What is the Sistine Chapel’s traditional architectural model?

The Sistine Chapel’s traditional architectural model is Solomon’s Temple.

The chapel was designed with proportions traditionally associated with the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, as described in the Hebrew Bible. This comparison helped present the new Vatican chapel as a sacred successor to an ancient biblical sanctuary.

The building is rectangular and comparatively austere on the exterior, while its interior became famous for an exceptionally rich sequence of Renaissance frescoes. The architectural relationship to Solomon’s Temple is symbolic and proportional rather than a claim that the Vatican structure reproduces every detail of the ancient temple.

The chapel’s biblical program reinforces the connection. Its side walls include scenes from the lives of Moses and Christ, linking the Old and New Testaments. This is why the chapel’s architecture and decoration are often discussed together as a unified theological design.