Hull Minster To Host Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Masterpiece

Hull Minster To Host Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Masterpiece
Hull Minster To Host Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Masterpiece

A must-see exhibition of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel masterpiece will allow people to see the iconic work for the first time in a church other than in the Vatican.

“Michelangelo – A Different View” displays Michelangelo’s world-famous work up close for the first time, giving visitors unprecedented access to the artist’s magnificent paintings which adorn the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

The exhibition is coming to 700-year-old Hull Minster from October 8 to November 18 – one of only two UK venues to host it – after touring major European cities, including Copenhagen, Prague and Amsterdam.

Officially licensed by the Vatican Museums, the stunning exhibition allows visitors to view superb reproductions of the elaborate paintings of the Florentine master from a distance of only two metres, with no time constraints, meaning they will be able to appreciate fully their beauty and fine detail.

The staging of the exhibition at Hull Minster will be the only opportunity for people across the North of England to see Michelangelo’s work, so it is expected to be hugely popular and draw visitors from far and wide.

Hull Minster has also made the exhibition free to enter to enable as many people as possible to experience Michelangelo’s genius up close.

Bishop Frank White, Interim Minister of Hull Minster, said: “It’s a very great privilege for Hull Minster to host an exhibition of such celebrated artwork, which can usually only be viewed in Rome.

“It’s also wonderful that a building as ancient as the Minster is able to host an exhibition of paintings which hold a timeless and universal appeal. It represents a coming together of key expressions of Christian faith through art.”

The concept for the exhibition came from producers Thomas Ebel and Christina Marotzke, of German company Exhibition 4 You (E4Y),  who wanted to take the Sistine Chapel frescoes “down from the ceiling”.

To create the exhibition, the E4Y team and the Vatican Museums worked together to produce high-resolution versions of photographs taken of the frescoes in the 1990s and transfer the images onto special fabric webs to create highly-detailed display panels. This technique allows a true-to-life reproduction of the paintings and gives visitors an otherwise impossible close-up view of Michelangelo’s brushwork.

Previously, visitors to the Vatican Museums in Rome have only been offered an overall impression of the frescoes on the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The works are 22 metres above visitors’ heads, making it impossible to admire the work in all its splendour and detail.

Michelangelo and his assistants spent four years on scaffolding under the vaulted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel from 1508-1512, creating his astounding Renaissance masterpiece. The work has been adored by artists across the world for more than 500 years as well as being admired by four million visitors each year to the Sistine Chapel.

The complex artwork includes the most famous painting of them all – the “Creation of Adam”, a depiction of God giving life to the first man – which forms part of the new exhibition. Another major attraction is a spectacular six metres square reproduction of Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgement”, which covers the whole of the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.

Securing the breath-taking exhibition is a major coup for Hull Minster, which has become an iconic, multi-use venue, community and cultural hub as a result of a transformational development project.

Hull Minster Events and Site Manager James Symonds said: “We’ve been looking for cultural events and exhibitions that will add to our growing arts offering and became aware of this exhibition.

“We approached the producers and they were really excited by the opportunity to stage the exhibition in a spectacular church setting. Michelangelo’s work is, after all, a religious masterpiece and at Hull Minster, it will be seen in a church for the first time outside the Sistine Chapel itself.

“This exhibition builds on the legacy of Hull’s year as UK City of Culture 2017 and will enhance Hull’s growing reputation as a cultural and visitor destination.”

The exhibition has just begun its UK preview in Winchester, Hampshire, where it is on show at three venues across the city until September 29, before arriving into Hull Minster for its October opening.



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