The Sistine Chapel (paperback)

Scripta Maneant President Raffaele Martena Managing director Giorgio Armaroli Editorial director Federico Ferrari Photo shoot coordination and production support Gianni Grandi Layout Alessia Rossi, Gianni Grandi English translation by Global Voices, Milano

Editorial coordination Federico Di Cesare Editorial staff Valerio Brienza, Carla Cecilia, Cristina D’Andrea Photo shoot by Scripta Maneant – Carlo Vannini, Ghigo Roli. Production manager: Gianni Grandi.

All photographs are property of Governatorato dello S.C.V. – Direzione dei Musei and protected by copyright (Foto: © Governatorato dello S.C.V. – Direzione dei Musei. All rights reserved).

Images and Rights Office – Vatican Museums: Rosanna Di Pinto, Filippo Petrignani ISBN: 978-88-95847-53-5

The images in this volume are the result of the photo shoot carried out in the Sistine Chapel between December 2015 and January 2016.

New technologies have made it possible to achieve spectacular results, ensuring a more faithful and accurate reproduction of the Sistine masterpieces. The use of innovative Gigapixel technology has allowed to achieve life-size reproductions of the frescoes and an until now unpublished reading of the entire decoration of the Sistine, restoring its sharpness and original colour.

Edizioni Musei Vaticani Editorial direction Barbara Jatta Editorial board Barbara Jatta, Arnold Nesselrath, Paolo Nicolini, Alessia Amenta, Carla Cecilia, Guido Cornini, Federico Di Cesare, Micol Forti, Cristina Pantanella, Stefano Pierangelini, Maurizio Sannibale, Giandomenico Spinola

The work of photographers and those in charge of the post-production of the material, the result of a month and a half of hard work, should be appreciated taking into account the technical and logistical complexity in the context of the various museum, liturgical and ceremonial functions that characterise the Sistine Chapel. The result is therefore the outcome of a collective commitment and a dedicated collaboration between the professionals entrusted with this delicate and challenging work and the keepers and administrators of the extraordinary asset that the Sistine represents.

Text Antonio Paolucci The text by Antonio Paolucci is taken from Roma, Musei Vaticani, 2 volumes, 2010. Courtesy of Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Rome.

© Edizioni Musei Vaticani 2017 Città del Vaticano www.museivaticani.va

Introduction

© Scripta Maneant 2017 Via dell’Arcoveggio, 74/2 - 40129 Bologna, Italy Tel. +39 051 223535 | www.scriptamaneant.it

All rights reserved. Translation, electronic memorisation, reproduction, full or partial adaptation by any means (including microfilm and photocopying) is strictly prohibited in all countries.

Everyone involved in this venture wants to share with the readers of this volume the joy for the results achieved, with a privileged view of the Sistine Chapel offered in these pages: one so close and intimate that until now had only belonged to the great Masters who centuries ago created the timeless masterpieces admired every day by thousands of visitors.

The Publishers

Scripta Maneant President Raffaele Martena Managing director Giorgio Armaroli Editorial director Federico Ferrari Photo shoot coordination and production support Gianni Grandi Layout Alessia Rossi, Gianni Grandi English translation by Global Voices, Milano

Editorial coordination Federico Di Cesare Editorial staff Valerio Brienza, Carla Cecilia, Cristina D’Andrea Photo shoot by Scripta Maneant – Carlo Vannini, Ghigo Roli. Production manager: Gianni Grandi.

All photographs are property of Governatorato dello S.C.V. – Direzione dei Musei and protected by copyright (Foto: © Governatorato dello S.C.V. – Direzione dei Musei. All rights reserved).

Images and Rights Office – Vatican Museums: Rosanna Di Pinto, Filippo Petrignani ISBN: 978-88-95847-53-5

The images in this volume are the result of the photo shoot carried out in the Sistine Chapel between December 2015 and January 2016.

New technologies have made it possible to achieve spectacular results, ensuring a more faithful and accurate reproduction of the Sistine masterpieces. The use of innovative Gigapixel technology has allowed to achieve life-size reproductions of the frescoes and an until now unpublished reading of the entire decoration of the Sistine, restoring its sharpness and original colour.

Edizioni Musei Vaticani Editorial direction Barbara Jatta Editorial board Barbara Jatta, Arnold Nesselrath, Paolo Nicolini, Alessia Amenta, Carla Cecilia, Guido Cornini, Federico Di Cesare, Micol Forti, Cristina Pantanella, Stefano Pierangelini, Maurizio Sannibale, Giandomenico Spinola

The work of photographers and those in charge of the post-production of the material, the result of a month and a half of hard work, should be appreciated taking into account the technical and logistical complexity in the context of the various museum, liturgical and ceremonial functions that characterise the Sistine Chapel. The result is therefore the outcome of a collective commitment and a dedicated collaboration between the professionals entrusted with this delicate and challenging work and the keepers and administrators of the extraordinary asset that the Sistine represents.

Text Antonio Paolucci The text by Antonio Paolucci is taken from Roma, Musei Vaticani, 2 volumes, 2010. Courtesy of Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, Rome.

© Edizioni Musei Vaticani 2017 Città del Vaticano www.museivaticani.va

Introduction

© Scripta Maneant 2017 Via dell’Arcoveggio, 74/2 - 40129 Bologna, Italy Tel. +39 051 223535 | www.scriptamaneant.it

All rights reserved. Translation, electronic memorisation, reproduction, full or partial adaptation by any means (including microfilm and photocopying) is strictly prohibited in all countries.

Everyone involved in this venture wants to share with the readers of this volume the joy for the results achieved, with a privileged view of the Sistine Chapel offered in these pages: one so close and intimate that until now had only belonged to the great Masters who centuries ago created the timeless masterpieces admired every day by thousands of visitors.

The Publishers

16

[above] Lateral walls with the frescoes of the 15th century

The Stories of Christ and the series of Pontiffs

17

[below] Lateral walls with the frescoes of the 15th century

The Stories of Moses and the series of Pontiffs

16

[above] Lateral walls with the frescoes of the 15th century

The Stories of Christ and the series of Pontiffs

17

[below] Lateral walls with the frescoes of the 15th century

The Stories of Moses and the series of Pontiffs

My advice is to devote ample time to Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and the other Tuscan and Umbrian masters of the 15th-century Sistine Chapel, without being straight away captured

by Michelangelo.

Also because the best way to understand Buonarroti’s style is to first of all appreciate the cultural context in which he grew up. It is in fact from this set of masterpieces – from Ghirlandaio, in whose workshop Michelangelo worked as a young apprentice, from Botticelli and Perugino, whose acquaintance he was able to make in life – that the dizzy acceleration originated which, in little more than twenty years, brought about the frescoes of the ceiling.

24

[facing] Sandro Botticelli

Pope Sixtus II detail

The Sistine Chapel

My advice is to devote ample time to Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio, and the other Tuscan and Umbrian masters of the 15th-century Sistine Chapel, without being straight away captured

by Michelangelo.

Also because the best way to understand Buonarroti’s style is to first of all appreciate the cultural context in which he grew up. It is in fact from this set of masterpieces – from Ghirlandaio, in whose workshop Michelangelo worked as a young apprentice, from Botticelli and Perugino, whose acquaintance he was able to make in life – that the dizzy acceleration originated which, in little more than twenty years, brought about the frescoes of the ceiling.

24

[facing] Sandro Botticelli

Pope Sixtus II detail

The Sistine Chapel

34

35

34

35

40

41

40

41

46

47

46

47

Michelangelo Buonarroti Ignudo between the

Creation of Eve and the Original Sin and Expulsion from Paradise detail

164

165

Michelangelo Buonarroti Ignudo between the

Creation of Eve and the Original Sin and Expulsion from Paradise detail

164

165

170

171

170

171

228

229

228

229

240

241

240

241

Printed in October 2017