The Sistine Chapel deliberately reproduces the proportions of Solomon’s Temple. Pope Sixtus IV was explicitly comparing King Solomon’s authority over Israel to his own right as Pope to rule Rome and Christendom: a spiritual sovereignty extending into the temporal. Perugino, The Giving of the Keys to St Peter, 1481-82, fresco, 3490 x 5700 mm Here’s a scene from The Life of Christ on the Chapel’s side wall: Perugino’s portrayal of The Giving of the Keys to St Peter. The medieval Catholic Church came to understand the Apostle Peter, founder of the first Christian community in Rome, as the first Pope, able to pass his authority on to future Bishops of Rome as his successors. In the central background of this painting by Perugino, on either side of a building representing the Temple of Solomon, are two triumphal arches. Their inscriptions (which are really propaganda for the patron) read, Sixtus IV, unequal in riches, but superior in “You, wisdom to Solomon, have consecrated this vast temple”. This is vigorous propaganda for the Church in general, as well as for the particular pope who commissioned it. Peter Map of the Italian Peninsula during the Renaissance with extent of the Papal States Medieval and Renaissance Popes did exercise direct political rule over a significant part of Italy: the Papal States. How the Papacy came to have these States is a complicated story going back well over a thousand years. Essentially, the Papacy stepped bit by bit into the political vacuum caused by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. By the time of the Renaissance, the Papal territory was expanding greatly. A Pope was not only the head of the Catholic Church but had also become one of Italy's most important secular rulers, signing treaties with other sovereigns, and fighting wars. Raphael, c.1511-12, oil on panel, 1080 x 800 mm, London: Portrait of Pope Julius 11, National Gallery For example, this is Raphael’s portrait of Pope Julius II, who employed Michelangelo to decorate the Chapel’s ceiling. He might not look it here, but Julius was known as the "Warrior Pope" leading military ventures around the Italian peninsula to defend or extend the Papal States.
The Sistine Chapel deliberately reproduces the proportions of Solomon’s Temple. Pope Sixtus IV was explicitly comparing King Solomon’s authority over Israel to his own right as Pope to rule Rome and Christendom: a spiritual sovereignty extending into the temporal. Perugino, The Giving of the Keys to St Peter, 1481-82, fresco, 3490 x 5700 mm Here’s a scene from The Life of Christ on the Chapel’s side wall: Perugino’s portrayal of The Giving of the Keys to St Peter. The medieval Catholic Church came to understand the Apostle Peter, founder of the first Christian community in Rome, as the first Pope, able to pass his authority on to future Bishops of Rome as his successors. In the central background of this painting by Perugino, on either side of a building representing the Temple of Solomon, are two triumphal arches. Their inscriptions (which are really propaganda for the patron) read, “You, Sixtus IV, unequal in riches, but superior in wisdom to Solomon, have consecrated this vast temple”. This is vigorous propaganda for the Church in general, as well as for the particular pope who commissioned it. Peter Map of the Italian Peninsula during the Renaissance with extent of the Papal States Medieval and Renaissance Popes did exercise direct political rule over a significant part of Italy: the Papal States. How the Papacy came to have these States is a complicated story going back well over a thousand years. Essentially, the Papacy stepped bit by bit into the political vacuum caused by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. By the time of the Renaissance, the Papal territory was expanding greatly. A Pope was not only the head of the Catholic Church but had also become one of Italy's most important secular rulers, signing treaties with other sovereigns, and fighting wars. Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius 11, c.1511-12, oil on panel, 1080 x 800 mm, London: National Gallery For example, this is Raphael’s portrait of Pope Julius II, who employed Michelangelo to decorate the Chapel’s ceiling. He might not look it here, but Julius was known as the "Warrior Pope" leading military ventures around the Italian peninsula to defend or extend the Papal States.
ART_PRESENTATION_2018_Sistine_Chapel._docx_002_.docx