Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

http://www.all-laptopfan.com/,http://www.all-keyboard.com/,http://www.laptopbattery-shop.co.uk/ The restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant art restorations of the 20th century.The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV within the Vatican immediately to the north of St. Peter's Basilica and completed in about 1481. French Macaron Pillow ,Creative Cushion - Matty's Its walls were decorated by a number of Renaissance painters who were among the most highly regarded artists of late 15th century Italy, including Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Botticelli.^[1] The Chapel was further enhanced under Pope Julius II by the painting of the ceiling by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 and by the painting of the Last Judgment, commissioned by Pope Clement VII and completed in 1541, again by Michelangelo.^[2] French Macaron Pillow ,Creative Cushion - Matty's The tapestrieson the lowest tier, today best known from the Raphael Cartoons (painted designs) of 1515–16, completed the ensemble.Together the paintings make up the greatest pictorial scheme of the Renaissance. Individually, some of Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling are among the most notable works of western art ever created.^[a] Sony VAIO PCG-31111M battery The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and in particular the ceiling and accompanying lunettes by Michelangelo have been subject to a number of restorations, the most recent taking place between 1980 and 1994. This most recent restoration had a profound effect on art lovers and historians, as colours and details that had not been seen for centuries were revealed. Sony VAIO PCG-31112M battery It has been claimed that as a result "Every book on Michelangelo will have to be rewritten".^[3] Others, such as the art historianJames Beck of ArtWatch International, have been extremely critical of the restoration, saying that the restorers have not realised the true intentions of the artist. This is the subject of continuing debate. The frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel had a number of interventions prior to the restoration process which was started in 1980. Sony VAIO PCG-31113M battery Initial problems with the ceiling appear to have been caused by water penetrating through the floor above. In about 1547 Paolo Giovio wrote that the ceiling was being damaged bysaltpetre and cracks. The effect of saltpetre is to leave a white efflorescence. Gianluigi Colalucci, Head Restorer at the Laboratory for the Restoration of Paintings for Papal Monuments, Sony VAIO PCG-31114M battery Museums and Galleries, states in his essay Michelangelo's colours rediscovered,^[4] that the early conservators treated this cosmetically by an application of linseed or walnut oil which had the effect of making the crystalline deposit more transparent. In 1625, a restoration was carried out by Simone Lagi, the "resident gilder", who wiped the ceiling with linen cloths and cleaned it by rubbing it with bread. Sony VAIO PCG-31111V battery He occasionally resorted to wetting the bread to remove the more stubborn accretions. His report states that the frescoes "were returned to their previous beauty without receiving any harm".^[5] Colalucci states that Lagi "almost certainly" applied layers of glue-varnish to revive the colours but does not state this in his report in the interests of "preserving the secrets of their [the restorers'] craft".^[4] Sony VAIO PCG-31112V battery Between 1710 and 1713 a further restoration was carried out by the painter Annibale Mazzuoli and his son. They used sponges dipped in Greek wine which Colalucci suggests was necessitated by the accretion of grime caused by soot and dirt trapped in the oily deposits of the previous restoration. Mazzuoli then worked over the ceiling, according to Colalucci, strengthening the contrasts by overpainting details. Sony VAIO PCG-31113V battery They also repainted some areas the colours of which were lost because of the efflorescence of salts. Areas of repainting were hatched or treated with a linear brushstroke.^[b] Colalucci states that Mazzuoli also applied a great deal of glue varnish. The restoration concentrated on the ceiling and less attention was paid to the lunettes.^[4] The penultimate restoration was undertaken by the Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museum between 1935–38. Sony VAIO PCG-31114V battery The scope of the work was to consolidate some areas of the intonaco at the eastern end of the building and partially remove the soot and dirt. The preliminary experimentation for the modern restoration began in 1979. The restoration team comprised Gianluigi Colalucci, Maurizio Rossi, Piergiorgio Bonetti, and others,^[6] Sony VAIO PCG-GRS100 battery who took as their guidelines the Rules for restoration of works of art as established in 1978 by Carlo Pietrangeli, director of the Vatican's Laboratory for the Restoration of Pictures, which govern the procedure and methods employed in restoration. An important part of modern restoration procedure, as established by these rules, is the study and analysis of the artwork.^[4] Part of this was the recording of every stage of the restoration process. Sony VAIO PCG-41111M battery This was done by the photographer Takashi Okamura for Nippon Television Network Corporation.^[7] Between June 1980 and October 1984 the first stage of restoration, the work upon Michelangelo's lunettes, was achieved. The focus of the work then transferred to the ceiling, which was completed in December 1989 and from there to the Last Judgment. Sony VAIO PCG-41112M battery The restoration was unveiled by Pope John Paul II on 8 April 1994.^[8] The final stage was the restoration of the wall frescoes, approved in 1994 and unveiled on 11 December 1999. In 1979 Colalucci undertook a series of experiments to discover the right approach for the restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. Sony VAIO PCG-41111V battery The investigation began by testing small areas of the wall fresco, Conflict over the Body of Moses by Matteo de Lecce, which had similar physical and chemical attributes to the painting techniques employed on Michelangelo's frescoes. Trials to find the right solvents were continued on a small portion of the Eleazar and Matthan lunette.^[4] SONY VAIO PCG-6Q1L CPU Fan Because of the height of the ceiling and the inaccessibility of the ceiling frescoes, the precise nature of the damage and the problems that would be encountered by the restoration team could not be entirely foreseen until after the decision to restore was taken, and the scaffolding was in place.SAMSUNG N150 Laptop Keyboard According to Colalucci, the continued scientific analysis and the response of the restorers to the particular problems was an ongoing part of the process, rather than the conservation team deciding on a single treatment for every part of the building.^[4]In 1980 the decision to undertake a total restoration was taken. Nippon Television Network Corporation of Japan provided major funding of US$4.2 million in exchange for the filming rights. HP Pavilion DV9243EA Laptop Keyboard The team of restorers completed the first stage of the restoration, on the vertical surfaces and curved spandrels around the upper sections of the windows, from aluminium scaffolding projecting from just below the lunettes and using the same holes in the wall that had been made for Michelangelo's scaffold. When they moved to the ceiling, they likewise employed a system similar to Michelangelo's, FUJITSU Lifebook E8110 Laptop Keyboard which involved cantilevering a shelf outwards from the scaffolding to support a stepped and arched platform. The advantages of modern lightweight materials meant that the platform could be wheeled, facilitating easy movement along the length of the building rather than dismantling and replacement, as Michelangelo had done in 1506. Lenovo 3000 Y500 Laptop Keyboard The findings of the investigation of 1979 were that the entire interior of the chapel, but particularly the ceiling, was covered with a grime of candle smoke comprising wax and soot (amorphous carbon). Above the windows (the main source of ventilation), the lunettes were particularly stained from the smoke and exhaust fumes of the city, being "much dirtier than the ceiling proper".^[7] HP Pavilion DV8310CA Laptop Keyboard The building was a little unstable and had already shifted considerably prior to Michelangelo's work of 1508, causing cracking of the ceiling, the crack in the "Judith" pendentive being so large that it had to be filled with bricks and mortar before painting. The upper part of the ceiling provided Michelangelo an irregular surface due to cracks and water seepage.^[1]  Lenovo 0A62039 Laptop Keyboard Continued ingress of water from the roof and from unroofed exterior walkways above the ceiling level had caused seepage which carried down salts from the building mortar and deposited them on the ceiling through evaporation. In places this caused the surface of the frescoes to bubble and lift. Although discolouration was a serious problem, bubbling was not, DELL Vostro 3450 Laptop Keyboard because the thinness and transparency of the paint which Michelangelo employed on the greater part of the ceiling permitted the salts to pass through rather than accumulating beneath the surface.^[4] Earlier restorations had all left their marks on the frescoes. To counteract the whitening caused by salination, animal fat and vegetable oil had been applied, which effectively made the salt crystals transparent, but left a sticky layer that accumulated dirt.  TOSHIBA Mini NB 505-SP0160 Laptop Keyboard An additional problem, most obvious in the small putti which hold the nameplates on the pendentives, was saltpetre seeping through small cracks and appearing as dark rings on the surface. Unlike the white crystalline salt deposits, this could not be removed and the staining was irreversible. Layers of varnish and glue had been applied to many areas.  Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 Laptop Keyboard This had darkened and become opaque. Restorers had repainted details over the darkened areas in order to define the features of figures. This was particularly the case for the lunettes, spandrels and lower parts of the pendentives.^[4] Close examination revealed that apart from smoky deposits, seepage deposits and structural cracks, the thin "pictorial skin" of Michelangelo's frescoes was in excellent condition.^[4] SAMSUNG N150 Laptop Keyboard Colalucci describes Michelangelo as having employed the best possible fresco techniques, as described by Vasari.^[11] Most of the paint was well adhered and required little retouching. The plaster, or intonaco, on which the paintings were executed was found, for the most part, to be secure, as previous restorers had fixed it in places with bronze pins. HP G61-400SP Laptop Keyboard Prior to the restoration the team spent six months investigating the composition and condition of the frescoes, questioning members of the team that had restored the frescoes in the 1930s and making a detailed scientific study to ascertain which solvents and methods were best employed upon particular painted surfaces. The first stage of the physical restoration was to re-attach any areas of the plaster surface (which was approximately 5 mm thick) that were in danger of separating and breaking away. COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU Laptop Keyboard This was done by injecting apolyvinylacetate resin. Earlier bronze braces that had been used to stabilise surfaces were removed in those places where they were causing cracking, and the holes filled. Pigments that appeared to be not well adhered were consolidated with the application of diluted acrylic resin.^[4] The restorers washed the surfaces using a variety of solvents. Distilled water was used wherever possible to remove soot and dissolve water-soluble gums. HP 317443-001 Laptop Keyboard Retouching and repainting that had been part of previous later restorations were removed with a gelatinous solvent, applied in several stages for measured times, and washed with distilled water. Salt efflorescences of calcium carbonate were treated by the application of a solution of dimethylformamide. The final step was the application of a weak solution of acrylic polymer to consolidate and protect the surface, and further washing.^[4]  HP HDX18-1200 CTO Laptop Keyboard Where necessary some areas were retouched in watercolour, to integrate the pictorial material. These areas are distinctively textured with vertical brushstrokes, not visible from a distance but easily discernible as restoration work when viewed close up.^[4] Certain small areas were left unrestored, in order to maintain a physical record of the previous restorations that had taken place,  DELL Vostro 1014 Laptop Keyboard for example, an area left with overpainting and candle wax, and another area demonstrating the attempt to counteract salination with oil. Once the many layers of candle wax, varnish, and animal glue were removed from the surface of the Sistine Chapel frescoes, they became subject to dangers that could not have been predicted by previous restorers. SONY Vaio PCG-K215S Laptop Keyboard One of the major dangers to the frescoes is automotive exhaust, and they are also vulnerable to the effects of the crowds of tourists that pass through the chapel every day, bringing with them heat, humidity, dust and bacteria. The clean plaster surfaces are more in danger from these destructive elements than they were when they were covered with a layer of smoky wax.^[12] TOSHIBA Mini NB 300 Series Laptop Keyboard Previously, the Sistine Chapel's only ventilation was from its windows in the upper level of the walls. To prevent exhaust fumes and wind-blown pollutants from entering, the windows are now permanently closed and an air conditioning system has been installed. The installation is by Carrier of the United Technologies Corporation and was developed with the cooperation of the Vatican's Office of Technical Services. GATEWAY NV-54 Laptop Keyboard It has been designed to counteract the various problems specific to the Chapel, in particular the rapid changes of heat and humidity that occur with the admission of the first crowds of tourists each morning and the departure of the last visitors each afternoon. The air conditioning varies not only the heat but also the relative humidity between the summer and winter months so that changes to the atmospheric environment occur gradually. The air near the ceiling is kept at a temperate level, while the air in the lower section of the building is cooler and circulates more rapidly, with the effect that dirt particles fall towards the floor rather than being streamed upwards. Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 Laptop Keyboard Bacteria and chemical pollutants are filtered out. When the restoration of the Sistine Chapel was announced, it sparked a barrage of queries and objections from art historians from around the world. One of the most vocal of these critics was James Beck, of ArtWatch International, who issued repeated warnings about the possibility of damage to Michelangelo's work from over-strenuous restoration. SONY VAIO VGN-SZ750N/C Laptop Keyboard An argument that was used repeatedly was that all the previous interventions had caused damage of one sort or another. Any restoration, as opposed to conservation, puts an artwork at risk. Conservation, on the other hand, aids in the preservation of the work in its present state and in prevention of further deterioration. Beck has written about his concerns in Art Restoration, the Culture, the Business and the Scandal. Lenovo 45N2106 Laptop Keyboard In the rhetoric of this conversation, [the conservators] say that the previous restoration was no good – now we're going to make a really good one. It's like having a facelift. How many times can people go through one without their poor faces looking like an orange peel? While James Beck became "embroiled in a public debate" with Gianluigi Colalucci, SAMSUNG R522 laptop keyboard Ronald Feldman, a New York art dealer, started a petition supported by 15 well-known artists including Robert Motherwell, George Segal, Robert Rauschenberg, Christo and Andy Warholasking Pope John Paul II to call a halt to the procedure and also the restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper.^[14]  Lenovo 45N2141 laptop keyboard An undertaking of the restoration team was that everything would be handled in a transparent fashion, that reporters, art historians and others with a bona fide interest should have ready access to information and to view the work. However, a single company, Nippon Television Network Corporation, had sole photography rights. HP Pavilion dv6-2133ee laptop keyboard Michael Kimmelman, chief art critic of The New York Times, wrote, in 1991, that the criticism of the restoration of the ceiling and lunettes was in part fuelled by the Nippon Television Network's reluctance to make public those photographs that they had taken by exclusive right, which had recorded every stage of the process and which were the only solid evidence that the work was being done appropriately. HP COMPAQ NX6320 laptop keyboard According to Kimmelman, the reason for their reluctance to produce the detailed photos, which could have put to rest the worst fears of many of the interested parties, was the intention of the company to produce a large limited-edition two-volume coffee-table book ("as large as a coffee table"). This book, when produced retailed for US$1,000. Kimmelman refers to the fact that these photos were only made available to the few who could afford the exorbitant price as "ungenerous" and "immoral".^[15] ASUS X85S laptop keyboard As the work was progressively completed, there were those who were delighted; Pope John Paul II spoke an inaugural homily after each stage. In December 1999, after the completion of the wall frescoes, he said:It would be difficult to find a more eloquent visual commentary on this biblical image than the Sistine Chapel, whose full splendour we can enjoy today thanks to the recently completed restoration. SONY VAIO VGN-N31Z/W laptop keyboard Our joy is shared by the faithful throughout the world, who not only cherish this place because of the masterpieces it contains, but also for the role it plays in the Church's life. —Pope John Paul II, ^[9] Cardinal Edmund Szoka, governor of Vatican City, said: "This restoration and the expertise of the restorers allows us to contemplate the paintings as if we had been given the chance of being present when they were first shown."^[16] ASUS X53S laptop keyboard Other writers were less flattering. Andrew Wordsworth of The Independent, London, expressed the major point of concern:There seems little doubt that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was in part painted a secco (that is, once the plaster was dry), but the restorers none the less decided that radical cleaning was necessary, given the amount of dirt that had accumulated (in particular from candle smoke).  LENOVO AEQA1STU010 laptop keyboard As a result the ceiling now has a curiously washed-out look, with pretty but flavourless colouring – an effect quite unlike that of Michelangelo's intensely sensual sculpture. —Andrew Wordsworth, ^[17] This crucial matter was also emphasised by Beck and defined in very clearly expressed terms on the website of the artist, Peter Layne Arguimbau.  Lenovo 3000 G530 4151 laptop keyboard That part of the restoration in the Sistine Chapel which has caused the most concern is the ceiling, painted by Michelangelo. The emergence of the brightly colouredAncestors of Christ from the gloom sparked a reaction of fear that the processes being employed in the cleaning were too severe. Despite warnings, the work on the ceiling proceeded and, according to critics such as James Beck, their worst fears were confirmed once the ceiling was completed.^[ COMPAQ Presario CQ40-133TU laptop keyboard The cause for dissent lies in the analysis and understanding of the techniques utilised by Michelangelo, and the technical response of the restorers to their understanding of those techniques. A close examination of the frescoes of the lunettes convinced the restorers that Michelangelo worked exclusively in "buon fresco"; that is, the artist worked only on freshly laid plaster and each section of work was completed while the plaster was still in its fresh state. Lenovo 3000 Y500 laptop keyboard In other words, Michelangelo did not work "a secco"; he did not come back later and add details onto the dry plaster. The restorers, by assuming that the artist took a universal approach to the painting, took a universal approach to the restoration. A decision was made that all of the shadowy layer of animal glue and "lamp black", all of the wax, and all of the overpainted areas were contamination of one sort or another: smoke deposits, HP Mini 110-3519la laptop keyboard earlier restoration attempts and painted definition by later restorers in attempt to enliven the appearance of the work. Based on this decision, according to Arguimbau's critical reading of the restoration data that has been provided, the chemists of the restoration team decided upon a solvent that would effectively strip the ceiling down to its paint-impregnated plaster. After treatment, only that which was painted "buon fresco" would remain. HP COMPAQ 486654-001 laptop keyboard According to critics, the inherent problem with this approach is that it relied heavily upon an assumption that Michelangelo only painted buon fresco, that he was always satisfied with the result at the end of the day, and that in four and a half years spent on the ceiling, he stuck exclusively to one approach, and never made small alterations or added details. TOSHIBA Satellite L755-S5357 laptop keyboard Arguimbau, on his website, quotes Colalucci, the head of the team, as contradicting himself on this matter. A summary of the relevant statements of Colalucci, in the order that they occur in the Appendix entitled Michelangelo's colours uncovered is as follows:The elderly restorers who had taken part in the restoration of the 1930s were interviewed as part of the preparatory process. SONY N860-7676-T101 laptop keyboard They claimed that Michelangelo worked over the frescoes a secco using velature or glazes as a binder. Colalucci rejects this, stating that Michelangelo worked exclusively in buon fresco. Colalucci then contradicts this by stating that Michelangelo had worked a secco, but "to a minimal degree" and "not at all in the lunettes". DELL E141395 laptop keyboard Colalucci then talks of Michelangelo's "rigorous maintenance" of buon fresco technique, contradicting this by describing the a secco retouchings that Michelangelo made to the shoulder of Eleazar and the foot of Reboam, both of which are in the lunettes. He then says that Michelangelo worked in buon fresco with "no pentimenti proper", (pentimenti means the changes) but only small corrections in fresco.^[4] HP 518965-001 laptop keyboard The on-going criticism has been that the restorers presumed to know what end result the master was seeking to achieve in every separate case across the ceiling, and by what method he sought to achieve it. The disagreements about this have been vociferous and are unresolved. The restorers took for granted that all of the layers of grease and soot on the ceiling were the result of candle smoke. Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E520 laptop keyboard Contrary to this view, James Beck and numerous artists have suggested that Michelangelo used carbon black in a wash of glue to lay on shadows and crisp dark definition, a secco. If this is the case, then the greater part was removed in the restoration.^[21]