Why was the Sistine Chapel built?

The Sistine Chapel is one of the most famous cultural and artistic treasures within the Vatican Museums in the Vatican City, and is one of the major attractions of Italian art. The Sistine Chapel was built between 1475 and 1481 for the will of Pope Sisto IV della Rovere, from which took the name. It has been a consecrated chapel for over 500 years, inside it takes place the conclave that elects the new pontiff and is a very important place for Christianity.

The chapel was built by modifying the structure of a building before the Palatine Chapel. Pope Sixtus IV’s project was to recreate the Temple of Jerusalem with the same dimensions as in the Bible. Elected in 1471 Francesco della Rovere (Sixtus IV) wanted to renew the face of Rome, it was in fact built for the occasion a new bridge over the Tiber, Ponte Sisto.

The Sistine Chapel was decorated by Michelangelo’s frescoes, covering the vault (1508-1512) and the wall of the Universal Judgment over the altar (1535-1541). The walls retain a series of frescoes by Italian artists of the second half of the fifteenth century, such as Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli, Piero di Cosimo and others.

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