image:calam1.org

With the help of strategically placed fixtures, Michelangelo's work is getting some mood lighting.

When Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he did so, for the most part, using the light of the sun that streamed through the windows of the building. And for the past 500 years since then, viewers have admired the results of that work, for the most part, with the help of that same light source. It wasn’t until the 1980s that, concerned about solar radiation damaging the frescos' paint, Vatican officials blocked off the chapel's windows. In their place they installed a system of halogen light bulbs that emitted pigment-preserving, low-energy light.

That switch, however, has made viewing the Sistine Chapel something of a difficulty for visitors. The chapel's ceiling is 6,135 square feet in area; viewers observe its expanse from the ground. All the details Michelangelo included in his fresco—arms lifted, fingers stretched—tend, from that distance, to blur and fade....Continue Reading

> via theatlantic.com