A Sistine education

Father Matt McGinness, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Wichita, spends a few moments with art historian Elizabeth Lev Tuesday, Aug. 13, before her lecture to a large crowd in Performance Hall at Newman University in Wichita. Lev, who currently teaches in Rome, described the Sistine Chapel as the “ultimate ecclesial man cave” and explained that the chapel, restored by Pope Sixtus IV between 1477 and 1480, was originally a safe room for Mass for the papal court. Using a slide presentation, she detailed the chapel’s artistic evolution at the hands of Michelangelo, from 1508 to 1512. The event was sponsored by the Gerber Institute. (Advance photos)