Which pope ordered the construction of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel?

Pope Sixtus IV ordered the construction of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.

The chapel was built in the 1470s during Sixtus IV’s pontificate and was named after him. It replaced an older chapel in the Vatican complex and served as a major papal space for worship and ceremonies.

The building’s later fame comes largely from its Renaissance decoration. Artists including Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Cosimo Rosselli painted scenes on the side walls before Michelangelo created his celebrated ceiling under Pope Julius II.

Sixtus IV should not be confused with Julius II, who commissioned Michelangelo’s ceiling decades later. Nor should he be confused with Paul III, who commissioned Michelangelo’s Last Judgment on the altar wall.