Vatican, Sistine Ceiling

Starting in 1508 Michelangelo spent about ten of the next 33 years creating the extraordinary frescos that cover the great vaulted ceiling (1508-1512), and his sweeping fresco (1535-1541), “The Last Judgment” (66 feet by 33 feet), on the wall behind the altar.

When we visited here in 1980 (when this photo was taken) there was scaffolding in one corner of the room, they were experimenting with a new method of cleaning the art on the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel. A rail was then installed on each side of the Chapel near the ceiling, and a platform was mounted on the rail so it could roll to and fro, sixty feet above the floor. During our 1985 visit, ceiling renovation was carried on from the platform while tourists continued to gaze and gasp from below.

By the time of our visit in 1989 the ceiling and the top part of the wall were perhaps 80% renewed, and we could see part of the aged ceiling, the rolling platform, and the beautifully restored, brightly colored and fully detailed, renovated ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The painting on the altar wall, Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment,” had suffered from lack of proper care (smoke from candles) and badly executed restorations. Its most recent restoration began in 1990, and was completed in April 1994.

After nearly 20 years of painstaking craftsmanship, on December 11, 1999 the Pope presided at the ceremony to celebrate the full restoration of the Sistine Chapel, where cardinals gather to elect a new pope.

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