"The Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo's Masterpiece and More". A talk by Professor Judith Testa. February 22nd at 6pm. Italian Cultural Institute, 500 N Michigan Avenue, Suite 1450. Registration at https://sistine-chapel.eventbrite.com

The Sistine Chapel - the most visited religious site in Rome - is more than merely a setting for Michelangelo’s famous frescoes. Most visitors come to see Michelangelo’s paintings, but they tend to ignore the chapel itself. Furthermore, visitors often fail to understand the meaning of the paintings: those on the ceiling, as well as the ones on the back wall and the side walls. What messages are these paintings intended to convey? Are they separate, isolated units, with no meaningful relationship to one another? Or do they form a coherent whole and a single, understandable message?