Michelangelo's Last Judgement Gets First Major Restoration in Over 30 Years

The Vatican Museums have completed the first major restoration of Michelangelo's The Last Judgement in more than 30 years. The altarpiece, painted on the wall of the Sistine Chapel between 1536 and 1541, was cleaned over a three-month project.

Much of that work went into removing a layer of white grime. Dried sweat from millions of visitors had built up on the painting, and the restorers lifted it off, according to Artnet News.

The cleaning also gave the team a close look at how Michelangelo worked. Paolo Violini, the Vatican's chief restorer, concluded that the artist used special brushes with several heads to lay down parallel strokes in a single pass. A brush with multiple heads works a bit like a rake, with several bristle groups moving together.

Examination of the paint showed that Michelangelo made several of these rake-like brushes. One had three heads. Another had more than 10 brushes that together spanned nearly six inches, or about 15 centimetres. He also laid groups of parallel strokes across one another at right angles, a technique called cross-hatching.

The painting holds a small personal touch too. Michelangelo hid his own face on a cloth worn by a figure representing death, near the bottom of the work.

A self-portrait that surfaced during the restoration is analysed by art historian Fabrizio Biferali. His analysis appears in a book that chronicles the project, titled Michelangelo 2026: The Extraordinary Maintenance of the Last Judgement.

For anyone planning a trip to Rome, the chapel did not close. The Vatican Museums said the Sistine Chapel stayed open for the entire duration of the restoration, so visitors could see the wall while the work went on.