Pope Benedict celebrates the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo’s frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Visitors to the Chapel in the future may experience a slightly different "entrance" as they are vacuumed and cleaned before entering this space.
I’ve never really looked at images of the Sistine chapel. I did not realize how many different pieces of art were actually inside of the church! Though I knew of the art on the ceilings, the paintings that were on the walls were new but were just as great to take a peak at.
I visited Rome, Italy over winter break and was lucky enough to see the Sistine Chapel for the first time. It amazed me how one man could paint this entire room that’s just enormous and evoke such emotion 500 years later from the people looking at it today. You could spend days in that room staring at different people that he painted and their expressions.
I’m glad that the Chapel is still being taken care of. These paintings always make me feel proud of what humanity can do when it sets its mind to more peaceful en-devours. Its nice to see some images of other parts of the chapel than the ceiling and its also nice to see the chapel in use.
The amount of art work in the chapel is almost over whelming. I feel like I would have a hard time concentrating on one thing at a time in the effort to take it all in. My concern is with the amount of foot traffic on the floor. The floor has art on it as well and I hope they are taking proper care of it.
• One the 500th anniversary of the Sistine Chapel’s completion (by Michelangelo in the year 1512) former Pope Benedict leads evening prayers throughout the structure. Spoken directly from the Pope, “It is as if during liturgical action all this symphony of figures comes alive, certainly in a spiritual sense…the perception of art is a typically human act and as such involves the sense and the spirit.” The Pope goes on to say that the area seems more alive with prayer for everything is making a connection with God. Considering its age for future prayer services the number of people permitted to visit may be limited in order to further preserve its grandiosity. Personally I did not know that this area was open to prayer service to begin with. I simply thought that this area of the Sistine Chapel was strictly reserved for the Cardinal spacing for the election of the next Pope. One can only imagine how much more alive this work by Michelangelo must be when connected with such powerful words. The event looked as though it was highly moving and spoke deeply not only of the word of God but also of the Work of the late Michelangelo. However with the age of the structure one is left wondering just how much longer this work will remain preserved considering further limitations have already been put in place.
You know, I never really found myself getting into art inside churches such as the Chapel, especially because I’m not Christian and I always felt like I couldn’t quite relate, like I knew more about Islam and Mosques and the classic Arabesque design. But even in the second day of class sitting and learning about certain Holy figures, i.e. the Virgin Mary, Gabriel and why such churches were built, the importance of this kind of art and architecture began to dawn on me. I don’t quite feel like I need to know all the bible’s stories to see why people living in such an era would look up to massive structures like the Chapel. It’s fascinating.
The Sistine Chapel has always mesmerized me. The beauty of Michelangelo’s work is so enchanting. It really is amazing how the entire ceiling of the church is covered with gorgeous masterpieces and portraits. I would really love to go to Italy, specifically Rome and see the wonderful historical art in the Sistine Chapel, I’d really love to go see the Vatican, as well.
I like that the Pope lead prayers marking the 500th anniversary of the Sistine Chapel opening. I would really like to see Michelangelo’s artwork especially the ones seen in this video. I’m just amazed at how he painted the ceiling of the Chapel and how long it took him to finish it.
I had to watch this multiple times, once to read the translations and then again to look at the art as it moved by. I have been debating a semester abroad this summer, but reading that they may begin limiting visitors soon, that may have clenched the decision for me.