Michelangelo designed the painted architectural framework around the Sistine Chapel ceiling scenes. His fresco program uses painted moldings, cornices, brackets, medallions, and sculptural-looking figures to organize the biblical images across the vault.
The framework is not a separate Renaissance building added above the chapel. It is an illusionistic structure painted directly onto the curved ceiling, creating the impression that the scenes are set within a monumental architectural system. This device allowed Michelangelo to divide the complex program into clearly readable sections.
The framework supports nine central scenes from Genesis, along with prophets, sibyls, ancestors of Christ, and decorative figures. Its painted architecture also helps viewers understand the hierarchy of the composition from the floor.
Raphael is a frequent mistaken answer because he was a leading contemporary artist who worked in the Vatican, especially on the papal apartments. He did not design the painted framework of Michelangelo’s ceiling.