Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Pope Julius II hired Michelangelo, who thought of himself as a sculptor, to fresco the vault of the papal chapel. Working from scaffolding for four years, he painted more than 300 figures, from the Creation of Adam to the Flood, and returned in 1536 to paint the Last Judgement on the altar wall. Cardinals still gather beneath it in conclave to elect each new pope.