New York City Gets an Up-Close Look at Michelangelo’s Works

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Michelangelo’s famed Sistine Chapel is coming to cities across the U.S. thanks to high-resolution, nearly full-scale reproductions of the artist’s famed frescoes.

Details on the Exhibition

“Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel: The Exhibition” has been touring the globe since 2015, and previously went on view in New York beneath the ceiling of Santiago Calatrava’s Oculus at the World Trade Center in 2017, under the title “Up Close: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.” The reproductions of the 34 Michelangelo frescoes are based on licensed, high-definition photographs of the space shot by Austrian photographer Erich Lessing, with Bridgeman Images serving as a production partner.

The latest iteration of the show, which has opened in Chicago, San Antonio, and Charlotte, North Carolina, and will soon be back in New York, seems to have been retooled to capitalize on the newfound popularity of the runaway hit “Immersive Van Gogh.”

Viewing the Masterpieces

The Sistine Chapel frescoes have been reproduced using the Giclée printing process onto nylon-based mesh similar to a movie theater screen. The special fabric was apparently chosen to best mimic the painted plaster surface of the originals. The Sistine Chapel exhibition is produced by Special Entertainment Events (SEE), which is known for organizing touring shows on topics including King Tut, the Titanic, and Star Trek.

In theory, this Sistine Chapel experience does have a few advantages over the original, in that it can be seen at eye level, rather than from far below. The up-close vantage point affords viewers the chance to observe small details that might otherwise go unnoticed, and even see reproductions of Michelangelo’s individual brushstrokes.

Plus, there is a notorious no-photograph policy inside the actual chapel, which is bad news for most Instagram fans. SEE founder and C.E.O. Martin Biallas recalled visiting the Sistine Chapel in person by stating, “I didn’t really enjoy the experience. There were long lines and 2,000 people. You couldn’t take photos and the guards were very militant about it.” The location of the New York exhibition has yet to be announced, but visits will typically last from an hour to 90 minutes, according to organizers. The ticket prices are also surprisingly reasonable compared to the Post Impressionist’s light show, starting at just $19.20 for adults and $13.50 for children in New York.