Sistine Chapel

   Found in Apostolic Palace, Sistine Chapel is the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. Veteran artists like Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio have drawn frescoes in this chapel where it is well known for architecture and decorations. Under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted 1,100 m2 (12,000 sq ft) of the chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The painting drawn in the ceiling; The Last Judgment (1535-1541) is supposed to be Michelangelo’s crowning achievement in painting. The chapel’s name is from Pope Sixtus IV who restored the old Capella Magna in 1477-1480. The paintings were completed in 1482, and on the 15 August 1483, Sixtus IV celebrated the first mass in the Sistine Chapel for the Feast of the Assumption, at which ceremony the chapel was consecrated and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The main function of the chapel could be denoted as the venue for the election of each successive pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. 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, a new Pope has been elected. If a candidate receives less than a two-thirds majority, the cardinals send up black smoke which means that no successful election has yet occurred. The conclave also provided for the cardinals a space in which they can hear mass, and in which they can eat, sleep, and pass time abetted by servants. Canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves as a sign of equal dignity. When a new pope is being elected, he gives his new name and at this, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies.

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