GARY BEVANS ARTIST 
Artist of the Sistine Chapel Reproduction

Only two Sistine Chapel Ceilings exist in the world. The first was painted in the 16th Century by Michelangelo Buonarroti and is located in Vatican City, Rome, Italy. The second was painted between 1987-1993 by Gary Bevans in Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, England. 

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After a pilgrimage to Rome in 1987 for the Beatification of 85 English Martyrs, parishioner Gary Bevans noted that the Sistine Chapel Ceiling was practically the same shape and size as the ceiling of his parish church of the English Martyrs, West Sussex.  A natural artist and full-time sign writer he contemplated recreating an exact copy.  After recieving permission from his parish priest and local Bishop he began the work in 1987 in his free time as a gift to the Church.  It took him five and a half years to complete. The Sistine Chapel Reproduction in English Martyrs Church is the only known copy of the ceiling in the world.  It was painted over five and half years and remains today a place of interest, receiving an award for excellence in 2014 from Trip Advisor. See below for more information.