Survey of audience reception in the Sistine Chapel: decoding the message of sacred art

Abstract

The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is home to the most famous frescoes in the world that also have a profound religious significance and unique history. This case study analyses a survey of audience reception (2017) in the Sistine Chapel. It investigates how everyday visitors to the Chapel – usually tourists – interpreted the Christian art that they contemplated. The survey provides an insight into how sacred art can be used to transmit the Christian faith to today’s generations by using the cultural heritage of the Catholic Church. The case study highlights the importance of producing explanatory materials and of an effective guest management strategy to ensure visitors are given the opportunity to know the spiritual significance of the artworks. Encouragingly, many visitors in the survey demonstrated that they understood the religious significance of these works because they ascribed a religious meaning to their preferred masterpieces. This draws attention to the potential that the Sistine Chapel provides for evangelisation because it presents opportunities to talk about the Christian faith to those who otherwise may have no experience of it. This goal may be achieved through the experience of the visit itself and the production of guide materials or the use of expert guides that accompany the visitors to the Chapel.

Keywords

• Sistine Chapel
• Vatican
• sacred art
• guided tour
• religious tourism
• visual communication
• visual rhetoric
• visitor survey
• religious significance