Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world-the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork. This book tells how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time. Authors Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith.--From publisher description.;In the beginning -- What is the Sistine Chapel? -- Lost language of art -- A rebel is born -- A very special education -- Out of the garden and into the world -- As fate would have it -- A private tour of the Sistine Temple -- Crossing the threshold -- The vault of heaven -- The house of David -- The four corners of the universe -- A company of prophets -- The middle path -- Parting shots -- Beyond the ceiling -- Back on the scene -- Secrets of The Last Judgment -- Later secrets --"A world transfigured" -- Conclusion: so, what is the Sistine Chapel?