The Sistine Chapel Choir, as it is generally called in English, or officially the Coro della Cappella Musicale Pontificia Sistina in Italian, is the Pope's personal choir. It performs at papal functions in the Sistine Chapel and in any other church in Rome where the Pope is officiating, including St. Peter's Basilica. One of the oldest choirs in the world, it was constituted as the Pope's personal choir by Pope Sixtus IV. Although it was established in the late 15th century, its roots go back to the 4th century and the reign of Pope Sylvester I.
The choirloft of the Sistine Chapel in the early 17th century, depicted by Agostino Tassi (here in a 1848 copy by Ingres).
Ludovico Magnasco receiving the new constitution for the choir from Pope Paul III in 1545
The choir in 1898, which included seven castrato singers: 1 Giovanni Cesari. 2 Domenico Salvatori. 3 Domenico MustafĂ . 4 Alessandro Moreschi. 5 Vincenzo Sebastianelli. 6 Gustavo Pesci. 7 Giuseppe Ritarossi.
Lorenzo Perosi, the choir's director from 1898 to 1956
The Sistine Chapel is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the pope's official residence in Vatican City. Originally known as the Cappella Magna, it takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV, who had it built between 1473 and 1481. Since that time, it has served as a place of both religious and functionary papal activity. Today, it is the site of the papal conclave, the process by which a new pope is selected. The chapel's fame lies mainly in the frescoes that decorate its interior, most particularly the Sistine Chapel ceiling and The Last Judgment, both by Michelangelo.
East side of the Chapel, from the altar end
The Sistine Chapel as it may have appeared in the 15th century (19th-century drawing)
Exterior of the Sistine Chapel
A reconstruction of the appearance of the west Wall chapel in the 1480s, prior to the painting of the ceiling