Discover Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, pontiff from 1471 to 1484, who had the ancient Cappella Magna restructured between 1477 and 1480. Turismo Roma notes it is still today the seat of the Conclave for the election of the Supreme Pontiff.

The walls were painted before the ceiling, by a committee of the best painters alive. The fifteenth-century decoration — the feigned draperies, the Stories of Moses and of Christ and the portraits of the Pontiffs — was executed by a team initially of Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli, with their workshops and collaborators including Biagio di Antonio, Bartolomeo della Gatta and Luca Signorelli. The frescoes ran from 1481 to 1482, and on 15 August 1483 Sixtus IV consecrated and dedicated the chapel to the Assumption.

And the ceiling was a starry sky. Before Michelangelo, Pier Matteo d'Amelia painted a starry sky on the vault. In 1508, Julius II della Rovere decided to change the decoration and gave the job to Michelangelo Buonarroti, who painted the vault and the lunettes, finishing in October 1512. The nine central panels carry the Stories of Genesis — from the Creation to the Fall, the Flood, and humanity beginning again with Noah's family. The pope inaugurated it on All Saints' Day with a solemn Mass.

Then the altar wall cost three more paintings. Late in 1533, Clement VII de' Medici commissioned the Last Judgment; Michelangelo began in 1536 under Paul III and finished in the autumn of 1541. Its execution destroyed Perugino's altarpiece of the Virgin Assumed among the Apostles and the first two episodes of the stories of Moses and of Christ.

The entrance wall has its own disaster. Ghirlandaio's Resurrection of Christ and Signorelli's Dispute over the body of Moses were re-executed in the later sixteenth century by Hendrik van den Broeck and Matteo da Lecce, both originals having been gravely damaged by the collapse of the door in 1522.

The chapel was completely restored between 1979 and 1999.

One practical thing. Turismo Roma records that on the last Sunday of every month the Vatican Museums are open and free, 09.00–14.00, last entry 12.30 — the single exception to a closure rule that otherwise shuts them every Sunday.

It is a plain rectangular hall, and everything that matters is applied to the surface. Sixtus IV restructured the ancient Cappella Magna between 1477 and 1480; there are no columns, no aisles and no chapels, which is why the painting reads as a single continuous scheme rather than as decoration of parts.

The walls are organised in three horizontal bands. Turismo Roma lists them: the feigned draperies at the bottom, then the Stories of Moses and of Christ running in parallel along the two long walls, then the portraits of the Pontiffs above. The two narrative cycles were designed to be read against each other.

The vault was painted twice. Pier Matteo d'Amelia gave it a starry sky; Michelangelo replaced that with the vault and the lunettes, the nine central panels carrying the Genesis cycle.

The altar wall is the one break in the system. The Last Judgment is a single field with no architectural framing, which is why it reads as a different kind of object from everything around it — and why making it meant destroying the altarpiece and the opening scenes of both cycles.

The fittings are contemporary with the first campaign. The marble transenna that divides the chapel, the cantoria, and the papal coat of arms above the entrance door were all made in 1481–82.

It was built as a replacement and painted as a programme. Sixtus IV had the Cappella Magna restructured between 1477 and 1480, and the decoration followed immediately: frescoes begun in 1481 and finished in 1482, with the marble work done in the same period.

The first campaign was a syndicate. Turismo Roma describes an équipe of painters — Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli — assisted by their respective workshops and by collaborators including Signorelli. Four competing masters working to one scheme, in roughly a year.

The second was one man and a scaffold. Michelangelo took the vault and lunettes from 1508 to October 1512, painting over a starry sky.

The third removed work to make room. The Last Judgment, 1536 to autumn 1541, required clearing the altar wall, and in doing so lost Perugino's altarpiece and the first two episodes of the stories of Moses and of Christ.

And one wall had to be redone because the building failed. The collapse of the door in 1522 gravely damaged the entrance-wall frescoes, which were re-executed in the second half of the sixteenth century.

The last campaign was cleaning. The chapel was completely restored between 1979 and 1999 — a twenty-year programme on a room painted in about sixty.

Is the Sistine Chapel open on Sundays? Only the last Sunday of each month — and then it is free, 09.00 to 14.00, last entry 12.30. Every other Sunday the museums are closed.

Is there a catch to the free Sunday? One: it does not apply if that Sunday coincides with 29 June, Saints Peter and Paul.

How much is admission otherwise? Turismo Roma publishes no price. An earlier version of this page said four to twelve euro; that is long out of date. Buy through the museums' own ticketing.

Can I visit just the chapel? No. It is reached through the Vatican Museums, at the end of the route.

What else is closed in 2026? 1 and 6 January, 11 February, 19 March, 6 April, 1 May, 29 June, 14 and 15 August, 8, 25 and 26 December.

Who painted the walls? Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli with their workshops and collaborators including Signorelli, in 1481–82.

What was on the ceiling before Michelangelo? A starry sky, painted by Pier Matteo d'Amelia.

When did Michelangelo paint it? The vault and lunettes from 1508, finished October 1512; the Last Judgment from 1536, finished autumn 1541.

Did the Last Judgment destroy anything? Yes — Perugino's altarpiece of the Virgin Assumed among the Apostles and the first two episodes of the stories of Moses and of Christ.

Is it still used? Yes — it is still the seat of the Conclave.

How long should I allow? About three hours for the museums and the chapel.