courtyard in the Vatican Museum

entrance to the Vatican Museum

along the Tiber River

Michelangelo’s Last Judgment

photo of a poster about the ceiling

This is a photo of a section of the ceiling

Diagram of the fresco decoration of the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

The Trials of Moses by Sandro Botticelli

The fresco shows several episodes of Moses' youth, taken from Exodus. It parallels the fresco on the opposite wall, also by Botticelli, which depicts the Temptations of Jesus. The frieze has the inscription TEMPTATIO MOISI LEGIS SCRIPTAE LATORIS.

On the right is Moses killing the Egyptian who had harassed a Hebrew, and fleeing to the desert (a parallel with the episode of Jesus defeating the Devil). In the next episode Moses fights the shepherds who were preventing Jethro's daughters (including his future wife, Zipporah) to water their cattle at the pit, and then takes the water for them. In the third scene, in the upper left corner, Moses removes his shoes and then receives from God the task to return to Egypt and free his people. Finally, in the lower left corner, he drives the Jews to the Promised Land.

Moses is always distinguishable in the scenes by his yellow dress and the green cloak.

Moses Leaving to go to Egypt by Pietro Perugino and his workshop

The painting shows Moses (dressing in yellow and green as in the other frescoes of the cycle) leaving for Egypt, after he had been exiled from Midian. In the center, an angel asks him to circumcise his son Eliezer (scene on the right), as a sign of the alliance between Yahweh and the Israelites. The baptism, depicted on the opposite fresco, was in fact considered by several early Christian writers, including Augustine, as a kind of "spiritual circumcision". The ceremony is on the right, held at the presence of Moses' wife, Zipporah.

In the right background Moses and Zipporah are greeting Jethro before leaving. Natural elements include the hill landscape in the background, characterized by thin trees (including a palm, a symbol of Christian sacrifice), and the birds: two of them are mating, an allusion to the renovations cycles of the nature. On the left background is a group of shepherds. The dames with flying dresses were a common element of Florentine early Renaissance painting, used also by Ghirlandaio and Botticelli.

Moses’s Testament and Death by Luca Signorelli (1482)

The fresco portrays the last episode in Moses' life, in two sectors: a foreground one including two scenes, and a background one, with three further scenes and, on the right, a landscape. Moses is always recognizable through his yellow garments and the green cloak, as in the rest of the cycle. The artist made an extensive use of gold painting.

On the background Moses, on the Mount Nebo, receives by an angel the command baton, which gives him the authority to lead the Israelites towards the Promised Land. Below, Moses descends from the mountain with the baton in his hand, similarly to Cosimo Rosselli's Descent from Mount Sinai nearby. In the foreground, on the right, is a 120-year-old Moses speaking at the crowd while holding the baton and a Holy Book: rays of light stem from his head. At his feet is the Ark of the Covenant, opened to show the Twelve Tables and the vase of the Manna. In the center, the procession includes a woman holding a child on her shoulders, wearing silk, an elegant youth portrayed from behind and a naked man sitting. The latter two characters are attributed to Luca Signorelli, as well as the man with a stick next the throne of Moses.

On the left is the appointment of Joshua as Moses' successor; the former kneels to receive the command baton, while the prophet has his cloak opened, showing a red-lined interior. Finally, on the left background, is the corpse of Moses on a shroud, surrounded by the dismayed Israelites.

Punishment of the Rebels by Sandro Botticelli

The painting depicts three episodes and tells of a rebellion by the Hebrews against Moses and Aaron. On the right the rebels attempt to stone Moses after becoming disenchanted by their trials on their emigration from Egypt. Joshua has placed himself between the rebels and Moses, protecting him from the stoning. The center scene shows the rebellion with Korah and the conspirators being driven out by Moses and Aaron, as high priest wearing the papal diadem. To the left, the ground opens and the two principal conspirators sink into it. The children of Korah are spared the fate of their father.

The intended message of the painting is clear, no one should doubt the authority of the Pope over the Church. The power of the papacy was constantly being questioned at the time.

The Temptation of Christ by Sandro Botticelli (1482)

The Temptations of Christ depicts three episodes from the gospels, in parallel with the painting on the opposite wall, also by Botticelli, showing the Trials of Moses. A frieze, similar to that beneath the other frescos, has the inscription TEMPTATIO IESU CHRISTI LATORIS EVANGELICAE LEGIS ("The Temptations of Christ, Bringer of the Evangelic Law").

The subject of the title takes place in three scenes in the upper section of the fresco. On the left, Jesus, who has been fasting, is tempted by the Devil, in the guise of a hermit, to turn stones into bread. In the second scene of temptation, at the upper centre of the picture, the Devil has carried Jesus to the top of the temple of Jerusalem, represented by the facade of the Church of the Hospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome. The Devil tempts Jesus to challenge God's promise that he will be protected by angels, by throwing himself down. In the third temptation, to the upper right, the Devil has taken Jesus to a high mountain where he shows him the beauties of the Earth. The Devil promises Jesus power over this domain, if he will deny God and bow down to the Devil. Jesus sends the Devil away from him, while angels come to minister to him.

In the foreground, a man whom Jesus has healed of leprosy presents himself to the High Priest at the temple, so that he may be pronounced clean. The young man carries a basin of water, in which is a bough of hyssop. A woman brings two fowls for sacrifice and another woman brings cedar wood. These three ingredients were part of the ritual of cleansing of a leper. The high priest may symbolize Moses, who transmitted the Law, and the young man may symbolically represent Christ, who, according to the Gospels, was wounded and slain for the benefit of mankind, and healed through the Resurrection so that mankind might also be made spiritually clean, and receive salvation. In Christian symbolism, many stories, such as the healing of the leper, are perceived to prefigure the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, or other events in his life.

Baptism of Christ by Pietro Perugino (1482)

The scene follows a symmetrical pattern, typical of Perugino. In the center is the Jordan River flowing towards the observer and reaching the feet of Jesus and John, who is baptizing the former. A dove, symbol of the Holy Spirit, descends from the sky; it is sent by God, represented within a luminous cloud and flanked by flying seraphims and cherubims. The landscape includes a symbolic view of Rome, recognizable by a triumphal arch, the Colosseum and the Pantheon. The thin trees are typical of the Umbrian school and of Perugino in particular.

At the sides are two secondary episodes: the Baptist (left) and Jesus (right) preaching at the crowd. The central scene also features two kneeling angels who are keeping a towel: these are elements inspired by Flemish paintings, and can be seen in works by Hugo van der Goes and in the Portinari Triptych. At the sides, in the foreground, are portraits of contemporary characters, normally rare in Perugino, but in this case spurred by their presence in the works by Ghirlandaio, who was also working in the Sistine Chapel.

The fresco is surmounted by a frieze with the signature OPVS PETRI PERVSINI · CASTRO PLEBIS.

The Sermon on the Mount by Cosimo Rosselli (1481)

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus handed out the rules that would become the Christian guidelines. Opposite this fresco Rosselli made a fresco where Moses receives the Tables with the Law: the Jewish guidelines. In the Sermon on the Mount, placed directly opposite the Moses painting, Rosselli used a similar compositional arrangement to emphasize the comparison between the two scenes from scripture. The mountain scene at the center top is now occupied by the Church, the place where God can now be found and from which see the figure of Christ coming down towards us. At the center of the painting, Christ delivers the Sermon on the Mount to a large crowd at left, while the Apostles huddle behind him. At the right we see Jesus curing a leper.

The Vocation of the Apostles by Domenico Ghirlandaio and workshop (1481)

The scene of the Vocation shows, above a lake in a wide mountainous valley, the fishermen Peter and Andrew (on the left) in the moment in which they are called by Jesus, who stands on the shore. A few moments later, the two are behind Jesus on the opposite shore (on the right), while the latter calls James and John, who are restoring the nets on their father Zebedee's boat, in the center of the scene.

In the foreground are Peter and Andrew, already dressed in cloaks with their traditional colors (yellow or orange for Peter, green for Andrew). They are kneeling beside Christ who solemnly blesses them. An original element of the fresco is the presence of a multitude of beholders, portrayed in contemporary clothes. Their faces were those of the Florentine community in Rome, who resided near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

At the left is a white bearded man, perhaps a literate from Constantinople who was also used as model for the St. Jerome in His Study in the church of Ognissanti in Florence. At the center, just behind Jesus, is the portrait of Diotisalvi Neroni, who had taken refuge in Rome after plotting against Piero di Cosimo de' Medici. Another exile from Constantinople is John Argyropoulos, who appears on the right. Other characters on the right are members of the Tornabuoni family.

The Last Supper by Cosimo Rosselli (1481-1482)

The scene is part of the Stories of Jesus cycle and, like the others, shows more than an episode at the same time. The frieze has the inscription REPLICATIO LEGISEVANGELICAEA CHRISTO. The supper is set in a semi-circular apse, with a horseshoe-shaped table at whose center sits Jesus, sided by the apostles. Judas, as usual, is depicted on the side, from behind: the fighting cat and dog are elements which further stress his negative connotation. The scene shows the moment immediately after Jesus' annunciation that one apostle would betray him. His hearers' reactions include touching their own chest, or mumbling one with each other.

Detail.
The table has no meals, but a single chalice in front of Jesus; some gilted or silvered kitchenware is shown in the foreground, an example of still life inspired by contemporary Flemish painting and widespread in Florentine art at the time. At the sides, are two couples of figures dressing rich garments. Another dog is jumping on the left.

Within the three windows behind the table are three scenes of the Passion: the Prayer at Gethsmane, the Arrest of Jesus and the Crucifixion. These are attributed by some authorities to Biagio d'Antonio. Perugino used the same panel-within-a-panel effect in his later Last Supper.

The Delivery of the Keys by Perugino (1481-1482)

The scene, part of the series of the Stories of Jesus on the chapel's northern wall, is a reference to Matthew 16 in which the "keys of the kingdom of heaven" are given to Saint Peter. These keys represent the power to forgive and to share the word of God thereby giving them the power to allow others into heaven. The main figures are organized in a frieze in two tightly compressed rows close to the surface of the picture and well below the horizon. The principal group, showing Christ handing the silver and gold keys to the kneeling St. Peter, is surrounded by the other Apostles, including Judas (fifth figure to the left of Christ), all with halos, together with portraits of contemporaries, including one said to be a self-portrait (fifth from the right edge). The flat, open square is divided by coloured stones into large foreshortened rectangles, although they are not used in defining the spatial organization. Nor is the relationship between the figures and the felicitous invention of the porticoed Temple of Solomon that dominates the picture effectively resolved. The triumphal arches at the extremities appear as superfluous antiquarian references, suitable for a Roman audience. Scattered in the middle distance are two secondary scenes from the life of Christ, including the Tribute Money on the left and the Stoning of Christ on the right.

Detail of the central building.
The style of the figures is inspired by Andrea del Verrocchio. The active drapery, with its massive complexity, and the figures, particularly several apostles, including St. John the Evangelist, with beautiful features, long flowing hair, elegant demeanour, and refinement recall St Thomas from Verrocchio's bronze group in Orsanmichele. The poses of the actors fall into a small number of basic attitudes that are consistently repeated, usually in reverse from one side to the other, signifying the use of the same cartoon. They are graceful and elegant figures who tend to stand firmly on the earth. Their heads are smallish in proportion to the rest of their bodies, and their features are delicately distilled with considerable attention to minor detail.

Detail.
The octagonal temple of Jerusalem and its porches that dominates the central axis must have had behind it a project created by an architect, but Perugino's treatment is like the rendering of a wooden model, painted with exactitude. The building with its arches serves as a backdrop in front of which the action unfolds. Perugino has made a significant contribution in rendering the landscape. The sense of an infinite world that stretches across the horizon is stronger than in almost any other work of his contemporaries, and the feathery trees against the cloud-filled sky with the bluish-gray hills in the distance represent a solution that later painters would find instructive, especially Raphael.

The building in the center is similar to that painted by Perugino's pupil Pinturicchio in his Stories of St. Bernardino in the Bufalini Chapel of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, as well as to that in Marriage of the Virgin by Perugino himself.

The Creation of Sun, Moon, and Plants by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1511)

It is the second scene in the chronological sequence on the ceiling, depicting the third and fourth day of the Creation narrative. On the left, God is depicted from behind, extending his arm towards a bush, alluding to the plant world. On the right, God points and divides the sun and moon in the heavens (or hurls them into orbit). The faint moon is on the right side, touched by the God's left hand. The God's face expresses the stupendous force needed for the creation of the abode of living beings. The abstract patterns of drapery emphasize the motion of both figures of God.

Separation of Light From Darkness by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512)

In the Separation of Light from Darkness, the image of God is framed by four ignudi and by two shields or medallions. The ignudi are young, nude males that Michelangelo painted as supporting figures at each corner of the five smaller narrative scenes along the center of the ceiling. There are a total of 20 ignudi. These figures are all different and appear less constrained within their space than the Ancestors of Christ or the Bronze Nudes. In the earliest frescoes painted by Michelangelo toward the entrance of the Sistine chapel, the ignudi are paired, and their poses are similar but with minor variations. The variations in the poses increase with each set until the poses of the final set of four ignudi in the Separation of Light from Darkness bear no relation to each other.

Although the meaning of these figures has never been completely clear, the Sistine scholar Heinrich Pfeiffer has proposed that the four ignudi associated with the Separation of Light from Darkness represent day and night, which echo the theme of light and darkness. For instance, he points out that the ignudo next to God's right hand (on the side of darkness) is stretching as if awakening from sleep in the morning, that the diagonally opposed ignudo below God's knee (on the side of light) is carrying a heavy bundle of oak garlands on his shoulders, representing a daytime activity, and that the ignudo next to God's left arm is falling asleep and signifies nighttime. Pfeiffer and other scholars have also suggested that in Michelangelo's Sistine iconography the ignudi represent angels and that the Bronze Nudes below the ignudi are fallen angels.


Contrapposto pose in Michelangelo's David. The shoulders of the figure are seen to angle in one direction, the pelvis in another.
Two shields or medallions accompany each set of four ignudi in the five smaller Genesis panels along the center of the Sistine ceiling. They are often described as painted to resemble bronze. Each is decorated with a picture from either the Old Testament or the Book of Maccabees from the Apocrypha. The subjects of the shields are often violent. In the Separation of Light from Darkness the shield above God shows Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac (Genesis 22:9–12), and the one below God shows the prophet Elijah as he is carried up to heaven in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11).

At the center of the composition, God is shown in contrapposto rising into the sky, with arms outstretched separating the light from the darkness. Michelangelo employed in this fresco the challenging ceiling fresco technique of sotto in su ("from below, upward"), which makes a figure appear as if it is rising above the viewer by using foreshortening. The contrapposto pose was also used by Michelangelo in the David. It is reported that Michelangelo painted this fresco in a single giornata, that is, a single working day of approximately eight hours. During Michelangelo's lifetime, this fresco was considered evidence of the painter's technical prowess at its peak. For instance, Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), Michelangelo's student and biographer, wrote in 1550:

"Furthermore, to demonstrate the perfection of his art and the greatness of God, Michelangelo depicted God dividing the light from darkness in these scenes, where He is seen in all His majesty as He sustains himself alone with open arms with the demonstration of love and creative energy.

Art historians have noted several unusual features of this fresco. Andrew Graham-Dixon has pointed out that God has exaggerated pectoral muscles suggestive of female breasts, which he interprets as Michelangelo's attempt to illustrate "male strength but also the fecundity of the female principle." In addition it has been noted that the anatomy of God's neck is too complex and does not resemble the normal contour of the neck. The lighting scheme of the image has been noted to be inconsistent; whereas the entire scene is illuminated from the bottom left, God's neck appears to have a different light source from the right.

The Prophet Jonah by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1508-1512)

This particular fresco is painted above the High Altar, as the person of Jonah is of prophetic significance in Christianity. Behind the figure of Jonah, Michelangelo has painted a large fish, a reference to the story of Jonah, in which he is swallowed by a whale.

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1512)

God is depicted as an elderly white-bearded man wrapped in a swirling cloak while Adam, on the lower left, is completely nude. God's right arm is outstretched to impart the spark of life from his own finger into that of Adam, whose left arm is extended in a pose mirroring God's, a reminder that man is created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). Another point is that Adam's finger and God's finger are not touching. It gives the impression that God, the giver of life, is reaching out to Adam who has yet to receive it; they are not on "the same level" as would be two humans shaking hands, for instance.

Many hypotheses have been formulated regarding the identity and meaning of the figures around God. The person protected by God's left arm might be Eve due to the figure's feminine appearance and gaze towards Adam, but was also suggested to be Virgin Mary, Sophia, the personified human soul, or an angel of feminine build.

The Creation of Adam is generally thought to depict the excerpt "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him" (Gen 1:27). The inspiration for Michelangelo's treatment of the subject may come from a medieval hymn called Veni Creator Spiritus, which asks the 'finger of the paternal right hand' (digitus paternae dexterae) to give the faithful speech.

The Prophet Joel by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1508-1512)

This particular fresco imagines the person of Joel, a prophet from the Hebrew Bible, whose teachings appear in the Book of Joel. Critics have often commented on the rhythmic posture of the figure, and the artist's use of several inner horizontal lines for the clothing, which stands out when compared to some of the other frescoes. But the most engaging part of the fresco is the face of the central figure, which appears to reveal wisdom, disdain and intense focus all at once; the open scroll in his hands only enhancing this sense of wisdom.

The Prophet Jeremiah by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1508-1512)

This particular fresco is the first one on the left from the side of the High Altar. The person of Jeremiah is imagined as lost in anguished meditation. Although the painting portrays Jeremiah as lamenting over the Destruction of Jerusalem, critics have interpreted the figure as a self-portrait by Michelangelo, with the artist lamenting over the weight of his sins.

The Prophet Isaiah by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1508-1512)

This particular fresco figure is painted fourth on the right from the side of the High Altar. Michelangelo's imagining bursts with movement, as Isaiah's cloak swirls around him. The colors in the portrayal – especially after the restoration – strike us as cool and luminous. The figure holds a distinctive blue book to his side, perhaps a depiction of the biblical Book of Isaiah.

This painting has been held in particularly high regard by critics. Vasari said of it: "Anyone who studies this figure, copied so faithfully from nature, the true mother of the art of painting, will find a beautifully composed work capable of teaching in full measure all the precepts to be followed by a good painter". If compared to Raphael's imagining of the same figure, Michelangelo's portrayal seems far more fluid and less muscular, as well as brighter in color.

Self Portrait by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1506)

Raphael–whom Michelangelo greatly disliked–was highly conscious that his work would be seen beside the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which had been finished only two years before, and took great care perfecting his designs, which are among his largest and most complicated. Originally the set was intended to include 16 tapestries. Raphael was paid twice by Leo, in June 1515 and December 1516, the last payment apparently being upon completion of the work. Tapestries retained their Late Gothic prestige during the Renaissance Most of the expense was in the manufacture: although the creation of the tapestries in Brussels cost 15,000 ducats, Raphael was paid only 1,000.

The cartoons (patterns for the tapestries) are painted in a glue distemper medium on many sheets of paper glued together (as can be seen in the full-size illustrations); they are now mounted on a canvas backing. They are all slightly over 3 m (3 yd) tall, and from 3 to 5 m (3 to 5 yd) wide; the figures are therefore over-lifesize. Although some colours have faded, they are in general in very good condition. The tapestries are mirror-images of the cartoons, as they were worked from behind; Raphael's consciousness of this in his designs appears to be intermittent. Raphael's workshop would have assisted in their completion; they were finished with great care, and actually show a much more subtle range of colouring than was capable of being reproduced in a tapestry. Some small preparatory drawings also survive: one for The Conversion of the Proconsul is also in the Royal Collection, and the Getty Museum in Malibu has a figure study of St Paul Rending His Garments. There would have been other drawings for all the subjects, which have been lost; it was from these that the first prints were made.

The seven cartoons were probably completed in 1516 and were then sent to Brussels, where the Vatican tapestries were woven by the workshop of Pieter van Aelst. Various other sets were made later, including one acquired by Henry VIII of England in 1542; King Francis I of France had another of similar date. Cartoons were sometimes returned with tapestries to the commissioner, but this clearly did not happen here. The tapestries had very wide and elaborate borders, also designed by Raphael, which these cartoons omit; presumably they had their own cartoons. The borders included ornamentation in an imitation of Ancient Roman relief sculpture and carved porphyry. The tapestries were made with both gold and silver thread; some were later burnt by soldiers in the Sack of Rome in 1527 to extract the precious metals. The first delivery was in 1517, and seven were displayed in the Chapel for Christmas Day in 1519 (then as now, their display was reserved for special occasions).

Raphael knew that the final product of his work would be produced by craftsmen rendering his design in another medium; his efforts are therefore entirely concentrated on strong compositions and broad effects, rather than felicitous handling or detail. It was partly this that made the designs so effective in reduced print versions. The Raphael of the cartoons was revered by The Carracci, but the great period of their influence began with Nicolas Poussin, who borrowed heavily from them and "indeed exaggerated Raphael's style; or rather concentrated it, for he was working on a much smaller scale". Thereafter they remained the touchstone of one approach to history painting until at least the early 19th century – the Raphael whose influence the Pre-Raphaelites wanted to reject was perhaps above all the Raphael of the cartoons.

Self Portrait by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1506)

St. Paul Preaching in Athens by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

The Drought of the Fishes by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

Healing the Lame Man by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

Christ’s Charge to Peter by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

Tapestry Made for The Death of Ananias by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)
The tapestry is a mirror image of the original, since it was used on the backside of the cloth as they were making the tapestry.

The Death of Ananias by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

The Sacrifice at Alystra by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

The Conversion of the Proconsul by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1515)

Sculpted Sphere in the courtyard of the Vatican Museum

The Entombment by Michelangelo Caravaggio

Piet by Giovanni Bellini

Stefaneschi Triptych by Giotto di Bondone

St. Jerome in the Wilderness by Leonardo da Vinci

Christ in Glory by Antonio da Correggio

Madonna of Foligno by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

Adoration of the Magi by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

Decemviri Altarpiece by Pietro Perugino

The Crowning of the Virgin by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

The Annunciation by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

Presentation in the Temple by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

Madonna of Frari by Titian (Tiziano Vecelli)

Doge Marcello by Titian (Tiziano Vecelli)

Transfiguration by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino)

detail of marble column

The Vision of St. Helena by Paolo Veronese

Spiral stairs of the Vatican Museums, designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932.

altar?

detail of ceiling

small statues against the wall

tapestries

small statues against the wall

tapestries

ceiling detail

corridor ceiling

tapestries

ceiling detail

molded ceiling

These are grills in the floor through which you can see the tombs of the Popes in the catacombs

pulpit

Swiss guards