Michelangelos Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition, Dallas

Many of the painter Michelangelo's most productive years were spent within the august walls of Rome's Sistine Chapel. There, between the years of 1508-12 and again from 1534-41, the artist, often perched on cramped scaffolding or working prone on his back, created frescos that captivated the minds and spirits of onlookers for the next 500 years. At Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition, curators have recreated these great works as enormous high-definition photos, bringing them down from their closely guarded (and, in some cases, sky-high) walls and ceilings to give guests an up-close look at the master painter's work. Read on to learn more about each piece:

• Sistine Chapel ceiling: Michelangelo's most complex work stretches across the vast ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and depicts the stories and scriptural beliefs of the 16th-century Catholic Church. Famous scenes within this multi-paneled work include the Great Flood, the Twelve Prophets, and—most famously—the Creation of Man, which features Adam holding an outstretched finger towards the figure of God himself.
• The Last Judgment: Located behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel stands this later work, in which Michelangelo captures the scene of the Second Coming of Christ. Angels, saints, and the souls of the faithful fill the wall-sized painting, all surrounding the central figure of Jesus arrayed in a ring of light.