Lenten campaign 2026
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Visitors to the Sistine Chapel will need to rely on memory — and imagination — for the next three months. As of February 2, 2026, the Vatican Museums have begun a major maintenance campaign on Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, temporarily concealing the monumental fresco behind scaffolding.
The chapel itself remains open, and continues to conclude the museum route, but the vast wall behind the altar — one of the most scrutinized images in Western art — is now out of sight. In its place, visitors will see a high-definition reproduction of the fresco, while conservators work behind the scenes.
The intervention comes 30 years after the last full restoration, completed in 1994.
According to a statement from the Vatican Museums, the current operation is not a structural restoration but a careful maintenance effort aimed at removing microscopic deposits that have accumulated over time. These include dust, humidity residue, and carbon dioxide particles generated by the millions of visitors who pass through the chapel each year.
Trevi Fountain fee takes effect as Rome seeks to manage tourist crowds
The first visitors through the new ticket checkpoints appeared largely unfazed, calling the fee a modest price for easier access and a calmer experience. The fountain, immortalized in La Dolce Vita by director Federico Fellini, has long struggled with congestion.
Every year thousands of tourists toss coins into the Trevi Fountain in Rome. While they are hoping for good luck, they are probably unaware that those coins eventually make their way to the local Caritas, a Catholic charity and aid agency.
Read about the supermarket the coins fund here.
The access fee to the Trevi accompanies a new €5 tourist fee for select city museums. Roman residents are exempt, and officials say the added revenue will expand free access to city-run museums for locals. Authorities estimate the combined initiatives could generate an additional €6.5 million annually, supporting preservation efforts across the Eternal City.
The goal is to recover the original chromatic clarity and luminosity of the Michelangelo masterpiece, which spans some 180 square meters and has gradually taken on what experts describe as a “diffuse whitish veil.” The work is expected to restore the visual intensity that Michelangelo intended when he completed the painting between 1536 and 1541.
Painted over six demanding years, the Last Judgment contains 391 figures in a dramatic vision of Christ’s return. Its theological force is inseparable from its artistic daring: muscular bodies in constant motion, saints holding the instruments of their martyrdom, and a commanding Christ whose gesture divides the saved from the damned. The fresco also occupies a singular place in Church history, looming over the altar where cardinals gather to elect a pope during conclaves.
While the scaffolding may disappoint some visitors, Vatican officials stress that the operation is essential to preserving the fresco for future generations. The temporary concealment underscores a reality shared by many of Europe’s most revered sacred sites: beauty on this scale requires constant care.
Even when masterpieces are momentarily hidden, Rome and the Vatican continue to balance access with responsibility — ensuring that what has been handed down endures, not just for photographs, but for centuries.
