Photo: Creation of Adam -- after restoration. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Creation of Adam -- after restoration. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
I had the opportunity to visit the Sistine Chapel about six weeks ago ... first time in Rome, and all that. The Vatican Museum was packed. By the time I got to the Sistine Chapel, we were shuffling along in a shoulder to shoulder column. It was possible to step to the side and stop and stare, but the overcrowding is oppressive. I hope the curators can find a solution because the only other option would be to sharply limit access.
Does anyone know if there is an “off season” for visitors to the Vatican when the crowds might be smaller?
I took that same picture in 1985 before the restoration. I went back in 1986 when they were in the process. Where you could see behind the curtains it was obvious that it going to be completely different. I would love to ge back an see it restored.
I lived in europe for 2 years in the 80’s. One of the best things about Italy was the access people had to their iconic cultural artifacts. I would be too bad to see that go away.
Incredible 360 degree movable view, published by the Vatican, here.
This is crap:
And the impressionists, who started the disaster called "modern art," only look good in comparison:
Please God, put an end to this hoax called "modern art."
Now, to cleanse your pallet...
These paintings by Bouguereau, representing the height of realism, are what Impressionism, Dadaism, and the rest of modern art supposedly superseded.
Time will be kind to Bougereau. The modernists? Not so much.
I visited in 1996. The restoration of the ceiling and last judgement were complete but the side panels which were not Michelangelo were still being worked on. The crowd I came in with was mostly school students and was fairly full but not jammed. There was some guy with a staff who occasionally banged it on the floor and yelled Silencio!!! due to rising crescendo of sound of everyone talking which stipped for a moment and then resumed rising in volume. That is what I most recall and it would have been nice to have the din a bit lower. Still worth the visit. I took binoculars to view the ceiling better and that was also worth it.