Exact Answer: About 4 Years
The Sistine Chapel is the chapel of the papal chapel. Papel chapel was also called as papel court till the year 1968 and it served as one of the two courts of the Papel household.
In the 15th century, the paper calendar was followed by the people, which had 50 events that should be performed in the papel chapel according to the calendar. The festivities included in the calendar which should be celebrated in the papel chapel were such as Christmas and Easter.
The first mass that was celebrated in the Sistine chapel was known as the ‘feast of assumption’ and the feast was dedicated to the virgin Mary. This mass was celebrated on August 15, 1483.
How Long Did It Take To Paint Sistine Chapel?
| Timeline to paint The Sistine Chapel | Time |
| The contract was commissioned to Michelangelo in | 1508 |
| Painting began in | 1508 |
| Painting was finished in | 1512 |
There is not much clarity about what exactly the time was when the painting in the Sistine chapel began, when it ended, how long it took to paint the Sistine chapel, and other such things. The major reason behind that is that the Sistine chapel was built in the very early centuries, and there is no information available to us in current times which relates to any information of those early centuries.
However, according to what information is available, according to many scholars and histologists, the time for how long it took to paint the Sistine chapel is calculated. Michelangelo was the person who painted the Sistine chapel. It is believed that it took about 4 years for Michelangelo to completely paint the Sistine chapel.
It is believed that Michelangelo was given the contract to paint the Sistine chapel in the year 1508. Pope Julius II was the person who commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine chapel. Although Michelangelo was not a painter instead, he was a sculptor by profession.
Apart from the contract to paint the Sistine Chapel, Pope Julius II had also commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Pope’s tomb before that. Michelangelo had begun painting the Sistine chapel in the year 1508 only.
It took Michelangelo 4 years to paint all the paintings in the Sistine chapel, and he had finished it by the year 1512.
Why Did It Take That Long To Paint Sistine Chapel?
The Sistine chapel was not a regular canvas that can be painted by any painter within a small period. The Sistine chapel was in itself a building whose interiors were painted by the great artist, Michelangelo.
Unlike a regular canvas, the interior of the Sistine chapel was huge enough just like any other building of the renaissance period. The height of the interior of the Sistine chapel is approximately around 40.9 meters which are almost equal to whooping 134 feet in length.
Not just the height is too long for the Sistine chapel, but its width as well, which is approximately equal to 13.4 meters. To convert this value in feet, it would come out to be approximately equal to 44 feet.
Thus, it becomes quite reasonable as to why it took that long, that is, 4 complete years to paint the Sistine chapel. Especially, when it was just Michelangelo in charge to paint the Sistine chapel, keeping in mind that the art of the renaissance period was extremely precise and thus it used to take years to finish a single painting during that period.
Moreover, it must be considered that Michelangelo was a sculptor by profession and not a painter. He had taken the contract to paint the Sistine chapel from Pope Julius II as a challenge. The reason behind that is that Pope Julius II and other people involved in the contract were the rivals of Michelangelo who wanted to let him down.
Conclusion
The paintings in the interior of the Sistine chapel are referred to as the paintings on the ceilings of the Sistine chapels, painted by Michelangelo. The ceilings had multiple paintings in the form of different scenes. One of the most popular paintings among all the paintings painted on the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo is known as ‘The Creation of Adam’.
References
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