Sistine Chapel

Coordinates: 41°54′11″N 12°27′16″E / 41.90306°N 12.45444°E / 41.90306; 12.45444
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

  • Sistine Chapel
  • Sacellum Sixtinum (
    Year consecrated
15 August 1483
Location
LocationVatican City
Sistine Chapel is located in Vatican City
Sistine Chapel
Location on a map of Vatican City
Geographic coordinates41°54′11″N 12°27′16″E / 41.90306°N 12.45444°E / 41.90306; 12.45444
Architecture
Architect(s)Baccio Pontelli, Giovanni de Dolci[1]
TypeChurch
Groundbreaking1505[1]
Completed1508[1]
Specifications
Length40.9 metres (134 ft)
Width (nave)13.4 metres (44 ft)
Height (max)20.7 metres (68 ft)
Europe and North America
Website
mv.vatican.va
Rome
Map
1km
0.6miles
Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel (

Latin: Sacellum Sixtinum; Italian: Cappella Sistina [kapˈpɛlla siˈstiːna]) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna ('Great Chapel'), it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481. Since that time, it has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today, it is the site of the papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The chapel's fame lies mainly in the frescoes that decorate its interior, most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment, both by Michelangelo
.

During the reign of Sixtus IV, a team of

Virgin Mary.[3][4]

Between 1508 and 1512, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel's ceiling, a project that changed the course of Western art and is regarded as one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilization.[5][6] In a different political climate, after the Sack of Rome, he returned and, between 1535 and 1541, painted The Last Judgment for Popes Clement VII and Paul III.[7] The fame of Michelangelo's paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel since they were revealed five centuries ago. According to recent studies, the Sistine Chapel is influenced by the writings of monk and philosopher Joachim of Fiore, who thus influenced the vision and the iconographic project for the representation of the Last Judgment. Michelangelo's frescoes with an eschatological theme are therefore an artistic development of Joachim's writings of the 12th century about the apocalypse and the last days.[8]

History

While known as the location of

Papal Chapel (Cappella Pontificia), one of the two bodies of the papal household, called until 1968 the Papal Court (Pontificalis Aula). At the time of Pope Sixtus IV in the late 15th century, the Papal Chapel comprised about 200 people, including clerics, officials of the Vatican and distinguished laity. There were 50 occasions during the year on which it was prescribed by the Papal Calendar that the whole Papal Chapel should meet.[9] Of these 50 occasions, 35 were masses, of which 8 were held in basilicas, in general St. Peter's, and were attended by large congregations. These included the Christmas Day and Easter masses, at which the Pope himself was the celebrant
. The other 27 masses could be held in a smaller, less public space, for which the Cappella Maggiore was used before it was rebuilt on the same site as the Sistine Chapel.

The Cappella Maggiore derived its name, the Greater Chapel, from the fact that there was another chapel also in use by the Pope and his retinue for daily worship. At the time of Pope Sixtus IV, this was the Chapel of Pope Nicholas V, which had been decorated by Fra Angelico. The Cappella Maggiore is recorded as existing in 1368. According to a communication from Andreas of Trebizond to Pope Sixtus IV, by the time of its demolition to make way for the present chapel, the Cappella Maggiore was in a ruinous state with its walls leaning.[10]

The Sistine Chapel as it may have appeared in the 15th century (19th-century drawing)

The present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481.[1] The proportions of the present chapel appear to closely follow those of the original. After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo.[10]

The first

Virgin Mary.[11]

The Sistine Chapel has maintained its function to the present day and continues to host the important services of the Papal Calendar, unless the Pope is travelling. There is a permanent choir, the Sistine Chapel Choir, for whom much original music has been written, the most famous piece being Gregorio Allegri's Miserere.[12]

Papal conclave

Main article: Papal conclave

One of the functions of the Sistine Chapel is as a venue for the election of each successive pope in a conclave of the College of Cardinals. On the occasion of a conclave, a chimney is installed in the roof of the chapel, from which smoke arises as a signal. If white smoke, which is created by burning the ballots of the election, appears, a new Pope has been elected. If no candidate receives the required two-thirds vote, the cardinals send up black smoke—created by burning the ballots along with wet straw and chemical additives—it means that no successful election has yet occurred.[13]

The first papal conclave to be held on the Sistine Chapel was the

conclave of 1492, which took place from 6 to 11 August of the same year and in which Pope Alexander VI
, also known as Rodrigo Borja, was elected.

The conclave also provided for the cardinals a space in which they could hear mass, and in which they could eat, sleep, and pass time attended by servants. From 1455, conclaves have been held in the

Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici gregis requires the cardinals to be lodged in the Domus Sanctae Marthae during a papal conclave, but to continue to vote in the Sistine Chapel.[15]

Canopies for each cardinal-elector were once used during conclaves—a sign of equal dignity. After the new Pope accepts his election, he would give his new name; at this time, the other Cardinals would tug on a rope attached to their seats to lower their canopies. Until reforms instituted by

Saint Pius X, the canopies were of different colours to designate which Cardinals had been appointed by which Pope. Paul VI
abolished the canopies altogether, since, under his papacy, the population of the College of Cardinals had increased so much to the point that they would need to be seated in rows of two against the walls, making the canopies obstruct the view of the cardinals in the back row. In the wake of a conclave taking place to preserve the integrity of the marble floor on the Sistine Chapel, carpenters install a slightly elevated wooden floor alongside a wooden ramp in the entrance for those Cardinals who for one reason or another need to be transported in a wheelchair.

Architecture

Structure

Exterior of the Sistine Chapel

The chapel is about 35 metres (118 feet) long and 14 m (46 ft) wide,[16] with the ceiling rising to about 20 m (66 ft) above the main floor.[10]: 28 [17]

Its exterior is unadorned by architectural or decorative details, as is common in many Italian churches of the Medieval and Renaissance eras. It has no exterior façade or exterior processional doorways, as the ingress has always been from internal rooms within the Apostolic Palace (Papal Palace), and the exterior can be seen only from nearby windows and light-wells in the palace. Subsidence and cracking of masonry also have affected the Cappella Maggiore, necessitating the building of very large buttresses to brace the exterior walls. The accretion of other buildings has further altered the exterior appearance of the chapel.

The building is divided into three stories of which the lowest is a very tall basement level with several utilitarian windows and a doorway giving onto the exterior court. Internally, the basement is robustly vaulted to support the chapel. The building had six tall arched windows down each side and two at either end, several of which have been blocked. Above the vault is a third story with wardrooms for guards. At this level, an open projecting gangway was constructed, which encircled the building supported on an arcade springing from the walls. The gangway has been roofed as it was a continual source of water leaking into the vault of the chapel.

Interior of the Sistine Chapel

The general proportions of the chapel use the length as the unit of measurement. This has been divided by three to get the width and by two to get the height. Maintaining the ratio, there were six windows down each side and two at either end. Defined proportions were a feature of Renaissance architecture and reflected the growing interest in the Classical heritage of Rome.

A reconstruction of the appearance of the west Wall chapel in the 1480s, prior to the painting of the ceiling
Drawing by Pinturicchio of Perugino's lost Assumption in the Sistine Chapel
Raphael tapestries in the Sistine Chapel

The ceiling of the chapel is a flattened

opus alexandrinum, a decorative style using marble and coloured stone in a pattern that reflects the earlier proportion in the division of the interior and also marks the processional way from the main door, used by the Pope on important occasions such as Palm Sunday
.

A screen or transenna in marble by Mino da Fiesole, Andrea Bregno, and Giovanni Dalmata divides the chapel into two parts.[18] Originally these made equal space for the members of the Papal Chapel within the sanctuary near the altar and the pilgrims and townsfolk without. However, with growth in the number of those attending the Pope, the screen was moved giving a reduced area for the faithful laity. The transenna is surmounted by a row of ornate candlesticks, once gilt, and has a wooden door, where once there was an ornate door of gilded wrought iron. The sculptors of the transenna also provided the cantoria or projecting choir gallery.

Decoration

Diagram of part of the vertical fresco decoration of the Sistine Chapel

History

The first stage in the decoration of the Sistine Chapel was the painting of the ceiling in blue, studded with gilt stars,[10] and with decorative borders around the architectural details of the pendentives. This was entirely replaced when Michelangelo came to work on the ceiling in 1508.

Of the present scheme of frescos, the earliest part is that of the side walls. They are divided into three main tiers. The central tier of the walls has two cycles of paintings, which complement each other, The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ. They were commissioned in 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV and executed by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli and their workshops. They originally ran all round the walls, but have since been replaced on both end walls.

The project was perhaps supervised by Perugino, who arrived at the chapel prior to the Florentines. It is probable that the commission of Ghirlandaio, Botticelli and Roselli was part of a reconciliation project between Lorenzo de' Medici, the de facto ruler of Florence, and Pope Sixtus IV. The Florentines started to work in the Sistine Chapel in the spring of 1481.

Beneath the cycles of The Life of Moses and The Life of Christ, the lower level of the walls is decorated with frescoed hangings in silver and gold. Above the narrative frescos, the upper tier is divided into two zones. At the lower level of the windows is a Gallery of Popes painted at the same time as the Lives. Around the arched tops of the windows are areas known as the lunettes which contain the Ancestors of Christ, painted by Michelangelo as part of the scheme for the ceiling.

The ceiling was commissioned by

Ancestors of Christ
.

In 1515,

Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Work began in mid-1515. Due to their large size, manufacture of the hangings was carried out in Brussels, and took four years under the hands of the weavers in the shop of Pieter van Aelst.[20] Raphael's tapestries were looted during the Sack of Rome in 1527 and were either burnt for their precious metal content or were scattered around Europe. In the late 20th century, a set was reassembled from several further sets that had been made after the first set, and displayed again in the Sistine Chapel in 1983. The tapestries continue to be used at occasional ceremonies of particular importance. The full-size preparatory cartoons for seven of the 10 tapestries are known as the Raphael Cartoons and are in London.[21]

At this point, the decorative scheme displayed a consistent iconographical pattern. The tier of Popes, which, in the scheme intended by Pope Julius, would have appeared immediately below the Twelve Apostles, would have emphasised the apostolic succession. It has been argued that the present scheme shows the two Biblical Testaments merged in order to reveal the Old predicting and framing the New, synthesizing the logic of the Christian Bible.[22]

This was disrupted by a further commission to Michelangelo to decorate the wall above the altar with The Last Judgment, 1537–1541. The painting of this scene necessitated the obliteration of two episodes from the Lives—the Nativity of Jesus and the Finding of Moses; several of the Popes; and two sets of Ancestors.

Frescoes

Trials of Moses
by Botticelli

Southern wall

The southern wall is decorated with the Stories of Moses, painted in 1481–1482. Starting from the altar, they include:

  • Moses Leaving for Egypt
    Moses Leaving for Egypt
  • Punishment of the Rebels
    Punishment of the Rebels

Northern wall

Delivery of the Keys by Perugino

The northern wall houses the Stories of Jesus, dating to 1481–1482. They include:

Eastern wall

Resurrection of Christ

Michelangelo's frescoes

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 to repaint the vault, or ceiling, of the chapel.[23] The work was completed between 1508 and late 1512.[24] He painted the Last Judgment over the altar, between 1535 and 1541, on commission from Pope Paul III Farnese.[25]

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. For Michelangelo, the project was a distraction from the major marble sculpture that had preoccupied him for the previous few years.[26] The sources of Michelangelo's inspiration are not easily determined; both Joachite and Augustinian theologians were within the sphere of Julius' influence.[27]

Ceiling

Main article: Sistine Chapel ceiling
See also:
Gallery of Sistine Chapel ceiling
A section of the Sistine Chapel ceiling

To be able to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo needed a support; the first idea was by Julius' favoured architect Donato Bramante, who wanted to build for him a scaffold to be suspended in the air with ropes. However, Bramante did not successfully complete the task, and the structure he built was flawed. He had perforated the vault in order to lower strings to secure the scaffold. Michelangelo laughed when he saw the structure, and believed it would leave holes in the ceiling once the work was ended. He asked Bramante what was to happen when the painter reached the perforations, but the architect had no answer.

The matter was taken before the Pope, who ordered Michelangelo to build a scaffold of his own. Michelangelo created a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall, high up near the top of the windows. Contrary to popular belief, he did not lie on this scaffolding while he painted, but painted from a standing position.[28]

Michelangelo used bright colours, easily visible from the floor. On the lowest part of the ceiling he painted the ancestors of Christ. Above this he alternated male and female prophets, with

Great Flood
.

The painted area is about 40 m (131 ft) long by 13 m (43 ft) wide. This means that Michelangelo painted well over 5,000 square feet (460 m2) of frescoes.[29]

The Last Judgement

Main article: The Last Judgment (Michelangelo)
The Last Judgement as it looks today
The Last Judgement as it exists today

The Last Judgement was painted by Michelangelo from 1535 to 1541, between two important historic events: the Sack of Rome by mercenary forces of the

Revelation of John, Chapter 20. High on the wall is the heroic figure of Christ, with the saints clustered in groups around him. At the bottom left of the painting the dead are raised from their graves and ascend to be judged. To the right are those who are assigned to Hell
and are dragged down by demons.

The Last Judgement was an object of a bitter dispute between Cardinal Carafa and Michelangelo. Because he depicted naked figures, the artist was accused of immorality and obscenity. A censorship campaign (known as the "Fig-Leaf Campaign") was organized by Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua's ambassador) to remove the frescoes. From this campaign drew support for the more natural state of the figures. In response, phallic imagery began permeating throughout Vatican City, beginning the trend of the crude drawings in places such as in graffiti art in bathrooms, textbooks, and other public places to be easily found. This trend continues to the present day.

The Pope's Master of Ceremonies

St Bartholomew
.

The

genitalia in the fresco were later covered by the artist Daniele da Volterra
, whom history remembers by the derogatory nickname "Il Braghettone" ("the breeches-painter").

Restoration and controversy

Main article: Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

The Sistine Chapel's ceiling restoration began on 7 November 1984. When the restoration was completed, the chapel was re-opened to the public on 8 April 1994. The part of the restoration in the Sistine Chapel that has caused the most concern is the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo. The emergence of the brightly coloured

Ancestors of Christ
from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe and removed the original intent of the artist.

Daniel, before and after the restoration

The problem lies in the analysis and understanding of the techniques utilised by Michelangelo, and the technical response of the restorers to that understanding. A close examination of the frescoes of the lunettes convinced the restorers that Michelangelo worked exclusively in "buon fresco"; that is, the artist worked only on freshly laid plaster and each section of work was completed while the plaster was still in its fresh state. In other words, they believed Michelangelo did not work "a secco"; he did not come back later and add details onto the dry plaster.

The restorers, by assuming that the artist took a universal approach to the painting, have taken a universal approach to the restoration. A decision was made that all of the shadowy layer of animal glue and "lamp black", all of the wax, and all of the overpainted areas were contamination of one sort or another: smoke deposits, earlier restoration attempts, and painted definition by later restorers in an attempt to enliven the appearance of the work. Based on this decision, according to Arguimbau's critical reading of the restoration data that have been provided, the chemists of the restoration team decided upon a solvent that would effectively strip the ceiling down to its paint-impregnated plaster. After treatment, only that which was painted "buon fresco" would remain.[31]

Replicas

The only reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by Gary Bevans at English Martyrs' Catholic Church in Goring-by-Sea, Worthing, West Sussex, England.[32] A full-size architectural and photographic replica of the entire building was commissioned by the Mexican Government and funded by private donors.[33] It was on view at Mexico City from 1 June to 15 July 2016. It took 2.6 million high definition photographs to reproduce the totality of the frescoes and tapestries.[34] A video of the history of the chapel is shown to the visitors before entering the building; inside, a light-and-sound demonstration explains the content of each of the frescoes.

Quotes on Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.

— 
Johann Wolfgang Goethe, 23 August 1787, [35]

This work has been and truly is a beacon of our art, and it has brought such benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting that it was sufficient to illuminate a world which for so many hundreds of years had remained in the state of darkness. And, to tell the truth, anyone who is a painter no longer needs to concern himself about seeing innovations and inventions, new ways of painting poses, clothing on figures, and various awe-inspiring details, for Michelangelo gave to this work all the perfection that can be given to such details.

— Giorgio Vasari on Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

Music

Since the chapel's inception, the Sistine Chapel Choir has sung without the accompaniment of musical instruments as instruments were not permitted to be played inside the chapel.[36] This was problematic as there was no way of giving the musical starting pitch to the choir. Instead of allowing an instrument to give the starting pitch, the solution was to allow the individual singing first to choose the starting pitch. This instruction was given after an apostolic visitation of the choir in 1630:

Quando si ha da cominciare a cantare ciascuno lasci cominciare il più vecchio, quale se non intonata bene dovere essere puntato con rigore.[37]

On February 19, 2014, Canadian violinist Rosemary Siemens became the first solo instrumentalist to perform at the Sistine Chapel.[38] The historic performance was for an event entitled Spiritual Elevation as part of the Fondazione Pro Musical e Arte Sacra where Siemens was a featured guest soloist alongside vocalist Mary Zilba and harpist Mark Edward Spencer.[39] Siemens, Zilba, and Spencer performed a medley that included the hymns "Amazing Grace" and "Be Thou My Vision".[40] The historic performance took place in concert with the Continuo Arts Symphonic Chorus, led by conductor Candace Wicke.[41] Siemens also joined the Continuo Arts Symphonic Chorus for a Requiem entitled "Requiem For My Mother", composed by Stephen Edwards.

On April 29, 2016, The Edge (U2) became the first rock artist to stage a contemporary music concert at the chapel as part of a conference on regenerative medicines entitled Cellular Horizons.[42] The Edge performed "Walk On", "Yahweh", "Ordinary Love", by U2 as well as a Leonard Cohen cover of "If It Be Your Will" backed by an Irish Choir.[43]

In 2017, Cecilia Bartoli became the first woman to perform alongside the all-male Sistine Chapel Choir. Bartoli performed Beata Viscera by medieval composer Pérotin.[44]

The first ever live-streamed concert at the chapel took place on April 22, 2018, featuring a performance of Scottish composer James MacMillian's version of the Stabat Mater by the British Choir group The Sixteen and chamber orchestra ensemble Britten Sinfonia.[45] The concert was attended live by over three hundred people and streamed live over the website of Classic FM.

See also

References

Citations
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  2. ^ Vatican City, Whc.unesco.org, archived from the original on 25 December 2017, retrieved 9 August 2011
  3. ^ Pietrangeli 1986, p. 28
  4. JSTOR 1483178, archived
    from the original on 1 August 2015, retrieved 7 March 2009.
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  6. ^ Robert Coughlan, The World of Michelangelo, Time-Life International, (1966) p. 116
  7. ^ Robert Coughlan, p. 127
  8. ^ "Gioacchino da Fiore ispirò Michelangelo". November 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  9. ^ Pietrangeli 1986, p. 24
  10. ^ a b c d e John Shearman, "The Chapel of Sixtus IV". In Pietrangeli 1986
  11. ^ "The Sistine Chapel", Vatican Museums, archived from the original on 11 August 2013, retrieved 9 August 2013
  12. ^ Stevens, Abel & Floy, James. "Allegri's Miserere". The National Magazine, Carlton & Phillip, 1854. 531.
  13. ^ Saunders, Fr. William P. "The Path to the Papacy". Arlington Catholic Herald, 17 March 2005. Retrieved on 2 June 2008.
  14. S2CID 195032159
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  15. ^ "Interesting Conclave Facts". ewtn.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
  16. ISBN 0-19-866203-3
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  17. ^ O'Malley, John (1986). ""The Theology Behind Michelangelo's Ceiling"". The Sistine Chapel: The Art, the History, and the Restoration. p. 128.
  18. ^ Hersey 1993, p. 180
  19. ^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 150
  20. ^ Talvacchia 2007, p. 152
  21. ^ Cheney, Iris. Review of "Raphael's Cartoons in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen and the Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel" by John Shearman. The Art Bulletin, Volume 56, No. 4, December 1974. 607–609.
  22. ^ Oliveira, Paulo Martins "The Sistine Chapel and the two Testaments Archived 2 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine", 2013, (online, academia.edu)
  23. ^ Marinazzo, Adriano (2013). "Ipotesi su un disegno michelangiolesco del foglio XIII, 175 v, dell'Archivio Buonarroti". Commentari d'arte. 52–53: 108–110. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  24. ^ Graham-Dixon 2009, p. 2
  25. JSTOR 1358651
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  26. ^ Graham-Dixon 2009, p. 1
  27. ^ Graham-Dixon 2009, p. xi
  28. ^ 7 Things You May Not Know About the Sistine Chapel, archived from the original on 20 July 2016, retrieved 12 February 2014
  29. ^ Michelangelo – The Sistine Chapel Ceiling, "Seven Common Questions About the Frescoes", archived from the original on 22 August 2011, retrieved 31 January 2011
  30. ^ Vasari 1987, p. 379
  31. ^ Arguimbau, Peter Layne (5 October 2006). "Michelangelo's Cleaned off Sistine Chapel". Arguimbau. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
  32. ^ Welcome to The Sistine Chapel Reproduction United Kingdom, archived from the original on 26 June 2016, retrieved 8 July 2016
  33. ^ Vatican Approves $2.4 Million Replica of Sistine Chapel in Mexico City, 9 June 2016, archived from the original on 7 August 2016, retrieved 8 July 2016
  34. ^ "Full-size replica of Vatican's Sistine Chapel opens in Mexico City", Reuters, 9 June 2016, archived from the original on 20 December 2016, retrieved 2 July 2017
  35. ^ Letter. Original: (in German) Ich kann euch nicht ausdrücken, wie sehr ich euch zu mir gewünscht habe, damit ihr nur einen Begriff hättet, was ein einziger und ganzer Mensch machen und ausrichten kann; ohne die Sixtinische Kapelle gesehen zu haben, kann man sich keinen anschauenden Begriff machen, was ein Mensch vermag. Italian Journey, 2nd journey to Rome.Italienische Reise, Teil 21 Archived 13 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  36. ISBN 0131371916
    .
  37. ISBN 978-1351551465
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  38. ^ Butz, Melissa (1 December 2019). "First violinist to play in Sistine Chapel hopes to one day play for the pope". Rome Reports. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  39. ^ McLellan, Wendy (4 May 2016). "Vancouver violinist edges out U2 guitarist to play the Sistine Chapel". The Province. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  40. ^ "Sistine Chapel-1st Violinist EVER allowed to play since 1473 Amazing Grace, Rosemary Siemens, violin". YouTube. 20 December 2014. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine.
  41. ^ "Continuo Arts Chorus to perform at the Sistine Chapel". NJ.com. 20 January 2014. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  42. ^ Denham, Jess (3 May 2016). "The Edge becomes first rock star to play the Sistine Chapel". Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  43. ^ Kreps, Daniel (2 May 2016). "Watch U2's the Edge Perform Sistine Chapel Concert". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  44. ^ Guiffrida, Angela (19 November 2017). "Sistine Chapel breaks 500-year gender taboo to welcome soprano into the choir". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  45. ^ Carrier, Fanny (23 April 2018). "Vatican streams first live concert from Sistine Chapel". The Local. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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