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 Now, after decades of technological advances in art
photography, digital darkrooms and printing techniques, a
five-year project that will aid future restorations has left the
Vatican Museums with 270,000 digital frames that show frescoes
by Michelangelo and other masters in fresh, stunning detail.
"In the future, this will allow us to know the state of every
centimeter of the chapel as it is today, in 2017," said Antonio
Paolucci, former head of the museums and a world-renowned expert
on the Sistine.
Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes include one of the most famous
scenes in art - the arm of a gentle, bearded God reaching out to
give life to Adam.
The Renaissance master finished the ceiling in 1512 and painted
the massive "Last Judgment" panel behind the altar between 1535
and 1541.
The last time all Sistine frescoes were photographed was between
1980 and 1994, during a landmark restoration project that
cleaned them for the first time in centuries.
The new photos were taken for inclusion in a new three-volume,
870-page set that is limited to 1,999 copies and marketed to
libraries and collectors.
The set, which costs about 12,000 euros ($12,700), was a joint
production of the Vatican Museums and Italy's Scripta Maneant
high-end art publishers.
Post production computer techniques included "stitching" of
frames that photographers took while working out of sight for 65
nights from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., when the chapel where popes are
elected is closed.
The project was known to only to a few people until it was
unveiled in the chapel on Friday night.
The set includes the entire chapel, including the mosaic floor
and 15th century frescoes by artists who have long languished in
Michelangelo's giant shadow.
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More than 220 pages are printed in 1:1 scale, including 'The
Creation of Adam' and Jesus' face from the Last Judgment.
Each volume weighs about 9 kg (20 pounds) and fold-out pages measure
60 by 130 cm ( 24 by 51 inches).
The old photos taken during the last restoration were done with
film.
"We used special post-production software to get the depth,
intensity, warmth and nuance of colors to an accuracy of 99.9
percent," said Giorgio Armaroli, head of Scripta Maneant.
"Future restorers will use these as their standards," he said,
adding that each page was printed six times.
Brush strokes are clearly visible as are the "borders" delineating
sections, known as "giornate," or days. Since frescoes are painted
on wet plaster, artists prepare just enough for what they can
complete in each session.
The photographers used a 10-metre-high (33 feet) portable scaffold
and special telescopic lens. The results are now stored in a Vatican
server holding 30 terabytes of information.
($1 = 0.9450 euros)
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; editing by Richard Lough)
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