In 1508 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to decorate the ceiling, but the artist initially baulked on the grounds that he was a sculptor not a painter and was still hard at work sculpting the pope’s tomb. He was convinced to take the job though, and over the next four years worked on what is widely considered one of the greatest masterpieces in Western art. The work was so physically taxing that it permanently damaged his eyesight. Michelangelo used a technique called fresco, where paint was applied to wet plaster. He scraped away parts of the plaster before painting to create visible “outlines” around his figures.
Initially the commission was for Michelangelo to paint pictures of the twelve apostles on the triangular pendentives that support the ceiling, but the pope gave him free rein over the overall design. Instead Michelangelo painted a series of nine pictures that tell the story of God’s Creation of the Universe, Mankind’s Fall from Grace and the Great Flood. Among the images Michelangelo painted were Hebrew prophets and pagan sibyls, as well as twisting male nudes (the so-called ignudi). On the lunettes (north and south walls) and spandrels (the upper parts of the corner pendentives) he painted the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes.
More than 20 years later, the 59-year-old Michelangelo was recalled by Clement VII to complete the decoration of the chapel by painting the Last Judgement on the altar wall. It took him until 1541 to finish this monumental piece, which depicts Christ judging mankind by rewarding the saved with Heaven and damning the damned to Hell. The fresco contains a staggering number of naked bodies, and it was highly controversial at the time for its sheer sexuality.