Imagine lying on your back on a tall platform, painting for hours. That is what Michelangelo did for nearly four years. In 1508, Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Michelangelo was not thrilled. He considered himself a sculptor, not a painter. But the pope insisted, and Michelangelo agreed. The ceiling was enormous, covering about 5,800 square feet. Michelangelo designed a complex arrangement of more than 300 painted figures. The most famous scene shows two hands nearly touching. One hand belongs to God and the other to Adam. It is called The Creation of Adam. Michelangelo mixed his own paints using ground-up rocks and minerals called pigments. He applied them to wet plaster, a technique called fresco. The wet plaster absorbed the paint, making the colors part of the wall. On November 1, 1512, the finished ceiling was revealed to the public. People were astonished. No one had ever seen anything like it. More than five hundred years later, millions still travel to Rome to see Michelangelo's masterpiece.