Art in the Round: 500th Anniversary of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Frescoes

Of course, Michelangelo had made his name as a sculptor, producing such works as the Pietà, also housed in the Vatican, and the paradigm of human anatomy, David, housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. In fact, Michelangelo was reluctant to take on the Sistine project, though Pope Julius II knew from Michelangelo’s years as an apprentice—which began when he was just 13—that the artist was a fine draughtsman and painter. And when he did agree to work on the ceiling, Michelangelo went above and beyond what the Pope requested, painting over 300 figures on the ceiling instead of just the 12 apostles. Learn more about Michelangelo’s transition to fresco painting with a biography from Michelangelo.com, a Web design and production studio.

Excerpted from a new book, “Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel,” Andrew Graham-Dixon’s account of Michelangelo’s life in Britain’s Daily Mail reflects the toil and drama surrounding his work for Pope Julius II, who demanded the ceiling be finished quickly and flogged Michelangelo when he pronounced he would finish it “when I can.”

The Sistine Chapel finally opened to the public in 1512, four years after Michelangelo began his work. The History Channel remembers the event in a “This Day in History” video available on AOL, noting that many of the faces of the figures on the ceiling appear to be self-portraits of the artist himself.

Just one element of the expansive and busy fresco is “The Creation of Adam,” which steals the show as the most impressive piece of artwork on the ceiling. God and his attendant angels glide toward Adam, imbuing him with the divine spark. While the event had been depicted in art before, Michelangelo conveyed his “great intellectual ability to reimagine an old subject.” More information and photos are available in a HowStuffWorks article on the Sistine Chapel paintings.

Over the years, the Sistine Chapel has inspired the composition and performance of new and remarkable music. In “Composing for the Pope,” NPR Music looks at (and listens to) the works of composers commissioned for the Sistine Chapel Choir, which was formed in the late 1400s and consisted of 24 male singers singing four parts. Music historian Robert Greenberg says the Sistine Chapel ushered in the “golden age of papal music patronage,” even though the era of the Gregorian chant (named for Pope Gregory I) is traditionally more revered. Listen to a Gregorian chant and some works of 15th-century composers Josquin Desprez and Giovanni Palestrina on NPR’s site.