Sistine Chapel

2 Pages 485 Words

The Sistine Chapel was built in 1473 under Pope Sixtus. It is most famous for it’s beautiful decorations and artwork. There are different colored marble floor mosaics, which are well known, but the paintings on the walls and ceilings are the chapel’s most famous feature. Frescoes by many artists cover the walls depicting scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ. However the most famous achievements in the chapel are the artwork of Michelangelo. Across the ceilings he painted nine episodes from genesis that are representations of the stages of creation and man’s temptation and fall. Below these scenes are the scenes of figures and prophets with episodes from the Old Testament, all designed for the salvation of Christianity. The last great work in the chapel was Michelangelo’s Last Judgment on the altar wall.
Over the following years the wall accumulated soot and animal glues from previous restorers. By 1980 cleaning and restoration of Michelangelo’s frescoes began. Before beginning the restoration, computers were used to map every single inch of the 2,732-square-foot ceiling. A huge movable scaffold was used to test the areas, much like the one Michelangelo used while painting. After all the testing was done, full restorations were in progress.
The dull, dark ceilings of the Sistine chapel no longer exist. The vivid colors provide a new way of looking at Michelangelo’s work. It took restorers a total of fourteen years (from 1981 to 1995) to remove the centuries’ worth of grime and decay.
The restoration of the chapel is often called the restoration of the century. But it was followed by much controversy. After restoration was completed many people argued and were upset, saying that the restorers had distorted and destroyed all of the frescoes. Some people even said that it has been ruined. They complained that Michelangelo had used a second coat of paint to soften the colors and that the restorer...