Perhaps second only in fame to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's magnificent frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel opened to the public for the first time 500 years ago this week ...

Scholar Adriano Marinazzo believes Michelangelo depicted himself as God in "The Creation of Adam," the famous fresco painting that adorns part of the chapel's ceiling. Getty Images See more of our ...

In this short Today in History video, I talk about what happened on 1 November 1512, when Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were first shown to the public. I share why ...

The overwhelming grandeur, scope and vision of Michelangelo’s miraculous Sistine Chapel ceiling and “The Last Judgment” frescoes transcend reason and defy human capability. Comprising more than 600 ...

I was 19 when I walked with a travel group into the Sistine Chapel, and I remember the shoulder-to-shoulder tourists almost as much as I remember the wondrous ceiling and walls, painted by ...

NPR secured one of the last public tours of the Sistine Chapel before it closes for the Catholic Church's upcoming conclave to select the next pope. Pope Francis has been laid to rest, and ...

If all Michelangelo ever created was David, with its incredible portrayal of youthful vitality, or the sublime Pietà, which was miraculously carved by his hands out of a single gigantic block of ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." The conclave to select the next Pope is starting, and the Sistine Chapel is the room where it happens. As ...

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with art historian Kim Butler about the artwork that adorns the walls of the Sistine Chapel and its significance ahead of the conclave to elect the next pope. The College of ...