The Pauline Chapel

"The Pauline Chapel, the private chapel of the Apostolic Palaces, built in 1537 at the behest of Paul III, has been reopened for worship with the solemn Vespers celebrated by Benedict XVI. This volume, available in five languages, accurately describes all the phases of the complex restoration works which began in 2002 with the preliminary scientific and archival research, and which have restored the Chapel to the best visual conditions possible, thus enabling a more advanced understanding of its historical, iconographic and stylistic value. Introduced by Benedict XVI's homily, which inaugurated the laborious restoration work carried out during the summer of 2009, and preceded with an interview with the Director of the Vatican Museums, Antonio Paolucci, the focus of the volume is the essay by Arnold Nesselrath examining the meaning and significance of the wall paintings (by Michelangelo, Lorenzo Sabbatini and Zuccari), revealing also the perfect coherence of the iconographic system with the functions assumed by the place. An art historical perspective is followed by an outline of the phases of the restoration project, faithful in its principles and intentions to the history of the Chapel. Maurizio De Luca then illustrates the methods of intervention used and Ulderico Santamaria presents the results of the scientific analyses. An appendix dedicated to the liturgical furnishings of the Pauline Chapel concludes the volume. Numerous images and tipped-in colour plates, linked to the essays, illustrate the development of the restoration works through images showing the chapel "before" and "after" intervention."--Publisher's description.