The greatest masterpieces of Renaissance art
The Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest treasures of the Vatican City, Rome and the world at large. Its main attractions are the frescoes by brilliant artists of the early Renaissance such as Sandro Botticelli, Il Perugino, Il Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli and, of course, Michelangelo, which completely cover the walls and ceiling telling the Biblical stories of Moses and Christ. It is within the Sistine Chapel that the Pope holds his private ceremonies and Masses and where the conclave meets to elect the new Pope. Take advantage of Sistine Chapel early access to admire and appreciate its magnificence!
The Sistine Chapel history
The chapel, once known as the Magna Chapel, owes its name to Pope Sixtus IV who restored it between 1477 and 1480. Since then, both religious and official papal activities have taken place in this special site.
The fame and fortune of the Sistine Chapel derive mainly from the famous frescoes of the Tuscan sculptor and painter Michelangelo, whose powerful depiction of the creation story, the fall of man and the flood decorate its interior.
- The Creation of Adam: the Creation of Adam is without doubt the best-known image from the Sistine Chapel. It is located in the central part of the vault and represents the story from Genesis in which God gives life to Adam. The central point is the mythical scene in which God touches with his finger the finger of the first man, an image that we all have seen a thousand times and which surely embodies the artistic summit of the spiritual expression of humanity.
- The Final Judgment: above the main altar is Michelangelo’s other masterpiece, The Final Judgment, a magnificent fresco that represents the Apocalypse of San Giovanni. The decoration of the apse was an assignment of Pope Paul III to cover the murals that existed until then. One thing that stands out among the images on the ceiling are the Nine Stories of Genesis that occupy the central area. The scenes represented range from the Drunkenness of Noah to the Separation of Light from Darkness.
Visiting this place is a unique experience in your life and when you are full of the beauty of the Creation of Adam and the Last Judgment, it will be time to move to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Walks Inside Rome, your guided tours agency
Walks Inside Rome is an agency of travel services and guided tours which has been operating in Rome since 1999. It specialises in private and small group tours of no more than 8-12 participants, giving you a much more personalized experience at your own pace.
Our goal is to provide our clients with the highest quality tour guide services in art, history, food and fun in Italy’s most spectacular destinations.
Skip the lines with WIR Sistine Chapel early access
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most visited monuments in the world and the queues are generally very long., so, if you don’t want to miss the opportunity to see it, it is better to book tickets with early access, so you can skip the lines and save a lot more time.
Now, thanks to our early access guided tours focused exclusively on the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica, it is possible to avoid long queues and suffocating crowds and visit them in the best possible conditions and in greater privacy. It will allow you to focus on the Vatican’s most significant treasures and the greatest masterpieces of ancient and Renaissance art.
Embarking on this unique experience, you will meet our guides right outside the Vatican Museums before the official opening hours. In this way you will enter the Sistine Chapel before all the others and you will be free to enjoy the beauty of the chapel alone or in the company of the few people in the group.
WIR is open 7 days a week. We look forward to meeting you soon so we can start exploring Italy together
Contact us for any questions and for any further information, you can also fill out the form on our website, send us an email, call us or chat with us on WhatsApp.