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Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the Western end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification, after his death. Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose biography was published while he was alive. [3] Three biographies were published during his lifetime.
Michelangelo probably began working on the plans and sketches for the design from April 1508. [39] The preparatory work on the ceiling was complete in late July the same year and on 4 February 1510, Francesco Albertini recorded that Michelangelo had "decorated the upper, arched part with very beautiful pictures and gold". [39]
Michelangelo was intimidated by the scale of the commission, and made it known from the outset of Julius II's approach that he would prefer to decline. He felt he was more of a sculptor than a painter, and was suspicious that such a large-scale project was being offered to him by enemies as a set-up for an inevitable fall.
The dome design had been altered by Giuliano da Sangallo from being hemispherical to being 9 meters taller, segmental, and ribbed, and he had strengthened the piers and completed building the pendentives. Michelangelo redesigned the dome to have two shells, a mostly brick internal structure, and three iron chains to resist outward pressure. [33]
The dome was completed up to the base of the lantern in May 1590, a few months before the death of Pope Sixtus V. The lantern and lead covering for the dome were completed later, with the brass orb and cross being raised in 1592. [34] The lantern is 17 meters high and the dome is 136.57 meters from the base to the top of the cross. [35]
The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling and altar wall decorated by Michelangelo, and the Stanze di Raffaello (decorated by Raphael) are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums, [7] considered among the most canonical and distinctive works of Western and European art. In 2023, the Vatican Museums were visited by 6.8 million people. [8]
Michelangelo redesigned the dome in 1547, taking into account all that had gone before. His dome, like that of Florence, is constructed of two shells of brick, the outer one having 16 stone ribs, twice the number at Florence but far fewer than in Sangallo's design. As with the designs of Bramante and Sangallo, the dome is raised from the piers ...
Plans for St. Peter's Basilica (especially for the dome) 1546–1564: Rome Plans for San Giovanni dei Fiorentini 1559–1560: Rome Sforza Chapel Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore c. 1560: Rome Porta Pia 1561–1565: Rome Interior remodeling of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri 1563–1564: Rome