Which architect supervised construction of the Sistine Chapel in the 1470s?
Answer
Giovannino de Dolci
Giovannino de Dolci supervised construction of the Sistine Chapel in the 1470s.
The chapel was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV as a private papal chapel and was built within the Vatican complex between 1473 and 1481. Dolci is identified as the architect responsible for the project, while the building’s name comes from Sixtus IV.
The chapel’s early decoration was completed before Michelangelo painted its ceiling. Renaissance artists including Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and Cosimo Rosselli created major wall frescoes during the 1480s.
A common mix-up is to credit Michelangelo with designing the chapel itself. He painted the ceiling decades after construction, from 1508 to 1512, and later created The Last Judgment on the altar wall.