Michelangelo's fresco paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were completely restored by early 1994. According to art historians, Michelangelo's painting "is reappearing from beneath layers of extraneous materials . . . as if a window in a dark room is being opened to reveal a bright panorama" (De Vecchi 7).
Michelangelo's work is characterized by the painstaking work and technique which evidences the highest level of craftsmanship that was "typical of fresco painters in the Renaissance period" (De Vecchi 26). The famous painter began his work by applying plaster and carefully choosing his pigments. Although his work was clearly that of a genius, it was also done very much in the style and spirit of other great Florentine masters like Domenico, Ghirlandio, and Luca Signorelli.
Michelangelo's paintings spread across the entire "shallow barrel vault[ed]" ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Murray 63). The vaulted ceiling is covered with paintings of robust religious people and scenes; the first half is done in the typical fifteenth-century color scheme, and the second half is done in colder colors and tones (De Vecchi 28). Thus, as a piece of Renaissance art, the second half of the ceiling is much more progressive and innovative, while the first half of the ceiling is typical of other artwork created in the same period. And, although all of the individuals and groups of figures that Michelanglo painted appear in vivid colors and appeart three-dimensional, Michelanglo varies his brush stroke techniques. Specifically, many of the youths behind the prophets and Sibyls are painted with a wide brush, with little attention to specific details, while the prophets and Sibyls themselves are always well defined in every detail. In contrast, the elements that project from the ceiling's surface are painted with brighter colors which Michelanglo achieved by using denser and wider brush strokes.
The Sistine Ceiling is divided b...