Division of the ceiling frescoes
by MICHELANGELO

The frescoes on the ceiling can be divided into eleven transversal sections: nine bays as well as the spandrels and pendentives over the entry door and the altar, respectively.

When he frescoed the vault of the chapel, Michelangelo started from the area near the entrance wall and proceeded towards the altar, thus the order in which the biblical scenes (and the lunettes) were painted is the reverse of that of the chronological sequence of both the Genesis and the ancestors of Christ. We present here these sections starting from the entrance wall.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Frescoes above the entrance wall
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1589*570
True Color
174 Kb



The first bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1979*602
True Color
214 Kb



The second bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1986*430
True Color
180 Kb



The third bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1793*500
True Color
190 Kb



The fourth bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

2147*430
True Color
195 Kb



The fifth bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1738*520
True Color
167 Kb



The sixth bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1981*450
True Color
167 Kb



The seventh bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1879*470
True Color
162 Kb



The eighth bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

2011*450
True Color
164 Kb



The ninth bay of the ceiling
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1726*510
True Color
163 Kb



Frescoes above the altar wall
1508-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

1665*530
True Color
172 Kb




Summary of works by Michelangelo
All genres
Sculptures | Paintings | Sistine Chapel | Drawings | Architecture
Sculptures
-1501 | 1502- | David | Julius II's Tomb | Medici Tomb | Pietŕs
Paintings
Easel paintings | Frescoes in Pauline Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Division of the ceiling | Genesis | Prophets | Sibyls | Ignudi
Spandrels | Lunettes | Triangles | Medallions
Last Judgment
Architecture
until 1530 | after 1530