Cappella Paolina

About Cappella Paolina

Cappella Paolina in the Vatican Apostolic Palace is a private papal chapel dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Pope Paul III commissioned its construction from Antonio da Sangallo the Younger in 1537–1542. The chapel’s most important works are Michelangelo’s late frescoes, The Conversion of Saint Paul and The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, painted between 1542 and 1550 on facing side walls. Other decoration was completed by Lorenzo Sabatini, Federico Zuccari and their collaborators, while the vault includes stucco and painted ornament. The chapel has a rectangular plan with a narrower presbytery and was intended to continue the functions of an earlier chapel near the Sala Regia. Its religious and ceremonial role remains central: the space is reserved for papal worship and is not part of the standard Vatican Museums visitor route. The Vatican describes the Pauline Chapel as a sacred space dedicated to the two apostles whose missions carry distinctive symbolic importance in Catholic tradition. A major restoration of the chapel and its frescoes was completed in the early twenty-first century, with the Michelangelo paintings cleaned and conserved for closer appreciation of their original colour and modelling.

Sources

• www.museivaticani.va
• www.vatican.va

Checked 2026-09-02

Where it is

• 45 min

  1 min walk

  Sistine Chapel

  • Must see
  • Historic monument
• 45 min

  2 min walk

  Apostolic Palace

  • Must see
  • Historic monument
• 45 min

  2 min walk

  St. Peter's Basilica

  • Must see · Heritage site
  • Historic monument

External links

• View on Wikidata