Sistine Chapel tourists will be made to pass through vacuum cleaner to protect artwork from dust and hair
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | December 21, 2012 23:39
Visitors to the Sistine Chapel will have to pass through a high tech vacuum cleaner before they cast their eyes on the breathtakingly evocative artwork.
The aim is to preserve the 500 year old Renaissance masterpiece in all its glory from the dust, fibres, powder, hair and even sweat that the four million tourists who flock to the Chapel every year bring with them.
Officials at the Vatican Museums have long warned that the ornate frescoes which adorn the ceiling and walls are in danger of damage from external influences and the vacuum cleaner would ensure that all tourists are spotlessly dust free.
Antonio Paolucci, the the director of the Vatican Museum, said: ‘The vacuum cleaner will guarantee that all visitors will be clean of dust and other fibres and it will also take away excessive moisture such as sweat. They are the biggest enemies of works of art.’
The effects of what he described were made evident two years ago when a month long night time clean up of the Sistine Chapel resulted in “several kilos” of dust, human hair and man made fibres being removed.
Mr Paolucci added he hoped the system would be in place by next year and explained ‘the money is there.’
The Sistine Chapel is famous throughout the world for its frescoes by masters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini and Sandro Botticelli.
They show various scenes from the Bible but the crowing glory is Michelangelo’s Last Judgement which adorns the ceiling of the chapel in Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.
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