In an article in Corriere della Sera, Pietro Citati, a leading literary critic and biographer, has demanded that the Vatican limit access to the chapel, claiming it would save the frescoes from damage and restore some decorum to the consecrated site.
Describing a visit, Citati claimed that "in the universal confusion, no one saw anything" and "any form of contemplation was impossible". The answer, he said, was to reduce the number of visitors drastically.
"The church needs money for its various activities, but these monstrous conditions are not possible," said the writer.
The manager of the Vatican museums fought back in the Holy See's daily paper, L'Osservatore Romano.
"The days when only Russian grand dukes and English lords or [American art expert] Bernard Berenson could gain access to the great masterpieces are definitely over," wrote Antonio Paolucci. "We have entered the era of large-scale tourism, and millions want to enjoy our historical culture," he said. "Limiting numbers is unthinkable."
Paolucci said he had tripled the number of guards to handle the crowds, but last week one guard, who declined to be named, said the chapel was undermanned. "There are two of us against thousands; you'd need 10 guards."
"When it fills up, you can feel the heat rising. We even get pickpockets in here, just like at a street market," he added.
Paolucci himself sounded the alarm bell two years ago after restorers gently scrubbed what he described as "unimaginable amounts" of dirt off the frescoes while working at night. The air extraction system designed to suck out the breath, sweat, skin flakes, hair, dust and pollution wafting up towards the frescoes was almost 20 years old and urgently needed replacing, he said.
"They should start timed visits," said Cindy Rowlett, a pensioner from Ohio, as she jostled for space. "When they do timed visits at the Met in New York it is more intimate, while this doesn't feel very religious to me."
Paolucci said because the chapel was a place of prayer, timed visits were impossible. But Citati said: "Why can't you limit numbers at a holy place if it is at risk? We are condemning it to disaster."
The masterpiece
Michelangelo set to work on the chapel ceiling in 1508 after devising the perfect scaffolding for painting his biblical scenes 20m off the ground.
The chapel, which also features works by Botticelli, Perugino and Pinturicchio, boasts 300 figures painted across 2500sq m and is dominated at one end by The Last Judgment, which Michelangelo filled with nude males reportedly inspired by his visits to Rome's brothels.
- Observer
