Sistine Chapel's Comparison: Jesus vs. Moses

While it would be impossible to examine all aspects of the Sistine Chapel, even seeing it in person is overwhelming, there is an interesting series of murals at play that lend support to one of the reasons for religious murals: to inspire nonbelivers to believe or at least respect a religion. There is no doubt that the Sistine Chapel, which is the most prominent chapel in the Apostolic Palace (the official residence of the Pope) is a masterpiece made of many masterpieces. It was the work of many artists and commissioned by a handful of Popes during their reign. The chapel derives its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who restored the building's capella in 1483 and invited painters Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio,Cosimo Rosselli, and Pietro Perugino to come decorate the walls with a series of religious frescoes. One of the walls depicts a series of scenes from Jesus' life here on Earth, while the wall parallel depicts a series of scenes from Moses'. This strange comparision and juxtaposition of Jesus to Moses could be coincidental, but according to Artbible.com, the comparision is meant to "visualize the continuity between the old and new covenant, Moses' laws and Jesus' teachings."  

The ceiling, which is by far the most well known feature of the Sistine Chapel began as a painting of a star spangled sky by Piero Matteo d'Amelia, but in 1508 Pope Julius II Della Rovere commissioned the famed sculptor Michelangelo to paint the twelve apostles and a few ornaments on the ceiling. Michelangelo's vision for the ceiling soon surpassed the commission and thus today we are left with the brillant ceiling seen on the preceding page which contains over 300 figures! Michelangelo was commissioned yet again in 1535 (he was in his sixties) to paint the altar wall with what would become known as 'The Last Judgement'. This world famous mural was comissioned by Pope Clement VII, and upon his death, Pope Paul III Farnese. 'The Last Judgement' was allegedly meant to instill piety and respect for God's powers in those that view this depiction of the second coming of Christ and the Apocalypse.

Another interesting facet of the Sistine Chapel was that Raphael (an artist covered in prior parts of this exhibit) was commissioned to create six large tapestries, which would be hung from the walls during ceremonies of particular importance. Of these tapestries, three showed events from the Life Of St. Peter and three showed events from the Life of St. Paul. Regrettably, these tapestries were looted in the Sack of Rome in 1527, and scattered around Europe. However, the majesty of these tapestries can still be viewed today because the Vatican managed to regain some tapestries and reproductions of those they could not. 

The following page of this exhibit shows three frescoes from both Jesus' wall and Moses' wall.