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The
Sistine Chapel
Ceiling
Michelangelo
was recalled to Rome by Pope
Julius II in 1505 for two
commissions. The most important
one was for the frescoes of the
Sistine Chapel ceiling. Working
high above the chapel floor,
lying on his back on scaffolding,
Michelangelo painted, between
1508 and 1512, some of the finest
pictorial images of all time. On
the vault of the papal chapel, he
devised an intricate system of
decoration that included nine
scenes from the Book of Genesis,
beginning with God Separating
Light from Darkness and including
the Creation of Adam, the
Creation of Eve, the Temptation
and Fall of Adam and Eve, and the
Flood. These centrally located
narratives are surrounded by
alternating images of prophets
and sibyls on marble thrones, by
other Old Testament subjects, and
by the ancestors of Christ. In
order to prepare for this
enormous work, Michelangelo drew
numerous figure studies and
cartoons, devising scores of
figure types and poses. These
awesome, mighty images,
demonstrating Michelangelo's
masterly understanding of human
anatomy and movement, changed the
course of painting in the
West.
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The
Last Judgement, detail
of the Resurrection of
the Dead, 1536-41,
fresco, Sistine
Chapel
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on image to
enlarge
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