[3][4] Between 1508 and 1512, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel's ceiling, a project that changed the course of Western art and is regarded as one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilization.

At the time of Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, the Papal Chapel comprised about 200 people, including clerics, officials of the Vatican and distinguished laity.

According to a communication from Andreas of Trebizond to Pope Sixtus IV, by the time of its demolition to make way for the present chapel, the Cappella Maggiore was in a ruinous state with its walls leaning.

[9] The present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481.

After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo.

[10] The Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling.

If no candidate receives the required two-thirds vote, the cardinals send up black smoke—created by burning the ballots along with wet straw and chemical additives—it means that no successful election has yet occurred.

[13] Since 1996, John Paul II's Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis requires the cardinals to be lodged in the Domus Sanctae Marthae during a papal conclave, but to continue to vote in the Sistine Chapel.

After the new Pope accepts his election, he would give his new name; at this time, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies.

Subsidence and cracking of masonry also have affected the Cappella Maggiore, necessitating the building of very large buttresses to brace the exterior walls.

The building is divided into three stories of which the lowest is a very tall basement level with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court.

The barrel vault was originally painted brilliant-blue and dotted with gold stars, to the design of Piermatteo Lauro de' Manfredi da Amelia.

[9] The pavement is in opus alexandrinum, a decorative style using marble and coloured stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior and also marks the processional way from the main door, used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday.

A screen or transenna in marble by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno, and Giovanni Dalmata divides the chapel into two parts.

They were commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli and their workshops.

The commission was originally to paint the twelve apostles on the triangular pendentives which support the vault; however, Michelangelo demanded a free hand in the pictorial content of the scheme.

In 1515, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Leo X to design a series of ten tapestries to hang around the lower tier of the walls.

Due to their large size, manufacture of the hangings was carried out in Brussels, and took four years under the hands of the weavers in the shop of Pieter van Aelst.

It has been argued that the present scheme shows the two Biblical Testaments merged in order to reveal the Old predicting and framing the New, synthesizing the logic of the Christian Bible.

The painting of this scene necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the Lives—the Nativity of Jesus and the Finding of Moses; several of the Popes; and two sets of Ancestors.

[26] To be able to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo needed a support; the first idea was by Julius' favoured architect Donato Bramante, who wanted to build for him a scaffold to be suspended in the air with ropes.

[28] The Last Judgement was painted by Michelangelo from 1535 to 1541, between two important historic events: the Sack of Rome by mercenary forces of the Holy Roman Empire in 1527, and the Council of Trent which commenced in 1545.

The Pope's Master of Ceremonies Biagio da Cesena said "it was most disgraceful that in so sacred a place there should have been depicted all those nude figures, exposing themselves so shamefully, and that it was no work for a papal chapel but rather for the public baths and taverns.

The genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname "Il Braghettone" ("the breeches-painter").

The emergence of the brightly coloured Ancestors of Christ from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe and removed the original intent of the artist.

[30] The only reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by Gary Bevans at English Martyrs' Catholic Church in Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex, England.

[33] A video of the history of the chapel was shown to visitors before entering the building; inside, a light-and-sound demonstration explained the content of each of the frescoes.

[37] The historic performance was for an event entitled Spiritual Elevation as part of the Fondazione Pro Musical e Arte Sacra where Siemens was a featured guest soloist alongside vocalist Mary Zilba and harpist Mark Edward Spencer.

On April 29, 2016, The Edge (U2) became the first rock artist to stage a contemporary music concert at the chapel as part of a conference on regenerative medicines entitled Cellular Horizons.

[43] The first ever live-streamed concert at the chapel took place on April 22, 2018, featuring a performance of Scottish composer James MacMillian's version of the Stabat Mater by the British Choir group The Sixteen and chamber orchestra ensemble Britten Sinfonia.