European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 23, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Talys Stine Chapel Michelangelo s Quot last judgment Quot is the last Section of frescoes in the sistine Chapel to be cleaned frescoes get a cleaning while the nudes get nude. By Daniel  the associated press the eyes of Angels stared out in wonder devils gnashed their Teeth and Small cherubs clustered about the capitals of columns. Restorers pulled Back a curtain in late november to show reporters their Progress in cleaning the last of Michelangelo s frescoes in the sistine Chapel. And they promised other revelations to come some garments that later artists painted Over naked figures in the last judgment Are to be removed. The 60-by-30-foot Fresco is the last Section of Michelangelo s frescoes in the Chapel to be cleaned. The ceiling was completed in 1990, when work on the judgment was started. About 5 percent remains to be done and then restorers must double Check their work Inch by Inch chief restorer Gianluigi Colalucci said. The project funded by a japanese television network began in 1981 and the judgment portion is expected to be finished in april. Until then the. Fresco remains hidden behind scaffolding. To an inexpert Eye the cleaned last judgment and its depiction of the elect and the damned has the same glowing colors As the Chapel s ceiling which restorers finished in 1990. A Green cloak emerged from the Black of an uncleaned area. The Blue skies of heaven shone brightly. Critics have complained that the cleaning has altered the master s colors. But Colalucci and the project s director Fabrizio Mancinelli say they merely removed centuries of dirt glue varnish and Candle smoke residue to reveal the original colors. An Independent panel of Art conservators has praised the results of the ceiling cleaning. The last judgment had a controversy within a controversy the Loincloth affair. In 1564, Pope Pius in siding with Church figures shocked by Michelangelo s nudes ordered artist Daniele a Volterra to cover them up. Cloaks or Loincloth also were added in the 18th anti 19th centuries. In All 38 figures had modesty imposed on them. Mancinelli said the earlier coverings would probably be left because they Are a historical Quot document Quot or too unobtrusive to matter. An example of both is the Loincloth Daniele painted on St. John the Baptist it is tiny and made from the same kind of animal skin John carries. Also to be left alone Are those painted with the Fresco technique a colors applied directly to wet plaster. Coverings added later would be removed a Quot above All because they offend the Eye Quot Mancinelli said. The ceiling in the Chapel where cardinals gather to elect the Pope depicts scenes from the biblical Book of genesis and dates from 1508-1512. The last judgment which rises Over the altar was begun about 20 years later and presented different problems to restorers. Because of its sweeping design Michelangelo made Many More additions with water based tempera paint. And he used Large amounts of pigment from ground Lapis Lazuli a deep Blue Mineral to depict the heavens. Restorers thus had to find a More delicate w a of removing dirt rather than brushing on and sponging off a solvent. They placed a thin Sheet of paper Over the Fresco covered it with a specially adapted solvent let it sit for 10-15 minutes and removed it. Then came a Quick dab with a Light sponge. Quot it s Long delicate work Quot Colalucci said.10 stripes Magazine december 23, 1993