A chapel in the Vatican, Rome, begun under
Pope Sixtus IV in 1473 by Giovanni del Dolci,
and decorated by (among others) Michelangelo.
It houses the conclave that meets to select a
new pope. Built to the proportions of
Solomon's temple in the Old Testament (its
height one-half and its width one-third of
its length), it has frescoes on the walls
(emphasizing the authority and legality of
the papacy) by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and
on the altar wall and ceiling by
Michelangelo.