With a warm red skin tone they can barely be seen against the dark background. There are a couple of demons who are escaping from the pit of hell. Contrastingly the figures at the bottom of the painting have grey skin and appear almost sickly. Color palette: The large fresco has a bright blue sky and the figures that surround Jesus have pale pink skintones and wear brightly colored robes. He has a snake wrapped around his waist and is painted with the face of the Pope's Master of the Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena. Among these people Minos, the messenger from hell, is stood on a boat ferrying souls into hell. Whereas some people are being taken by the angels to heaven, others are being forced to descend into the underworld. Below Jesus there are angels and demons fighting over souls. There are many figures behind him looking awed by their current surroundings. The large figure is placed in front of a large golden orb, with one hand welcoming souls into heaven and another banishing the bad to hell. Use of Space: Jesus commands the viewer's attention in the centre of the painting. Michelangelo had painted over 300 figures onto the ceiling and this convinced the Pope that he was the only painter capable of accurately capturing the scene from The Last Judgment. The Pope was also inspired to ask Michelangelo to paint The Last judgment because of the work the painter had already carried out on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The just are being rewarded with an invite from Jesus to spend eternity in Heaven, whereas those who acted badly during life are being sentenced to an eternity in hell. The Last Judgment reveals a scene of justice and punishment to the perpetrators. Thus Pope Paul III wanted to send a message to the troops making it clear they would be punished for their actions. As a result the city was left defeated and bereft by the sack. The troops had lost their leader and had started to follow their own orders meaning they entered Rome without any specific instructions. In 1527 the city of Rome had been held hostage by the army of Charles V. Michelangelo and Pope Paul III were inspired by the 1527 Sack of Rome when they came up with ideas for The Last Judgment. Although the campaign was eventually successful and the artist Daniele da Volterra painted over the genitalia the Pope was initially against the complaints. Consequently, they started a campaign to have all of the genitalia painted over. The nudity of Michelangelo's figures met with some hostility and many of the cardinals in Rome, in particular Cardinal Carafe and the Pope's Master of the Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, agreed that it was sacrilege to have nude figures in the Sistine Chapel. Thus, the position that men held during life is shown to be irrelevant in the afterlife. Yet, in Michelangelo's scene all men are shown to be of equal standing and many of the men are represented without any clothing.
In usual images of The last Judgment the men are shown with the riches and garbs that they would have had during life.
He discussed with Michelangelo painting the scene of the final judgment behind the altar and wanted the piece to span the whole of the back wall, immediately grabbing the visitor's attention. The city of Rome was still recovering from the 1527 Sack of Rome and Pope Paul III wanted to send a message about justice to the guilty parties. However, after the Pope passed away his replacement, Paul III, had a different plan for The Sistine Chapel. The Pope was interested in showing the resurrection of Jesus after Easter Sunday. In 1534 Michelangelo entered into a discussion with Pope Clement VII about painting a fresco onto the wall behind the altar in the Sistine Chapel.