Sistine Chapel revived by cutting-edge lighting and air conditioning

The Sistine Chapel is to cap the number of visitors allowed into the Roman Catholic church’s greatest artistic treasure, and limit the time they stay by using digital technology.

Speaking before the introduction of new lighting and air-conditioning systems for the chapel, where popes have been elected since the mid-15th century, the director of the Vatican Museums, Antonio Paolucci, said: “If the [number of] visitors goes up, we shall introduce a limit of 20,000 visits a day [and] 2,000 at the most at any one time.”

About 6 million tourists a year visit the chapel to marvel at Michelangelo’s ceiling and his depiction of the Last Judgment on the altar wall. But, in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica, Paolucci said: “From now on, the Vatican Museums will be asking for zero growth.”

Although visitors will get less time to view the chapel, Paolucci said: “Starting in the early months of 2015, visitors to the Vatican Museums are going to be offered special, disposable ‘intelligent glasses’ similar to Google Glass that will enable them to explore the Sistine [Chapel] in 3D and go deeper into its history before the actual visit.”

Like many of Italy’s most popular cultural attractions, the Vatican Museums are struggling to cope with a surge in visitors, as more people acquire the means to travel.

The German firm Osram has installed more than 7,000 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in a gilded, rail-like structure high up on the walls of the chapel to protect the artworks and provide brighter lighting. They will use up to 90% less electricity than the previous system.

One the most noticeable effects of the new lights is to heighten the impact of the foreshortening used by the Renaissance masters who frescoed the chapel. Some of Michelangelo’s muscular nudes awaiting the Last Judgment on the altar wall seem almost to have been conjured into three-dimensional life by the new lighting.

The side walls of the chapel include masterpieces that have often gone unnoticed by tourists with their heads raised to marvel at Michelangelo’s peerless ceiling. Another effect of the new lights is to draw greater attention to the splendour and vivid colours of the frescoes lining the chapel, which include works by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino.

John Mandyck of the US firm Carrier said the Vatican authorities would have been forced to take even more drastic steps if it had had to continue with the previous air-conditioning facilities. “The pollutants that were being created through those visitors were clearly damaging the frescoes, so they were faced with a decision – to look at a technological solution or look at a solution that limited access to the chapel.”

From now on, two cameras mounted on the walls will count the number of people in the chapel and regulate the temperature and humidity accordingly. Carrier’s system will keep the temperature at between 20 and 25 degrees and more effectively filter out the dust brought in by visitors and the carbon dioxide they breathe out.

“The actual technology of delivering conditioned air is not new,” said Mandyck. “What’s new here is understanding how air works in this space and also adding the ‘intelligent’ aspect.”

Paolucci was hosting a conference on Wednesday on the state of the chapel 20 years after the controversial restoration of its frescoes. The restoration brought out for the first time in centuries the startlingly rich, bright colours Michelangelo used.

It shocked many art lovers who had grown accustomed to the muted tones of the grime-coated frescoes. But in an allusion to Irving Stone’s novel about Michelangelo’s labours and his turbulent relationship with Pope Julius II, Paolucci said the great Tuscan master “wasn’t just agony and ecstasy, but pure colour”.

Altogether, €3m (£2.4m) has been spent on enhancing the chapel, with Osram and Carrier giving their services free. The lighting project, which also involved an Italian firm and universities in Hungary and Spain, received EU financial support.