Information AboutSistine Chapel |
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PURPOSE AND HISTORY The Sistine Chapel is most famously known for being the location of Papal Conclaves , for the election of a new Pope. More commonly, it is the physical chapel of the Papal Chapel . At the time of Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, this corporate body comprised about 200 persons, including clerics, officials of the Vatican and distinguished laity. There were 50 occasions during the year on which it was prescribed by the Papal Calendar that the whole Papal Chapel should meet. Of these 50 occasions, 35 were masses, of which 8 were held in Basilicas, generally St. Peters, and were attended by large congregations. These included the Christmas Day and Easter masses, at which the Pope himself was the celebrant. The other 27 masses could be held in a smaller, less public space, for which the Sistine Chapel was purpose built on the site of its predecessor, the ''Cappella Maggiore'', which had served the same purpose. The ''Cappella Maggiore'' derived its name, the Greater Chapel, from the fact that there was another chapel also in use by the Pope and his retinue for daily worship. At the time of Pope Sixtus IV this was the Chapel of Pope Nicholas V , which had been decorated by Fra Angelico . The ''Cappella Maggiore ''is recorded as existing in 1368. According to a communication from Andreas of Trebizond to Pope Sixtus IV, by the time of its demolition to make way for the present chapel the ''Cappella Maggiore ''was in a ruinous state with its walls leaning, . John Shearman, "The Chapel of Sixtus IV", in ''The Sistine Chapel'', editor Giacometti, Harmony Books, 1986, ISBN 0-517-56274-X The present chapel, on the site of the ''Cappella Maggiore'', was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV , for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino De Dolci between 1473 and 1484 . The proportions of the present chapel appear to follow those of the original closely. After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the late 15th century, including Botticelli , Ghirlandaio and Perugino . The first Mass in the Sistine Chapel was celebrated on August 9, 1483 , the Feast of the Assumption , at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary . The Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day, and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling. There is a permanent choir for whom much original music has been written, the most famous piece being Allegri's '' Miserere '', a setting of the psalm for Maundy Thursday . Papal Conclave See Also: Papal conclave One of the most significant functions of the Sistine Chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive pope in a Conclave of the College of Cardinals. The 1492 Papal Conclave was the first to use the Sistine Chapel for this purpose. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke appears, created by burning the ballots of the election and some chemical additives, a new Pope has been elected. If the cardinals send up black smoke, created by burning the ballots along with wet straw or other chemical additives, it means that no successful election has yet occurred. This method has become somewhat unreliable at times, with mixed readings of the chimney smoke as recently as the conclaves electing John Paul I and John XXIII. During present-day meetings of cardinals, the chapel is carefully searched for bugs, recorders and cameras. The floor is raised to accommodate the necessary equipment. The Cardinals themselves are also not permitted to use cellular phones, or even newspapers, while sequestered to ensure total liberty to vote without any undue outside influences. In previous times, the windows were even painted over. Canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves — a sign of equal dignity. After the new Pope accepts his election, he would give his new name; at this time, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies. Until reforms instituted by Saint Pius X, the canopies were of different colours to designate which Cardinals had been appointed by which Pope. Paul VI abolished the canopies altogether, since under his papacy, the population of the College of Cardinals had increased so much to the point that they would need to be seated in rows of two against the walls, making the canopies obstruct the view of the cardinals in the back row. ARCHITECTURE Exterior The Sistine Chapel is a high rectangular brick building, its exterior unadorned by architectural or decorative details, as common in many Medieval and Renaissance churches in Italy. It has no exterior facade or exterior processional doorways as the ingress has always been from internal rooms within the Papal Palace. The internal spaces are divided into three storeys of which the lowest is a robustly vaulted basement with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court. Above is the main space, the Chapel, the internal measurements of which are 40.9 meters (134 feet) long by 13.4 meters (44 feet) wide, (the Dimension s of the Temple Of Solomon , as given in the Old Testament ). The vaulted ceiling rises to 20.7 meters (68 feet). The building had six tall arched windows down each side and two at either end. Several of these have been blocked. Above the vault rises a third storey with wardrooms for guards. At this level was constructed an open projecting gangway which encircled the building supported on an arcade springing from the walls. The gangway has been roofed as it was a continual source of water penetration to the vault of the Chapel. The building is roofed with pantile tiles. Subsidence and cracking of masonry such as must also have affected the Cappella Maggiore has necessitated the building of very large buttresses to brace the exterior walls. The accretion of other buildings has further altered the exterior appearance of the Chapel. Interior As with most buildings measured internally, absolute measurement is hard to ascertain. However, the general proportions of the chapel are clear to within a few centimetres. The length is the module of measurement and has been divided by three to get the width and by two to get the height. There is a ratio of 6:2:3 between the length, width and height. Maintaining the ratio, there were six windows down each side and two at either end. The screen which divides the chapel was originally placed half way from the altar wall, but this has changed. Clearly defined proportions were a feature of Renaissance Architecture and reflected the growing interest in the Classical heritage of Rome. The ceiling of the chapel is a flattened barrel vault springing from a course that encircles the walls at the level of the springing of the window arches. This barrel vault is cut transversely by smaller vaults over each window, which divide the barrel vault at its lowest level into a series of large pendentives rising from shallow pilasters between each window. The barrel vault was originally painted brilliant blue and dotted with gold stars, to the design of Pier Matteo d'Amelia. The pavement is in Opus Alexandrinum , a decorative style using marble and coloured stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior and also marks the processional way form the main door, used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday . The screen or ''transenna'' in Marble by Mino Da Fiesole , Andrea Bregno and Giovanni Dalmata divides the chapel into two parts. Originally these made equal space for the members of the Papal Chapel within the sanctuary near the Altar and the pilgrims and townsfolk without. However, with growth in the number of those attending the Pope, the screen was moved giving a reduced are for the faithful laity. The ''transenna'' is surmounted by a row of ornate candlesticks, once gilt, and has a wooden door, where once there was an ornate door of gilded wrought iron. The sculptors of the ''transenna'' also provided the ''cantoria'' or projecting Choir gallery. Raphael's tapestries During occasional ceremonies of particular importance, side walls are covered with a series of tapestries originally commissioned for the chapel by Raphael , but looted by the French armies and scattered around Europe. The tapestries depict events from the ''Life of St Peter'' and the ''Life of St Paul'' as described in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. In the late 20th century the set was reassembled and displayed again in the Sistine Chapel in 1983. DECORATION The pictorial decoration of the Sistine Chapel comprises frescoes and a set of tapestries. They are the work of different artists and are part of a number of different commissions, some of which were in conflict with each other. The walls are divided into three main tiers. The lower is decorated with frescoed wall hangings in silver and gold. The central tier of the walls has two cycles of paintings, which complement each other, ''The Life of Moses'' and ''The Life of Christ''. They were commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Ghirlandaio , Botticelli , Perugino and Cosimo Roselli and their workshops. The upper tier is divided into two zones. At the lower level of the windows is a ''Gallery of Popes'' painted at the same time as the ''Lives''. Around the arched tops of the windows are areas known as the ''lunettes'' which contain the ''Ancestors of Christ'', painted by Michelangelo as part of the scheme for the ceiling. The ceiling, commissioned by Pope Julius II and famously painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1511, has a series of nine paintings showing ''God's Creation of the World'', ''God's relationship with Mankind'' and ''Mankind's fall from God's Grace''. On the large pendentives that support the vault are painted twelve Biblical and Classical men and women who prophesied that God would send Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind. Subsequently, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Leo X to design a series of tapestries to hang around the lower tier of the walls. These depict the lives of the two leaders among the Apostles who established the Christian church in Rome, Saints Peter and Paul. Although Michelangelo's complex design for the ceiling was not quite what his patron, Pope Julius II , had in mind when he commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Twelve Apostles , the scheme displayed a consistent iconographical pattern. However, this was disrupted by the a further commission to Michelangelo to decorate the wall above the altar with '' The Last Judgement '', 1537-1541. The painting of this scene necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the ''Lives'', several of the ''Popes'' and two sets of ''Ancestors''. Two of the windows were blocked and two of Raphael's tapestries became redundant. FRESCOS The wall paintings were executed by premier painters of the 15th century: were given to Moses , between Moses and Christ's birth, and the Christian era thereafter. They underline the continuity between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, or the transition from the Mosaic Law to the Christian religion.
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