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.

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

This historic moment will be in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, during next week's state visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla.

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The programme will include a service in the Sistine Chapel reflecting on Leo and Charles' shared "commitment to the protection of nature and concern for the environment", it added.

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As sports turf goes, this is his Sistine Chapel.

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Cardinal Vincent Nichols, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, was one of 133 cardinals who were shut into the Vatican's Sistine Chapel and later elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.

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Within hours of the white smoke billowing from the Sistine Chapel chimney, someone had photoshopped the Vatican façade to look like a Portillo’s.

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