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.”
Not a Replacement, but a Complement
The virtual entertainment veteran laughed when asked if the production would draw tourists away from viewing the original pieces.
“We cannot ever compete with the real thing, and that’s not what this is meant to be,” Biallas said. “This is meant to complement the real thing, and a lot of people cannot go and see the real thing.”
Visitors are able to study the frescoes at their original size, but up close, a perspective even popes never had.
“What we would like to do is give you a different perspective of how you can look at these frescoes, because there’s no other way to look at them unless you look at your computer screen, but that doesn’t give you the big, magnificent magnitude of what Michelangelo was able to create,” he said.
“No Pope has ever been up on the scaffolding, other than Michelangelo himself.”
Finally in Sydney
The production has nine equally large units touring around the world, with the ones in San Francisco and Sydney currently on display.
While the exhibition has reached Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth in 2022, it hasn’t been to Sydney until now because the team “could never find the right, affordable venue.”
“That’s why it was kind of later now, but I’m glad we made it,” said Biallas.
He added that Australians in particular are often at a disadvantage when it comes to visiting the Vatican in person.
“A lot of people can’t go, especially from Australia,” he said. “You guys are furthest away from just about everything.”
The only piece the team couldn’t fit in its full scale at the Sydney venue is The Last Judgement, which is 12 by 12 metres.
“The Last Judgement has over 400 characters that he painted on it, so you could spend half an hour just looking at that alone.”
Still, Biallas believes it’s a rare opportunity.
“If you can make it to Rome, absolutely do. But if you can’t, this is the next best thing,” he said.
“If you’ve been there, this will conclude your entire experience with the Sistine Chapel.”
Details of the art exhibition can be found here.
