.
• The Last Judgment: A large wall fresco painted by Michelangelo between 1536 and 1541 depicting the Second Coming and the Last Judgment on the altar wall of the chapel.
• Side wall frescoes: Side-wall frescoes by earlier Renaissance painters such as Botticelli, Perugino and Ghirlandaio that illustrate episodes from the lives of Moses and Christ.