Sistine Chapel

noun

1. the chapel of the pope in the Vatican at Rome, built for Pope Sixtus IV and decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo and others.

Sistine Chapel

/ ˈsɪstaɪn; -tiːn /

noun

1. the chapel of the pope in the Vatican at Rome, built for Sixtus IV and decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo and others

Sistine Chapel

1. A chapel adjoining Saint Peter's Basilica , noted for the frescoes of biblical subjects painted by Michelangelo on its walls and ceilings. The Creation is one of the notable subjects of the ceiling paintings, and the Judgment Day is depicted on the rear wall of the chapel.

Notes

Michelangelo had to work on his back to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The project took four years to complete.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Sistine Chapel¹

Sistine, from Italian Sistino relating to Sisto Sixtus (Pope Sixtus IV)

Example Sentences

Derived from the Sistine Chapel, it’s an adjective meaning “a light blue color.”

From Seattle Times

Six million people visit the Sistine Chapel each year - making it the third most visited museum in the world.

From BBC

Dressed in parkas and knit caps, the three volunteers lug crates of power tools and spooled wire into the gleaming mountaintop edifice that some have called astronomy’s “Sistine Chapel” and immediately start tinkering.

From Los Angeles Times

“They’re not stuffed animals. These were sculptures,” said John Janelli, a former president of the National Taxidermists Association, likening destroying them to scraping off the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

From Seattle Times

The real Sistine Chapel in the Vatican gets its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481.

From Reuters