What is Sistine Chapel?
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} [[File:Cappella Sistina - 2005.jpg|thumb|250px|The rectangular building in the middle of the picture is the Sistine Chapel.]] The '''Sistine Chapel''' is a large [[chapel]] in the [[Vatican]] Palace, the place in [[Italy]] where the [[Pope]] lives. The Chapel was built between 1473 and 1481 by Giovanni dei Dolci for [[Pope Sixtus IV]]. The Sistine Chapel is the Pope's own chapel. It is used for important [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]es and ceremonies. When a pope dies, the [[College of Cardinals]] meet in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope. The Sistine Chapel is famous for its [[fresco]] paintings by the [[Renaissance]] painter [[Michelangelo]]. == Architecture and paintings == [[File:Pietro Perugino 034.jpg|thumb|250px|A painting on the wall of the chapel, of [[Jesus]] giving the Keys of Heaven to [[St. Peter]], by Perugino.]] [[File:Lightmatter Sistine Chapel ceiling.jpg|thumb|250px|The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted by [[Michelangelo]].]] [[File:God2-Sistine Chapel.png|thumb|250px|Michelangelo's most famous painting is ''God creating Adam''.]] [[File:Michelangelo Buonarroti - Jugement dernier.jpg|thumb|250px|''The Last Judgement'' by Michelangelo.]] The Sistine Chapel is a brick building shaped like a rectangle. The outside is plain, with no decoration and no big door. It has a walk-way near the top, for soldiers. It has six arched windows on its two side walls and a curved [[ceiling]] called a barrel vault. The inside of the chapel is richly decorated. The floor is of coloured marble. The lower parts of the walls are painted to look like gold and silver cloth. The other decorations in the chapel are paintings which tell stories to help people understand about [[Jesus Christ]] and about the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. The middle part of the walls has 12 large paintings called [[fresco]]es, done by famous artists in 1481. The artists' names were [[Domenico Ghirlandaio]], [[Sandro Botticelli]], [[Perugino]], [[Cosimo Rosselli]], [[Pinturicchio]], [[Benedetto G