For the vault of the Sistine he designed a mighty architectural framework in the form of a hypaethral temple, suspended in the air on jutting pilasters, with bold cornices, projecting brackets, and ribbed arches flung across the void of heaven.

Since the whole of this ideal building was painted upon plaster, its inconsequence, want of support, and disconnection from the ground-plan of the chapel do not strike the mind.

It is felt to be a mere basis for the display of pictorial art, the theatre for a thousand shapes of dignity and beauty.
I have called this imaginary temple hypaethral, because the master left nine openings in the flattened surface of the central vault.

They are unequal in size, five being short parallelograms, and four being spaces of the same shape but twice their length.

Through these the eye is supposed to pierce the roof and discover the unfettered region of the heavens.