Where Is The Last Judgment? See It at Vatican Museums

Q: When did Michelangelo paint The Last Judgment?

Michelangelo painted The Last Judgment between 1536 and 1541, twenty-five years after completing the ceiling. He was 61 years old when he finished this massive work.

Michelangelo returned to the Sistine Chapel 25 years after finishing the ceiling to paint The Last Judgment on the altar wall. Completed in 1541, this massive fresco depicts Christ's second coming and the final judgment of humanity. Over 300 figures swirl in a cosmic drama of salvation and damnation.

Christ stands at center, his arm raised in judgment. The saved rise on the left while the damned fall to hell on the right. Michelangelo included his own face on the flayed skin held by Saint Bartholomew, suggesting his personal torment. The nudity of the figures caused immediate controversy. Later popes hired artists to add drapery to the most exposed areas. These additions, called "breeches," remain on some figures today. The work hangs behind the altar at the Vatican Museums.

Michelangelo painted The Last Judgment between 1536 and 1541, twenty-five years after completing the ceiling. He was 61 years old when he finished this massive work.

Michelangelo included his own face on the flayed skin held by Saint Bartholomew. Scholars interpret this as a statement about artistic suffering or the artist's anxiety about his own salvation.

The nudity scandalized many viewers. Pope Paul IV hired Daniele da Volterra to add drapery to the most exposed figures in 1565. This earned Volterra the nickname 'the breeches maker.'

The Last Judgment

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More by Michelangelo

St. Anne with Virgin and Child Christ

Madonna and Child

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Also at Vatican Museums

The Liberation of Saint Peter

The Parnassus

The Entombment of Christ

Apollo Belvedere

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