The Last Judgment is a fresco by Michelangelo on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. It took four years to complete. Michelangelo began working on it three decades after finishing the ceiling of the chapel. The work is massive and spans the entire wall behind the altar of the Sistine Chapel. It was executed from 1537 to 1541. The Last Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse. The souls of humans rise and descend to their fates, as judged by Christ surrounded by his saints.