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Each year, over five million people visit the Sistine Chapel. It was built in 1473 by Pope Sixtus IV.  Upon its completion, he commissioned a team of talented Renaissance artists to create a series of paintings on the walls depicting both the Life of Christ and the Life of Moses. In 1505, determined to update the space, Pope Julius II, ordered Michelangelo to fresco the ceiling. Hoping to escape the task, Michelangelo fled by horse to Florence, but the relentless Pope followed and forced him to return to Rome. Along with a handful of assistants, Michelangelo covered the 3000 square foot ceiling with over 150 pictorial units and 300 figures. Thirty years later, Michelangelo painted the Last Judgment on the eastern wall. 

Through a PowerPoint presentation, Dr. Wenzel will identify the biblical stories that saturate the Sistine Chapel.  The pictures in the presentation were taken during a private tour.  

Dr. Lorrie Wenzel is a former scripture professor, church historian and noted expert in the biblical imagery in sacred spaces.  She and her husband recently returned from a two-month trip to Europe, studying over 40 cathedrals and churches in six countries. She has spent hours inside the Sistine Chapel.