Sistine Chapel to remain open to visitors during cleaning of Michelangelo masterpiece.
The Vatican Museums have initiated a delicate three-month “extraordinary maintenance” programme for Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel.
The cleaning project on Michelangelo’s monumental altar wall, which is scheduled for completion by Holy Week in late March, aims to address a specific conservation challenge in the form of a whitish haze over the paint.
According to Paolo Violini, the newly appointed director of the Painting and Wood Restoration Laboratory, the fresco has become obscured by this pale film which is caused by microparticles from the millions of tourists who breathe, sweat and move through the chapel annually.
The accumulation has softened the dramatic light-dark contrasts and vibrant colours that were famously revealed during the “restoration of the century” in the 1990s.
To minimise the impact on the public during the three-month cleaning programme, the Sistine Chapel will remain open to visitors as a team of around a dozen conservationists carry out the work from scaffolding platforms.
This is the first major intervention on The Last Judgment in over 30 years. While the Vatican conducts routine “ordinary” maintenance using mechanical lifts every year, the current build-up required a more intensive, hands-on approach.
The project is funded by the Florida Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, a group dedicated to preserving the Holy See’s vast artistic heritage.
By the time the scaffolding comes down for Easter, the fresco’s original chromatic intensity – the deep blues of the sky and the warm flesh tones of the 391 figures – should be fully restored to the public’s view.
Michelangelo painted The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel between 1536 and 1541, returning to the chapel more than 20 years after he finished the famous ceiling.
The monumental fresco depicts the Second Coming of Christ and the final sorting of souls, featuring more than 300 muscular figures and a hidden self-portrait of the artist in the flayed skin of Saint Bartholomew.
Photo credit: www.marcobrivio.photo / Shutterstock.com.
