<P> In the same year 1506, Pope Julius conceived a program to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel . The walls of the chapel had been decorated twenty years earlier . The lowest of three levels is painted to resemble draped hangings and was (and sometimes still is) hung on special occasions with the set of tapestries designed by Raphael . The middle level contains a complex scheme of frescoes illustrating the Life of Christ on the right side and the Life of Moses on the left side . It was carried out by some of the most renowned Renaissance painters: Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Signorelli and Cosimo Rosselli . The upper level of the walls contains the windows, between which are painted pairs of illusionistic niches with representations of the first thirty - two popes . A draft by Matteo d'Amelia indicates that the ceiling was painted blue like that of the Arena Chapel and decorated with gold stars, possibly representing the zodiacal constellations . It is probable that, because the chapel was the site of regular meetings and Masses of an elite body of officials known as the Papal Chapel who would observe the decorations and interpret their theological and temporal significance, it was Pope Julius' intention and expectation that the iconography of the ceiling was to be read with many layers of meaning . </P> <P> Michelangelo, who was not primarily a painter but a sculptor, was reluctant to take on the work . Also, he was occupied with a very large sculptural commission for the pope's own tomb . The pope was adamant, leaving Michelangelo no choice but to accept . But a war with the French broke out, diverting the attention of the pope, and Michelangelo fled from Rome to continue sculpting . The tomb sculptures, however, were never to be finished because in 1508 the pope returned to Rome victorious and summoned Michelangelo to begin work on the ceiling . The contract was signed on 10 May 1508 . </P> <P> The scheme proposed by the pope was for twelve large figures of the Apostles to occupy the pendentives . However, Michelangelo negotiated for a grander, much more complex scheme and was finally permitted, in his own words, "to do as I liked". His scheme for the ceiling eventually comprised some three hundred figures and took four years to execute, being completed and shown to the public on All Saints Day in 1512 after a preliminary showing and papal Mass on August 14, 1511 . It is unknown and is the subject of much speculation among art historians whether Michelangelo was really able to "do as he liked". It has been suggested that the Augustinian friar and cardinal, Giles of Viterbo, was a consultant for the theological aspect of the work . Many writers consider that Michelangelo had the intellect, the Biblical knowledge, and the powers of invention to have devised the scheme himself . This is supported by Ascanio Condivi's statement that Michelangelo read and reread the Old Testament while he was painting the ceiling, drawing his inspiration from the words of the scripture, rather than from the established traditions of sacral art . A total of 343 figures were painted on the ceiling . </P> <P> To reach the chapel's ceiling, Michelangelo designed his own scaffold, a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall near the top of the windows, rather than being built up from the floor . Mancinelli speculates that this was in order to cut the cost of timber . According to Michelangelo's pupil and biographer Ascanio Condivi, the brackets and frame that supported the steps and flooring were all put in place at the beginning of the work and a lightweight screen, possibly cloth, was suspended beneath them to catch plaster drips, dust, and splashes of paint . Only half the building was scaffolded at a time and the platform was moved as the painting was done in stages . The areas of the wall covered by the scaffolding still appear as unpainted areas across the bottom of the lunettes . The holes were re-used to hold scaffolding in the latest restoration . </P>

The ceiling of the sistine chapel contains over ____ biblical figures
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