Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo (1475 - 1564) considered himself a sculptor and not a painter. So he was very reluctant when Pope Julius II wanted him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. In the end, though, he could not but accept the commission of the pope. It took him four long years from 1508 to 1512 to decorate the ceiling with the Last Judgement and the seven scenes of the creation according to the Book Genesis of the Bible.

He put up his own scaffold which was built up from holes in the wall near the windows. So the chapel still was available for services. He painted standing up which was extremely painful.

Together with his famous David the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are one of Michelangelo's most famous works. In this lens I have included two documentary videos. They offer a lot of additional information on the one hand; on the other hand they are quite long. So you might watch the first and later come back for the second.