On this day the first Mass was celebrated in the Sistine Chapel

The famous Sistine Chapel, located in the Apostolic Palace of Vatican City, was consecrated by Pope Sixtus IV on a very special date in the Catholic calendar: August 15, 1483, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

It is a very popular chapel, as conclaves and important ceremonies are held there, and it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who ordered its construction between 1473 and 1481.

The Sistine is a reconstruction and extension of the Great Chapel, used by the Holy Father and his entourage for daily worship, but which had serious structural flaws.

After its construction, the decoration of the Sistine Chapel was carried out by the Renaissance painters Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli and Luca Signorelli.

They made the first frescoes on the life of Moses and Christ, and portraits of the Pontiffs who had ruled until then.

The paintings were installed in 1482, but it was not until August 15 of the following year that Sixtus IV celebrated the first Mass for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

A new stage of decoration was carried out by Michelangelo, between 1508 and 1512, at the request of Pope Julius II.

Originally, the artist was to paint the twelve Apostles on the vault. However, Michelangelo proposed and executed nine scenes from Genesis, such as The Creation, God’s relationship with humanity y The fall of man.

Between 1536 and 1541, the artist also painted the altar wall with The Last Judgmentfor which the Nativity scenes, the discovery of Moses and some portraits of Popes were eliminated.

In 1515, Rafael intervened, commissioned by Leo X to design ten tapestries representing the lives of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which took 4 years to complete.

Modifications and restorations continued to be made in the Sistine Chapel, until it became an incalculable artistic treasure, considered a World Heritage Site.