Not everyone can travel to the Vatican, but one exhibition is giving people the chance to stand face-to-face with one of humanity’s greatest artistic achievements—the Sistine Chapel frescoes by Michelangelo.
Martin Biallas, the CEO of SEE Global Entertainment, was inspired to recreate the chapel after his own underwhelming trip to Europe.
“You wait for hours in line, and you have 15 minutes [inside],” he told The Epoch Times in a video interview on Sept. 29.
“You are cramped in there with 2,000 people. They have 6 million visitors a year, and you cannot take any pictures.
“You look up, you look to the side, you have screaming and yelling people, and then you’re basically pushed out of there. That was not a cool experience for me.”
From Frustration to Inspiration
That visit sparked an idea: if people couldn’t truly see Michelangelo’s frescoes in the chapel itself, why not bring them closer?
Biallas, who has previously staged productions such as Titanic and King Tut, obtained high-resolution images taken after the Sistine Chapel’s restoration.
The 34 ceiling paintings from The Creation of Adam to The Separation of Light from Darkness and The Last Judgment were reproduced with Vatican-licensed photography.
Unlike projections, the works are printed on a textile fabric from Germany using a special process to mimic the look and feel of fresco.
“It took us a while to find the right material,” he said. “Fresco is when you paint on wet plaster. When it dries, it absorbs the paint colours.
“This special textile fabric gives you that look and feel.”
