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Sistine Chapel: Overall view, looking towards altar wall and the Last Judgment
Architecture Library, Hesburgh Libraries
The best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the Pope in Vatican City. The present chapel, on the site of the Cappella Maggiore, was designed by Baccio Pontelli for Pope Sixtus IV, for whom it is named, and built under the supervision of Giovannino de Dolci between 1473 and 1481. The proportions of the present chapel appear to closely follow those of the original. After its completion, the chapel was decorated with frescoes by a number of the most famous artists of the High Renaissance, including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Michelangelo. The Sistine Chapel is best known for being the location of Papal conclaves for the selection of the Pope.