DON GONYEA, HOST:
The College of Cardinals will gather this week to elect the next pope, who will be tasked with leading the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. One important aspect of the conclave is the location itself, the Sistine Chapel. My colleague Scott Detrow recently learned more about it.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The setting for the upcoming conclave to elect the next pope is one of the most dramatic and historic on the planet. When 133 cardinals gather all wearing their scarlet-red choir dress, they will meet in the Vatican's famous Sistine Chapel, and they will be surrounded by some of the most important artistic works of the Renaissance. When they look up, they will see the ceiling painted by Michelangelo telling the story of the creation in Genesis. On the north and south walls, frescoes tell the stories of Jesus and Moses. And as the cardinals approach the chapel's altar to cast their ballots, they will be walking toward Michelangelo's floor-to-ceiling vivid illustration of the "Last Judgment." Here's how Robert Harris, the author of the bestseller, "Conclave," thinks about it.
ROBERT HARRIS: And that's a pretty awesome piece of art with the dead - the souls of the dead plunging down into hell and the souls of the virtuous rising to heaven. I think if you saw that four times a day, you would - it would enter your soul. And of course, that, along with the Sistine Chapel ceiling, are what were meant to focus the minds of the cardinal electors.
DETROW: Quite the scene - here to take us through the Sistine Chapel's art and its significance to the conclave is American University Renaissance art professor Kim Butler. Thanks for joining us.
KIM BUTLER: Thank you for having me.
DETROW: So let's pretend we are walking into the Sistine Chapel together, as the cardinals will be doing. Tell us what we're seeing.
BUTLER: Well, the cardinal electors will have a very different experience than your average tourist. They will be in a smaller group. One hundred and thirty-three cardinal electors will process from the rear of the chapel toward the altar wall. As they are processing, they will be singing a ninth century hymn, "Veni Creator Spiritus," which means, come Holy Spirit, creator; bring us your gifts by your right finger. And as they are singing the hymn, they will walk under Michelangelo's iconic "Creation Of Adam," which shows God with his divine finger infusing the Holy Spirit into the first created man, Adam. So this is a very powerful connection for them as they are seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit.
DETROW: You mentioned the typical tourist experience. The one time I was there, I recall the people with sticks kind of guiding people through - obviously, very, very different. It's an intimate setting and yet this towering, intimidating artwork surrounding the cardinals.
BUTLER: Yes, that's right. And they will have ample opportunity to study the artworks. They will be seated at tables. Depending on their position, they will either face the scenes from the life of Christ or the life of Moses. Either way, they will be looking at examples of their pastoral purview. They will see examples of teaching scripture, of preaching, of model priesthood, to which they should all aspire. And very importantly, on the right-hand side, one of the most famous early decorations in the chapel is Perugino's "Delivery Of The Keys." It's when Christ hands the keys to Peter, marking him as the first pope. Their job fundamentally is to elect the successor to Peter, and that's what they will be focusing on. And these models from the Old Testament and the New Testament are essentially showcasing the qualities they should be looking for in the next pope.
DETROW: Let's talk about the "Last Judgment," which, as we mentioned, is the background to this, is what cardinals will be looking at as they cast their ballots. Can you describe the painting?
BUTLER: Yes, the "Last Judgment," it is a very imposing painting. Michelangelo was brought in by a third pope, Pope Paul III, to paint over the original altar wall decoration. And politics and religious culture had changed. He was coming in a few decades after he painted the ceiling to paint the altar wall for this new pope. But fundamentally, it was about the theology of salvation, how you are judged at the end of time. Are you on the - Christ's right side? Are you among the elect, or are you on the left side, the sinister side, being taken to hell?
DETROW: One thing I do want to clarify is that we think about the conclave as this millennium-old practice. We think about the age of the Sistine Chapel. But this was not always the place for this vote to take place, right?
BUTLER: No, not at all - in fact, the first conclave that took place in the Sistine Chapel was in 1492. Papal conclaves were only held in the chapel a handful of times before 1878, only at which time it became the standardized site. And there was a very chaotic history with conclaves. The reason that this tradition developed of locking them in with a key - cum clave, with the key - is because they would take forever, sometimes, in medieval conclaves. There was one conclave that took nearly three years. And they started doing things like locking the cardinal electors in, rationing their food and water, making sure they only had a very hard bed and a chamber pot...
DETROW: Yeah.
BUTLER: ...To help facilitate the proceedings moving forward. And some of these were gradually implemented as rules.
DETROW: That was American University art professor Kim Butler. Thank you so much.
BUTLER: Thank you for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
