Sistine Chapel Tour
We will be in the Sistine Chapel next week with Tauck. Do they allow photos? I can't imagine how they would stop hundreds of people with cells phones from getting off a shot or two. I will, likely, carry a small day pack...think the size of a camelback 3L hydration system. I look forward to your answers.
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We were allowed to take photos during our after hours tour. During the day/public tours they aren't allowed. Part of the agreement they made with the Japanese when the chapel was restored years ago. Here's some info:
"The Chapel is the only place in the Vatican that photography and filming are completely banned. Undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous buildings, the Sistine Chapel is a testament to the immense skill of history’s greatest artists within the Renaissance era. The real reason for the ban dates back to 1980. During this time, the restoration of the masterpieces within the Chapel was to be completed. Due to the cost of this restoration, the Vatican officials looked to outside companies to fund the project. The request took place, and the highest bidder was the Nippon Television Network Corporation of Japan, offering 4 million dollars to restore this great masterpiece. As repayment, the Vatican officials provided the company with the complete rights to the photography and filming of the restored art. This exclusivity on photography was stated to expired three years after each artwork’s restoration was completed, however, the ban is still in place today. Given the damage that a large amount of flash photography can cause these artworks, it is no surprise that the Vatican City officials continued the camera restriction when Nippon’s contract expired."
Interesting info. Thank you.
Do you know about the small pack? They allow women purses, right?
I don't remember any rules about them but none of our group had large bags. We went direct to the museum from the hotel. Pretty sure there was the standard security screening.
We were allowed to take flash photos during the after-hours tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Pope's Apartments
The comments about flash photography causing damage to artwork are without basis, unless you have a special UV producing flash!
(which doesn't exist) I really think that was a bogus argument that the museum staff thought people would believe. They used it in the tombs in Egypt too before allowing photos. I think the restrictions, where they still exist are to allow people to view the artwork without someone hogging the scene with a camera or selfie stick. Selfie sticks are banned in many places now.
"While ultraviolet light or strong sunlight does bleach colors, In general…the light from a properly UV-filtered flash is no more harmful to art than the ordinary gallery lighting, but many galleries and museums maintain a ban on flash photography out of an excess of caution."
https://www.arthistorynews.com/articles/2936_does_flash_photography_really_damage_paintings
The last time I was in the Sistine Chapel was when it was under ‘renovation’. Half of the ceiling was as dark as the darkest Rembrandt, and the other half was bright and colorful. It was not very crowded at that time. We also went through the museum where there are a number of rooms full of Rembrandts. I had a tour book that I was reading to my crew as we toured the museum … and then I looked up to discover that I had about thirty Japanese tourists who had joined my ‘tour’. I did eventually become a tour guide (docent) on the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, CA.
When we went through the chapel in 2018 during an after hours visit, we could take pictures. It was nice to be able to see the artwork without the crowds.
When my Tauck group went through it a few years ago, we had an excellent Italian tour guide for it (he and his family had worked for Tauck for years. :-)). He explained one drawing that Michaelangelo had painted earlier and the Cardinal in charge had made Tauck's other painters put clothes on some of the other nude drawings that M. had done earlier. When M. returned, M. was very mad at that Cardinal. On that drawing of the Cardinal, M. painted/drew a snake crawling up that Cardinal's leg in M. drawing. The Cardinal got mad and went to the Pope then to complain, to which the Pope said that there was nothing he could do. The Cardinal then quit and left Rome to go back to his home elswhere. I do not know whether or not our Tour Guide's story was true, but I could certainly believe it and Michaelangelo. LOL. :-)