Moses and Christ on the Sistine walls

Prepare this comparison before entering the Sistine Chapel. Along the south wall, scenes follow Moses. Along the north wall, scenes follow Christ. Above them are portraits of popes, with painted draperies below. These layers give the side walls a structure you can remember without consulting a screen inside. Moses's sequence includes the Red Sea and the giving of the Law. Christ's includes his Baptism, the Calling of the Apostles, the Handing over of the Keys and the Last Supper. Pairing the two lives places the Hebrew Bible and the life of Jesus within a Christian account of sacred history. Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Cosimo Rosselli worked with assistants on the programme in 1481–1482. Their paintings were already here before Michelangelo's ceiling. Some earlier altar-wall scenes were later destroyed for his Last Judgement, so the chapel you see contains changes as well as surviving sequences. Once inside, look silently along the two side walls before raising your eyes. Keep your phone put away throughout the chapel.