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The Sistine Ceiling Debuted 514 Years Ago
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling met its first congregation on November 1, 1512, when Pope Julius II celebrated an All Saints’ Day Mass beneath it.
Sistine Chapel ceiling
Completed: October 31, 1512
First Mass beneath it: November 1, 1512
Work began: May 1508
Central narrative: Nine scenes from Genesis
Explore: Vatican Museums
The original commission called for twelve apostles and ornament. Michelangelo considered that plan a “poor thing” and won permission to expand it into Genesis scenes, prophets, sibyls and ancestors of Christ. Four years of ambitious revision produced one of art history’s strongest arguments against keeping the first brief.
