What the Sistine Chapel Ceiling Represents

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo between the years of 1508 and 1512. The chapel -- built in the 1470s for Pope Sixtus IV (the chapel's namesake) -- includes the works of many different Renaissance artists -- but it is Michelangelo's work on the ceiling that stands out above all the rest. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, Michelangelo's ceiling tells the story of the Old Testament -- the laying of the foundations of the world and the coming of Christ.

The nine central panel scenes describe, for example, God separating the light from the darkness, the creation of Adam, and the exile from the Garden of Eden. The centrals are framed by a painted architectural framework that adds dimension onto dimension, and the images therein are of Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls -- both of whom, according to the Roman Catholic tradition, foretold the coming of Christ.

Thus, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is painted to commemorate the pre-History of Christ -- the back story, so to speak, of Christian salvation. Just as one can study the architecture framework of a building to understand how it stands upright, so too one can study the painted panels of the Sistine ceiling to understand the Church and how it came into existence.

The historical context in which the Sistine Chapel's ceiling was begun is rooted in the tumultuous times of the Church and the geopolitical turmoil happening in Italy. Pope Julius II exercised his power at the head of a military faction that was determined to unite the different provinces of Italy. Julius's successes prompted displays of artistic triumph -- and the Sistine Chapel was one such display. The rebuilding of St.

Peter's Basilica was underway (started in 1506) and the Vatican was demonstrating its glory -- reflecting its earthly power in the structures used to symbolically represent its spiritual authority ("Sistine Chapel Ceiling"). The chapel's walls had been painted decades earlier under the previous pope. On the one side was depicted the life of Christ and on the other the life of Moses. Rosselli, Purgino and Botticelli were among the famous Renaissance artists to work on these wall compositions.

As the chapel was used by church officials and designated as the Papal Chapel -- a place where the interior's stunning iconography could be used as a launch pad for serious theological discussions and extrapolations, Pope Julius wanted the ceiling to cap off the artistic achievements of the side walls and provide even more subject material for the church leaders to draw from in their talks.

In this sense, the chapel's interior artistic framework was a symbolic reference point for the ecclesiastical authorities from which they could take numerous inspirations and expound upon their theology at various levels. At the time Michelangelo was mainly a sculptor and was already at work on a tomb for the pope when Julius decided to commission him for the chapel's ceiling painting.

When a battle with the French distracted the pope's attention, Michelangelo (who did not want to stop working on the tomb to begin work on a painting) attempted to get away -- but the pope quickly returned, called for him, and the artist was obliged to return and take up the job. Julius's initial plan was much more modest than the one proposed by Michelangelo, which he was allowed to pursue. Michelangelo's artistic vision comprised some 300 figures across the sprawling ceiling work.

It was a four-year-long masterpiece finally unveiled to the public on All Saints Day in 1512 ("Sistine Chapel Ceiling"). The composition that Michelangelo organized centers on expressing the Church's doctrine of the need for salvation. The main center pieces down the length of the ceiling are nine scenes from Genesis. These scenes are framed by the 12 men and women (the prophets and sibyls) who foretold the coming of Christ (the source of salvation).

Thus, the center images tell the why of salvation, and the framework scenes indicate the how of salvation. The why scenes show the creation and the fall of man, and the 12 prophets and sibyls suggest the how of salvation -- namely coming of Christ. The number 12 is symbolically significant also because it mirrors the number of Apostles that Christ would choose. Thus, there is doctrinal symmetry in the ideas expressed even as there is artistic symmetry in the composition's design.

That composition is organized by painted architectural pillars and figures -- the four Ignudi, for example, which frame the individual center scenes, combining Renaissance humanism with Christian narrative in a brilliant mesh of classical beauty and spiritual significance ("Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel").

The intertwining of humanism and theological art brought an important dimension to the painting: it merged the idea that humanity has the potential to be noble, beautiful, and whole -- and this idea is united in the ceiling's composition by the implied theme -- which is that Christ is that variable, the factor that can restore nobility to man.

The humanist ideals, based on the classical philosophies of Plato and Aristotle -- i.e., the search for the unum, bonum, verum (the one, the good, the true) -- are thus united under the banner of Christian theology: Christ is the Logos of Whom the ancient pagan philosophers spoke without knowing; by their reason they were able to realize that man was limited in his capacity to really reach the heights of the noble ideals; with Christian revelation and specifically faith those ideals could be reached: Christ was the doorway through which the wounded and fallen could return to a state of grace and a union with God.

This was the underlying theme of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling and Michelangelo's images express this throughout ("Michelangelo's Painting of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling"). The Ignudi, for example, represent those noble figures -- the idea of ancient, pristine, perfect beauty -- an example of what mankind would have been had there been no Fall -- and they are there reminding the viewer of what was lost as the scenes of Genesis progress down the length of the ceiling.

The Ignudi do not act as a celebration of nudity or of man as he is per se but rather act as a reminder of what was lost in the Fall: the perfect harmony, balance, grace, elegance and muscular superiority that Michelangelo gives to his characters is used to represent the ideal and act as a sign of that for which people should strive.

The reason behind this reach for the ideal is there in the center of the ceiling -- man's perfect state was lost because of man's sin. The prophets of the Old Testament and the sibyls of the classical world wrap around these center scenes from Genesis, offering the viewer their reassurance -- that in spite of everything that has happened, God has not abandoned mankind.

God has in fact continuously spoken to these 12 figures who prefigure the 12 Apostles: He has revealed to them that a Savior will come, who will atone for man's sins and make it possible for man to be with God once more. Their perfect beauty (represented by their perfect proportions) indicates the promise underlying their prophecies of the coming of Christ: perfect union with God will result in perfect happiness and the restoration of the perfect beauty to those whose faith allows them to enter Heaven.

All faithful creation will be returned to a perfect state and made whole again. As the ceiling's artwork was intended for a Christian audience, the complex symbolism presented therein should be interpreted from this theologically Christian perspective, with, of course, a nod to the classical humanism underscoring the Renaissance perspective at the time.

Interestingly, the center frame portrait of the ceiling is not the depiction of the creation of man or a depiction of the fall of man (these images are on either end of the center picture): the center image is a depiction of the creation of woman from the side of man.

This image is given a special place in the ceiling, in fact, in the whole of the chapel -- occupying the very center space in the composition -- in between the scene of creation and the scene of the fall -- suggesting that it is full of important implications and ideas. First, the scene contains a symbolic significance that supports the medieval conceptualization of patriarchal society: man was made first in the image and likeness of God and woman came from Adam's rib to be Adam's helpmate.

Thus, the relationship of man to woman is situated in a patriarchal and hierarchical context rather than one of equality. In fact, it is the idea of equality that underscores the fall -- the idea that Adam and Eve could make themselves like God by eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.

If one looks from left to right in the composition -- from the creation of man, wherein God reaches out a finger and creates Adam, to the creation of Eve, wherein God pulls forth Eve from Adam's side, to the sin and punishment of Adam and Eve (their banishment from their earthly paradise), a clear hierarchical order is manifested. God is at the top of the order, man serves as the earthly head, and woman as the mate of man.

Unfortunately, it is Eve who listens to the serpent and who then convinces Adam to break the commandment of God. Thus, the corruption comes from the bottom up but is not complete until the head consents. This specifically medievalist interpretation of these images puts the Sistine Chapel's ceiling at odds with the modern focus on liberty, fraternity and equality: Michelangelo's composition is anti-modern in this sense. It does not promote liberty.