As the Sistine Chapel celebrates its 500th anniversary, the Vatican
said Wednesday it may have to limit the huge numbers of visitors because
pollution is damaging Michelangelo's frescoes, one of the artistic
wonders of the world.
The scenes, including the moment in which
God reaches out and gives life to Adam with the touch of his finger, are
being damaged by the breath, sweat and heat of the 10,000 to 30,000
tourists who walk through the chapel every day.
The Vatican had an
air-conditioning system fitted during restorations in the chapel in the
1990s, but critics have warned that it is no longer sufficient to deal
with the amount of dust and dirt being dragged in by today's visitors.
Museums
director Antonio Paolucci said a specialist company has been asked to
design a new air-purifying system -- but that if a solution is not found
by next year the Vatican will be forced to begin reducing the number of
tourists.
Michelangelo spent much of four years on his back
painting the chapel's ceiling frescoes, which Paolucci said most
tourists could not bear to miss on a tour of Rome, describing them as a
"fatal attraction, an object of desire".
The chapel was
commissioned by Pope Julius II, who said an evening vespers service on
October 31, 1512, to inaugurate the room, and current Pope Benedict XVI
said his own vespers there on Wednesday to mark the 500th anniversary.
"It
is God's light which illuminates these frescoes... the light which,
with its power, wins over chaos and darkness to give life," Benedict
said.
"With a uniquely expressive intensity, the great artist
depicts God the creator, his action, his power, to say that the world is
not born of darkness, chance or absurdity, but from... a supreme act of
love," he added.
The chapel -- which is used by cardinals when
they meet to elect a new pope -- is one of the most visited sites in the
world and guards struggle to enforce an atmosphere of prayer among the
hordes of photograph-snapping tourists.
Tourists and pilgrims
often queue for hours for a chance to see first hand the 2,500 square
metres (27,000 square feet) of frescoes which Michelangelo began in 1508
after designing scaffolding to allow him to reach the curved ceiling.
The
Vatican had previously ruled out the idea of timed visits because the
chapel is a place of prayer, but the issue flared up again in September,
when one of Italy's leading literary critics publicly denounced the
situation.
In a protest letter to Italy's best-selling daily, the
Corriere della Sera, Pietro Citati said the chapel was an "unimaginable
disaster" where tourists behave like "drunken herds" and "any form of
contemplation was impossible."
"The church needs money for its various activities, but these monstrous conditions are impossible," said Citati.
Paolucci
retorted that "the days when only Russian grand dukes and English
lords... could gain access to the great masterpieces are definitely
over," but on Wednesday admitted the Vatican may not have any choice in
the long term.