The Old Library has received a superb set of volumes illustrating the Sistine Chapel with ‘life size’ photographs, thanks to a generous donation from Robert Chartener, a Fellow Commoner of Magdalene College.

‘La Cappella Sistina’, published by the Vatican Museums and Scripta Maneant in 2016, is a three-volume set produced in a limited edition of 1999 copies, and a landmark in modern luxury book production.  The volumes contain every detail of the chapel captured with 270,000 high resolution digital images over the course of sixty-seven nights, while the chapel was closed to tourists.  The set of images in these volumes will be a highly useful resource for history of art students.

‘La Cappella Sistina’ is now the tallest set of books in the Old Library collection, standing at an impressive 63 cm.  The former ‘record holder’ for the tallest book in the library, at 60 cm, is William Nicolson’s ‘The English Atlas’, a five volume set published in Oxford in the 1680s.

Although ‘La Cappella Sistina’ is a modern set of books, they have an affinity with older items in Magdalene’s historic collections.  The Old Library’s copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in 1493, includes a biography and portrait of Sixtus IV – the Pope from whom the chapel derives its name.  The biography mentions the ‘Ponte Sisto’, a bridge over the river Tiber in Rome which the Pope sponsored (‘pontem sup[er] tiberim maxima impensa…’).  Unfortunately, there is no mention of the chapel.  The Old Library’s copy of Vasari’s ‘Lives of the Artists’ provides biographical information on artists associated with the painting of the chapel, such as Domenico Ghirlandaio.

However, the most striking parallels can be drawn between ‘La Cappella Sistina’ and a series of seventy-two engravings of figures in the Pepys Library.  The engravings by Adam Ghisi depict the Ancestors of Christ, the Prophets and Sibyls from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel painted by Michaelangelo.  It is believed that the set of engravings, published in 1612, was intended for the use of students studying anatomy.  This would explain the engravings’ small and convenient size.  Even though this volume and ‘La Capella Sistina’ were published over 400 years apart, they have a shared intention of conveying the beauty of Michelangelo’s art through a portable medium. 

By Catherine Sutherland

Deputy Librarian, Pepys Library and Special Collections

References:

Bonhams

British Museum

The Guardian

Minerva Auctions