Extraordinary maintenance of Michelangelo’s Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel
On 1 February, with the erection of scaffolding in the Sistine Chapel, the extraordinary maintenance of the Last Judgement began: for approximately three months, Michelangelo’s supreme masterpiece will undergo a cleaning procedure.
The Sistine Chapel will remain open, continuing to welcome the faithful and visitors, while, behind a high-definition reproduction of the image of the Last Judgement itself, restorers from the Vatican Museums' Paintings and Wood Materials Restoration Laboratory will carry out the cleaning operations.
“Around thirty years after the most recent conservation work on the Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel”, states Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums, “completed in 1994 under the supervision of the Director General Carlo Pietrangeli and carried out by the Chief Restorer of the Vatican Museums' Paintings and Wood Materials Restoration Laboratory, Gianluigi Colalucci, extraordinary maintenance will be performed on this masterpiece of Michelangelo’s mature period. It will last for around three months, and is supported by the Florida Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums”.