Cappella Paolina, Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
The Cappella Paolina is a chapel inside the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, built in the Renaissance style. The interior consists of a single nave with a vaulted ceiling lit by a triple-arched window and two round openings that bring in daylight.
Pope Paul III commissioned Antonio da Sangallo the Younger to build the chapel in 1538, and it was completed two years later. Michelangelo then began the wall paintings, which he finished in the following years.
The two large wall paintings by Michelangelo show scenes from the lives of two apostles and belong to his final major works. Visitors cannot see these paintings because the room remains reserved for papal liturgical ceremonies and thus preserves its original function as a private place of prayer.
The chapel remains closed to the public because it serves as the private prayer room of the pope. Only during special church occasions and conclaves do cardinals use this room before walking to the Sistine Chapel.
During a papal election, the cardinals gather here for a brief ceremony before walking to the neighboring Sistine Chapel to begin voting. This tradition makes the room a place where the most important decisions of the Catholic Church take their starting point.
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