Posted on 11/03/2012 5:01:19 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Michelangelo's Sistine chapel frescoes are threatened by the effects of too many visitors, experts have warned on Wednesday, as the masterly painted ceiling celebrated its 500th anniversary...
Many visitors just stare, tranfixed, at one of the most notable artwork ever created. Indeed, Pope Julius II and 17 cardinals reacted in the same way when the vaulted ceiling was revealed in all its blue glory on the Eve of All Saints, 31 October, 1512, during a vesper Mass.
But others are "drunken tourist herds" disrespectful of the unique setting they are visiting, according to leading literary critic Pietro Citati. The "herds" might soon verify the efforts made during a 14-year-long restoration project in the 1990s, he said...
A 135 by 44 foot rectangle ringed by 12 windows, the fifteenth-century chapel takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV who commissioned it in 1475-83, to give the Vatican a place for solemn ceremonies.
...the ceiling featured only a blue sky dotted by golden stars. Pope Julius II decided to change the rather dull scene and commissioned the work to a reluctant Michelangelo.
The artist worked on the colorful ceiling frescoes between 1508 and 1512, producing over 300 figures to tell the story of the book of Genesis.
The scenes, including the iconic image of the Creation of Adam in which the fingers of man and God are just inches apart, "radically changed the art world," Paolucci said...
More than 20 years later, Michelangelo began the Last Judgement fresco behind the altar, creating a chapel Pope John Paul II once called "the sanctuary of the theology of the body."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
I will follow your advice. Did you by any chance take one of the archeological tours beneath St. Peters? The crypt level is open, but I understand that one can tour the diggings deeper down, where one gets into the old Roman tombs.
I did not. That’s on my list for the next trip!
Tell you what: if Obama wins, let's flee the country. I'll meet you in Rome ....
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