Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512, working largely alone on scaffolding 20 meters above the floor. Pope Julius II commissioned the work, originally planning a design of twelve apostles. Michelangelo convinced him to allow something far more ambitious: over 300 figures depicting the biblical story from Creation to Noah.

The ceiling covers roughly 500 square meters. Nine central panels show Genesis scenes, surrounded by prophets, sibyls, and the ancestors of Christ. The most famous panel, The Creation of Adam, shows God giving life to the first man. Michelangelo painted in fresco, applying pigment to wet plaster. He had to work quickly before the plaster dried. The physical toll was severe: years of painting overhead left him with permanent neck and back damage. The ceiling remains at the Vatican Museums.