by Alexandra Salomon
ROME (Reuters) – An unprecedented high-tech restoration of
Moses, one of Michelangelo's greatest sculptures, began on Monday
with millions of people around the world able to follow every
minute live over the Internet.
“We want to give Moses to the world,” said Alberto Abruzzese,
head of the project to clean and restore the massive 16th-century
statue of the Biblical prophet who led the exodus.
For what experts say is the first time ever, people the world
over will be able to watch the entire project minute by minute
over the Internet as web cameras capture each delicate touch of
restorers' hands.
Tucked away in one of Rome's lesser-known churches, St. Peter
in Chains, the imposing and breathtakingly realistic Moses may
become as familiar to the general public as Michelangelo's other
Biblical masterpiece, the statue of David in Florence.
Clicking on www.progettomose.it allows visitors to spy on
chief restorer Antonio Forcellino as he delicately applies
special solvents to remove centuries of accumulated dirt.
The dirt and smoke from the church's candles have darkened
the once vibrant shades of the white marble.
“We have to remove dirt and pollution, which can damage the
marble, and we want to uncover the original shades of colors,”
Forcellino, dressed in a while labcoat, told Reuters Television.
Still, even before the restoration, many visitors were
awestruck at the details of the veins, the contours of the
muscles, and the curls of Moses' long flowing beard.
AN UNPRECEDENTED RESTORATION
Forcellino, who acknowledged he will feel uncomfortable at
first before the cameras, said the project was unprecedented and
unrivalled because it will give e-visitors a chance to understand
the complexity and delicacy of art restoration.
Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo in 1505 to build a
massive mausoleum to immortalize him in grandeur.
Work on the tomb, which was to have consisted of 40 massive
statues, was delayed when the Pope ordered the Renaissance master
to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling first.
Michelangelo began work on Moses in 1513, after Julius'
death, and finished the statue in three years.
Julius' successor, Paul III, diverted Michelangelo from the
tomb project and ordered him to paint the Last Judgement wall of
the Sistine Chapel first. Julius' tomb was never completed.
It took Michelangelo eight months to select marble blocks
from the quarries in Carrara in Tuscany and three more years to
sculpt Moses and two slaves. The slaves are in the Louvre museum
in Paris.
Michelangelo envisioned Moses as a towering figure whose
imposing presence would give viewers a sense of how the Old
Testament titan might have appeared as he came down from Mount
Sinai after God handed him the tablets of the Ten Commandments.
The wall which was built behind the statue will be torn down
to uncover the windows behind it, bathing the statue in natural
light to highlight all three dimensions.
According to tradition, when Michelangelo finished Moses, he
was himself so taken by its life-like appearance that he banged
it with a hammer and shouted “But why don't you speak?.”
Restorers haven't yet found any signs of the hammer blow but
Internet art lovers may well be on the lookout.
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