Michelangelo, fresco painter against his will: The Sistine Chapel in Rome: the master's ceiling explained
The Sistine Chapel: From Rome to The Hague, The Netherlands
In the summer of 2024, the Grote Kerk in The Hague had been transformed into the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Almost all the subjects on the ceiling of the chapel stood or hung full-size - and more than life-size - in razor-sharp prints inside the church. You couldn't get any closer! While walking around, I also discovered the piece of drapery I painted earlier from a sketch I found on the Internet that turned out to be a preparation for Michelangelo's Eritrean sibyl in the Sistine Chapel (see opening image).
What an opportunity to be able to see all these works up close. I photographed everything and thought of making an article about it so anyone who would like to visit the Sistine Chapel in Rome could do this with this article in hand were you are looking at, because in reality the works in Rome hang at a height of twenty meters.
Overview photo of the exhibition in the Grote Kerk in The Hague in the summer of 2024
In this article you will read about Michelangelo's working method (1), you will get an explanation of the iconographic program: what do these images represent based on an overview photo with numbers (2) and then you will get to see each part of the immens work with a brief explanation. (3).
1. Michelangelo's working method
Grumbling, the great Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) began the task given to him in 1508 by Pope Julius II (1443-1513) - in addition to being the most belligerent pope, also the greatest patron of art among Renaissance popes - of decorating the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The chapel is part of the Apostolic Palace in the heart of the Vatican in Rome, right next to St. Peter's Basilica. Julius' predecessor Sixtus IV (1414-1484) was the commissioner - hence the name - and after three years of construction, the chapel was completed in 1480. It is still the place where cardinals conclave after the death of a sitting pope to choose a new pope, which happenend recently after the death of pope Francis.
Nineteenth-century engraving by G. Tognetti, showing an impression of the Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo started the work.
After the chapel is completed, a number of fifteenth-century painters, including the young Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) and Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448-1494) and under the direction of master Pietro Perugino (1446-1523), fresco the walls all around with scenes from the life of Moses and of Jesus. One level higher, between the windows, the chapel receives thirty-two frescoes of popes dressed in brightly colored robes. The sections above the windows - the lunettes - are left clear, and the vault above them is decorated as a bright blue sky with gold stars.
The chapel has a rectangular ground shape and is about 40 meters long, 13 meters wide and 20 meters high. The measurements are derived from the famous Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, the first temple according to the Hebrew Bible. If you divide the height by the width, you get 1.61: the golden ratio, which aesthetically is considered the optimal ratio in architecture and art. Now the pope wants to enliven the ceiling - the lunettes above the popes, the triangular sections above the windows and the vault - with frescoes depicting stories from the Old Testament, surrounded by portraits of sibyls - future-predicting priestesses from classical antiquity -, Old Testament prophets and Christ's ancestors. It was up to Michelangelo to make this a reality.
Grumbling because Michelangelo is no sunshine in the house. From the age of fifteen, his somewhat somber mood shines through in surviving letters to his family. He is also known for his cool and suspicious nature. And this commission is also not at all according to plan. After all, Julius commissioned Michelangelo in 1505 to design his tomb, a sculptural and architectural ensemble with as many as 40 statues, and that's what he wants to do: sculpting. But the fickle Julius stops paying him for it so he has to go to work on the chapel, hoping he can then finish the tomb. later on.
Michelangelo has little experience in fresco painting, although he was trained as a painter by Grandmaster Ghirlandaio. It seems an impossible job to fresco an area of four thousand square meters with so little experience. The technique itself is simple, but also difficult to execute. You work on a wet plaster layer that absorbs the pigments so that - while drying - they are absorbed into the wall. Because the plaster dries so quickly, you never apply more plaster than a painter can paint in one part of the day: the giornate. Subsequent changes are not possible; if a mistake is made, the plaster has to come off and you can start all over again.
Beforehand, the artist makes a sketch, called a ‘carton’, which must be transferred to the applied (wet) plaster. The carton is lightly fastened at the corners and holes are punctured in the contours of the figures on the sketch, through which charcoal powder is spun. Alternatively, the outlines can be pressed into the plaster with a sharp object, such as the tip of an engraving pen, leaving an impression. Then the ‘coloring’’, the actual painting, can begin.
Before Michelangelo can begin at all, he has to fix a lot. First, the old plaster has to come off. And how on earth will he get to the ceiling? A scaffold from the ground would have to be no less than twenty meters high but at the same time the aisles must also remain clear, because the activities in the chapel continue as usual. He devise a system of supports on either side of the narrow side of the chapel above the popes' paintings on which a number of arches fitt with steps can be placed. These will function - contiguously - as a kind of bridge so that the plasterers and painters can reach all parts of the ceiling.
Rough sketch made by Michelangelo of the scaffolding (Ross King, p. 69).
When part of the ceiling is finished, the whole thing is moved to the adjacent section. Michelangelo doesn't like potholes either. A huge canvas under the bridges and stretched over the entire area ensures that nothing of the work can be seen from below and life can go on as usual there. Torch holders ensure that work can also be done in the evening; an eight-hour working day was not yet known. Once all this is done, the work can begin. Alternate assistants will help him but he does most of the work himself.
The start is laborious but slowly he gains momentum, although the pope remains very impatient. The story goes that he hits Michelangelo with a stick after which Michelangelo tries to push the pope down the stairs. He is also said to have thrown planks at the pope. Anyway: after four and a half years, the work was finished in 1512.
The chapel after Michelangelo completes his work in 1512, with The Last Judgement in the distance, which will not be finished until 1541.
The pope - as mentioned above - wanted the ceiling to be illuminated with stories from the Old Testament, surrounded by portraits of sibyls, Old Testament prophets and Christ's ancestors. It seems likely that the choice of these Old Testament stories came from the pope. It also seems that Michelangelo - by the way he has depicted the parts - was given a free hand to do so, that is, without prescriptions as to how things should look. He goes - it seems - entirely his Michelangelonesque own way.
2. The iconographic program
On this image below you can see the ceiling. Each image is numbered. These numbers are referred to in the explanation below how the iconographic program is structured.
In the corners of the ceiling are four scenes from the Old Testament: from the upper left through the right corners to the lower left: Judith and Holofernes (No. 1), The copper serpent (No. 11), The punishment of Haman (No. 13) and the story of David and Goliath (No. 23). In between you will find surrounding images of seven prophets interspersed with five sibyls. The prophets are Isaiah (No. 4), Daniel (No. 8), Jonah (No. 12), Jeremiah (No. 14), Ezekiel (No. 18), Joel (No. 22) and Zechariah (No. 24). The sibyls are those of Delphi (No. 2), Cumae (No. 6), Libya (No. 10), Persia (No. 16) and Eritrea (No. 20). Both groups, the sibyls and the prophets, convey messages from deities or God as a kind of intermediary. They predict the coming of a savior of the world and how he will fare. The choice of the two groups would be intended to indicate that the Messiah (Jesus Christ) is not only a savior of the Jews - predicted by the prophets - but also a savior of the non-Jews, predicted by the sibyls.
Along the edges and between the prophets and sibyls, Michelangelo paints eight lunettes (window pieces) with - above and connected to them - eight triangular images. These are the forefathers of Christ: Josiah (No. 3), Ezechias (No. 5), Asa (No. 7), Jesse (No. 9), Salmon (No. 15), Roboam (No. 17), Uzziah (No. 19) and Zerubbabel (No. 21). I leave out the lunettes here because in the remainder of this piece these images are not photographed nor visible in the above image.
The triangular frescoes always involve images with several figures that Michelangelo presents as small families: a father, a mother and one or two small children. Supposedly, he thereby refers, or rather points ahead - prefigures - to the Holy Family of Mary and Joseph, into which the child Jesus was born. Remarkably, Michelangelo thereby also depicts foremothers, even though they do not appear on the name plates. By the way, these are not necessarily cheerful scenes from everyday life; they also illustrate its gravity.
In the central part of the ceiling, Michelangelo depicts parts of the book of Genesis in groups of three:
1. The creation of the universe dominated by God as the main figure with the separation of
light and darkness (33); the creation of the sun, moon and plants (32) and the separation of
land and water (31);
2. The fall and rebirth of man through the stories of Noah with Noah's sacrifice (27), the flood
(26) and Noah's drunkenness (25);
3. The creation of man and original sin, with man and woman as main characters: the creation
of Adam (30), the creation of Eve (29) and the fall of man and expulsion from paradise
(28).
Only much later, between 1536 and 1541, would Michelangelo add his vision of the Last Judgment, on the west wall of the chapel.
3. The ceiling picture by picture
No. 1. Old Testament story: Judith and Holofernes
The story of the Jewish Judith and the Babylonian Holofernes comes from the (apocryphal) Old Testament book of Judith. The army of Holofernes, a general of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, besieges the Jewish city of Bethulia (Betylua) 600 BCE. To protect the city from the impending conquest, Judith, a devout Jewish widow, goes to the enemy camp with her maidservant Abra. After three days, Holofernes thinks he can seduce her, but at dinner he drinks too much and falls asleep, which gives her the opportunity to behead him, aided by her maid Abra. Michelangelo depicts the scene just after the beheading as the women sneak away, carrying Holofernes' head on a plate with them.
No. 2. Sibyl of Delphi
This sibyl is a priestess or medium associated with the oracle of Delphi. She reads a text on a scroll of parchment and then suddenly hears a voice. She predicts that the future savior will be ridiculed with a crown of thorns. Michelangelo often depicts the sibyls - as well as the prophets - moving about, here she turns her head as if seeing or hearing something.
No. 3. Ancestor Josiah
Josiah, he is only 8 years old, becomes king of Judah, the kingdom around Jerusalem founded by David, in 649 BCE. He dies on the battlefield in 609, and with his death the kingdom loses its independence. According to the prophet Jeremiah, he is the last king of significance, and Matthew mentions him in his gospel in the tribal lineage of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul identifies the ancestors as pilgrims: strangers, resting while on their way to the promised land, which apparently inspired Michelangelo to depict them resting here.
No. 4. Prophet Isaiah
The prophet Isaiah predicts the sacrificial death of the Messiah. He lives in the eighth century B.C. in Judah. In this fresco, Isaiah holds the fingers of his right hand between the pages of his book, because he has stopped reading for a moment, but wants to continue later. He is distracted by a small figure behind him. Several persons or little persons always appear in Michelangelo's depictions of prophets and sibyls: they are messengers from God.
No. 5. Ancestor Ezechias
Ezechias, the son of King Achaz, is 25 years old when he becomes king of the southern kingdom of Judah, from 725 to 697 BCE. He rules in Jerusalem for 29 years and rebels against the Assyrian rulers leading to the destruction of large parts of his kingdom. Yet, alongside Josiah and David, the Bible writers see him as a good king: because he ensures that the people no longer worship idols, because of his continued trust in God and because of his reforms.
No. 6. Sibyl of Cumae
Michelangelo gives each of the five works with sibyls a distinct look. The female figures not only vary in pose and expression, but he also depicts them at different stages of life. The sibyl of Cumae is presented as an old lady with a wrinkled face. Ovid, the Roman poet, indicates that she is 700 years old. According to mythological stories, she lives near the city of Cuma near Naples.
No. 7. Ancestor Asa
King Asa is the great-great-grandson of King David and the third king of the southern kingdom of Judah. He succeeded his father Abia and reigned from 913 to 873 B.C. He is considered a good king who is actively involved in destroying idols. He also chases men who engage in prostitution in the temple out of the country. The scene is largely filled with a sleeping woman sitting on a white sack. The colorfulness of her dress contrasts with the shadow part behind her where a male figure and a child are visible. Is the man behind her Asa?
No. 8. Prophet Daniel
Michelangelo usually depicts the prophets and sibyls while reading. They hold scrolls or books symbolizing their activity: prophesying and recording those prophecies. He also depicts the prophet Daniel writing, recording God's message for future generations. Daniel is believed to have lived around 600 BCE. A descendant of the people of Israel, he works for many years as scribe to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and is especially valued for his ability to interpret dreams.
No. 9. Ancestor Jesse
Jesse is the father of the later King David, who will establish the kingdom of Judah. Again, the central figure is not a man - Jesse - but a female figure looking thoughtfully at the viewer. The way she supports her head with her hand is more often used by artists to express melancholy.
No. 10. Sibyl of Libya
The five sibyls are the counterparts of the biblical prophets and in ancient times, as mentioned earlier, they are revered for their predictive, prophetic abilities. They bear the name of their place of origin, seen on a sign under their feet. The Church interprets some of their prophecies as relating to the coming of Christianity. Michelangelo depicts the Sibyl of Libya as an elegant young woman. She holds an open book. On the left are two children, one of whom is holding a scroll.
No. 11. Old Testament story: the copper snake
When Moses leads the Jewish people out of Egypt, the people are plagued by snake bites because they disobey God and Moses. Moses, however, sets up a copper (or bronze) serpent and when you look at it, you are healed. The story is understood as an allegory - an image symbolizing something else - in this case, heretics. The unbeliever who looks at the copper serpent and thereby returns to true faith. The copper serpent is also seen as a foreshadowing of the crucifixion of Jesus and thus the God-given redemption. Michelangelo makes it a complex representation with more than twenty bodies wrestling with venomous snakes, demonstrating his great skill in depicting the human body.
No. 12. Prophet Jonah
The prophet Jonah, like the other six Biblical prophets, also announces the coming of a Messiah. The books of these prophets tell of their lives, explore their dreams and visions and form the fourth part of the Old Testament. Jonah is swallowed by a whale and escapes after three days and three nights: the same time Jesus spent in his tomb between his crucifixion and resurrection. Jonah's story is seen as a prefiguration - a preview - of events surrounding Jesus.
No. 13. Old Testament story: the punishment of Haman
This story comes from the book of Esther and is about the wicked Haman. This is the prime minister under the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus who wants to kill all the Jews living in the Persian kingdom because the Jew Mordechai will not bow down to him. But Queen Ester, the king's Jewish wife and a cousin of Mordechai, thwarts this. Haman and his sons are put to death on the pole they previously erected to kill Mordecai. Michelangelo shows Haman's execution by hanging. Instead of a scourged body, he shows the body as a study of male beauty.
No. 14. Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah is also called the ‘weeping prophet’. On the document to his left is AMEF: the beginning of the salutation of Jeremiah's lamentations in the Old Testament. Hence possibly his closed and averted face? Michelangelo depicts Jeremiah not as pensive about written text or alarmed by God's message, but in a worried mood, which he expresses by resting the prophet's head on his hand. Even the characters accompanying him in the background attest to his pain.
No. 15. Ancestor Salmon
This sculpture refers to King Salmon, the son of King David. Michelangelo again depicts these ancestors in a scene from everyday life. Again, the focus is on the figure of the mother cutting into fabric with scissors. Probably a quote from Salmon was his inspiration: that women's craftsmanship is an expression of their determination and sacred life. This distinguishes them positively from men, whom he considers passive.
No. 16. Sibyl of Persia.
This sibyl is also called the Babylonian or Chaldean sibyl. The book that the sibyl holds records her predictions of Christ's coming. Michelangelo depicts her as she turns away from the viewer, as if withdrawing from the real world to the spiritual world. Or is she reading to the two listeners behind her?
No. 17. Ancestor Roboam
Roboam, according to the Hebrew Bible, was the son of Solomon and grandson of David, and the first king of the kingdom of Judah, formed after the division of the united kingdom of Israel. This split followes a rebellion of the tribes in the north against the high taxes institutes by King Solomon, leading to the formation of an independent kingdom of Israel in the north, ruled by Jeroboam I, and the kingdom of Judah in the south, ruled by Roboam. Michelangelo again depicts a family group, the woman supporting her chin with her left hand while pondering ahead and holding the child with her right arm. In the background a male figure, Roboam?
No. 18. Prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel is a prophet who works in Babylonia from 593 to 571 B.C. He is an exile in Jerusalem. There he is in exile with part of the people of Jerusalem. His prophecies are found in the book of the Bible that bears his name. He is the son of a Jewish priest and is among the first group of Israelites that Nebuchadnezzar II leads to Babylon in 597 B.C., in the Babylonian Exile. He is a contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel, but works as a prophet only in Babylon, never in Israel or Judah. The book of Ezekiel shows that he is important in the Diaspora community. For example, he presides over the council of elders and the entire community speaks of him. His prophecies and visions are very evocative. For example, in the vision in which he is called as a prophet, he sees very special angels and other beings.
No. 19. Ancestor Ozias
Ozias, is also a king of Judah who descends from David. His name means ‘the Lord is my strength’. In the first half of the eightheenth century BCE, he ascends the throne at the age of 16 and rules for 52 years. Yet it is not just Ozias that Michelangelo depicts here; it appears to be a family with two children. Is Ozias the father? Or is one of the two children the future king Ozias? That is not clear here.
No. 20. Sibyl of Eritrea
This sibyl comes from the coastal town of Eritrea in present-day Turkey. She foretells many events in the life of Jesus, so much so that in the fourth century AD, Church Father Augustine refers to it in his book The City of God. Michelangelo here found his own way of depicting divine illumination in the form of a torch with which a small figure in the background lights an oil lamp.
No. 21. Ancestor Zerubbabel
Zerubbabel is governor of Judea under the Persians. Under his leadership, the Jewish temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt. Supposedly, he is a Babylonian Jew who returns to Jerusalem at the head of a group of Jewish exiles. As a descendant of the house of David, he rekindles Jewish messianic hopes.
No. 22. Prophet Joel
The Bible book Joel is named after the prophet Joel. All we know about this prophet is his name and that he has worked as a prophet in Judah and Jerusalem. We do not know when that was. Joel makes a warning prophecy after a disaster strikes the land: whole swarms of locusts eat the land bare so that it is almost impossible to live there anymore. Joel sees it as a sign: the locusts will be the beginning of the Day of the Lord, the day when God will judge the world. That day has already been predicted by the prophets Amos, Ezekiel and Sephaniah. And according to Joel, that day has now begun.
No. 23. Old Testament story: David and Goliath
The battle between the young shepherd David and the giant warrior Goliath is a symbolic representation of the struggle between the righteous and the seemingly invincible adversary. David goes into battle with Goliath, a warrior of the Philistines who threatens the Israelites. With courage, skill and God's support, he manages to defeat his opponent. Michelangelo's painting shows the moment of triumph, with Goliath already lying on the ground and David swinging his sword backward to cut off Goliath's head. The sling with which he killed Goliath lies on the ground.
No. 24. Prophet Zechariah
The portraits of the prophets are not randomly arranged. The depiction of Zechariah, for example, is placed directly above the entrance into the chapel. In fact, Zechariah prophesies that the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. His entrance into the city is mirrored by the faithful who will enter the Sistine Chapel. Zechariah is living in Jerusalem in the sixth century B.C.. Michelangelo depicts him as a venerable figure.
No. 25. Book of Genesis: Noah's drunkenness
The frescoes on the center section of the ceiling depict episodes from Genesis, the first book of Moses in the Old Testament. They begin with stories from Noah's life, the first is that of drunkenness. Noah, drunk on his own wine, falls asleep unclothed. His son Cham sees him and snidely brings in his brothers Shem and Japheth, but they do not want to see this and cover their naked father unseen. When Noah later learns of Cham's mockery, he chastises him. The story is interpreted as a prefiguration: a foreshadowing of the later mockery of Jesus.
No. 26. Book of Genesis: The Flood
The Flood is the great punishment God inflicts on mankind for its disobedience and sins. God makes it rain for forty days, destroying all life on earth. Beforehand, God warns Noah. He tells Noah that to survive, he must build a boat, an ark, for his family and all the animals, a couple of each species. They will know the water will sink when a dove will bring a branch of green:that’s the end of the flood. Michelangelo paints the ark in the background, while the dove at the top is already there. In the foreground a crowd of people trying in vain to save their loved ones and belongings from drowning. The Flood is seen as a prefiguration of baptism.
No. 27. Book of Genesis: The Sacrifice of Noah
This painting concludes the story of Noah. After God saves him from the Flood, Noah brings a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. Noah and his family stand around an altar and prepare the sacrifice of animals. Noah's sacrifice is interpreted as a foreshadowing of Christ's sacrifice: his death on the cross.
No. 28. Book of Genesis: The Fall of Man and the Expulsion from Paradise.
Here Michelangelo combines two successive scenes. On the left, the fall of man as Eve, at the behest of the battle, eats of the fruit of knowledge (the apple), which God had forbidden. This fresco by Michelangelo shows Adam reaching for the tree. Is he reaching for the fruit? Or is he sending the serpent away? On the right is the consequence: archangel Michael raises his sword to drive Adam and Eve out of paradise - the Garden of Eden - forever.
No. 29. Book of Genesis: The Creation of Eve
The Creation of Eve is the central fresco, in the center of the ceiling. Adam is immersed in a deep sleep while Eve, holding out her hand to God, is created from his rib. Michelangelo depicts God as an archaic father figure, looking intensely at Eve.
No. 30. Book of Genesis: The Creation of Adam
This is Michelangelo's most famous fresco. On the left, Adam lies seemingly nonchalant while from the right God rises as a dynamic figure. God, surrounded by a floating red robe, is surrounded by a variety of figures. The focal point is the center of the work, the two hands, where God almost, but just barely, touches Adam's hand: an unfinished contact. Sometimes the red robe is interpreted as the outline of the human brain. God has his arm wrapped around a woman. Would Michelangelo here be depicting Sophia, who figures in many passages in the Bible as a personification of divine wisdom?
No. 31. Book of Genesis: The Separation of Land and Water
Before God creates humanity, he turns his attention to creating the world. Michelangelo freely interprets how he does this although it is not entirely clear to the viewer how he separates land from water. Possibly pigments faded over time and more clues could be seen earlier. For example, fish were presumably visible among the floating God earlier.
No. 32. Book of Genesis: The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants
In this fresco, Michelangelo combines two scenes, each depicting God. The scene on the right represents the creation of the heavenly bodies, with God pointing his finger to create the sun and the smaller moon. The scene on the left also represents God but from behind. His hand points to some green plants below him, painted with light brush strokes. Are the bare buttocks a joke by Michelangelo?
No. 33. Book of Genesis: The separation of light and darkness
The separation of light and darkness is the first step in creation. Here it is the last in the series of frescoes seen on the vaulted ceiling. It shows God from below. With this choice, Michelangelo violates all visual conventions in force at the time. In theological terms, this first act of creation can be seen as a reference to the Last Judgment. It shows the separation of two principles: light and dark or the elect and the condemned.
Courtesy Heino van Rijnberk
NB. Mélanie Struik (1955), the writer of this article is a Dutch art historian, graduated in 2018 at the University of Amsterdam. In 2020 she started with her website Melaniekijktkunst.nl, writing in Dutch about art with a focus on Early modern Italian art and the position of women as artists and patrons in the past. On that part there is a world to discover. She started to publish an AI-translated English version of her articles on her website, which can be found in the menu under English versions. There are more to come.
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Justification:
This article is translated with the help of Deep.L and afterwards corrected.
Sources:
Ross King, The Pope's Heaven, Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel, Amsterdam, Bezige Bij, 2003 (translation by Guus Houtzager of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling. The Making of a Masterpiece, 2003)
Pierluigi de Vecchi, La Capella Sistina. Il restauro degli affreschi di Micheangelo, Milan, Rizzoli, 1996
Michelangelo la capella sistina, documentazione e interpretazione, Rome, Vatican Museums, 1994, (two volumes: I Tavola. La volta restaurata, II Rapporto sul restauro della volta)
Photo exhibition Grote Kerk The Hague July/August 2024 (Fever.com)
https://www.debijbel.nl
https://paulverheijen.nl (mn relating to the ancestors of Christ)
Illustrations:
Fig. Engraving by G. Tognetti of the Sistine Chapel before Michelangelo made the fresci
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Cappella_sistina%2C_ricostruzione_dell%27interno_prima_degli_interventi_di_Michelangelo%2C_stampa_del_XIX_secolo.jpg
The Sistine Chapel now
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixtijnse_Kapel#/media/Bestand:Chapelle_sixtine2.jpg
Overview photo of Sistine Chapel ceiling
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixtijnse_Kapel#/media/Bestand:CAPPELLA_SISTINA.jpg
Photo scaffolding, taken from Ross King, The Pope's Heaven, p. 69
All other photos were taken by the author on site at the exhibition. Later missing images were added from the literature (see above).
