Michelangelo finished The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel in 1541.
The monumental fresco covers the altar wall of the chapel. Pope Clement VII first commissioned it in 1533, and Pope Paul III continued the project after becoming pope in 1534. Michelangelo began the work in 1536 and completed it in 1541.
The scene represents the Second Coming of Christ and the final judgment of humanity. Christ appears at the center, surrounded by saints, angels, the saved, and the condemned. Unlike the ceiling, which presents scenes from Genesis, the altar-wall fresco focuses on the end of human history in Christian theology.
The work caused controversy because many figures were shown nude. After Michelangelo's death, Daniele da Volterra painted draperies over some figures, earning the nickname “Il Braghettone,” or “the breeches maker.”