Fabrizio Mancinelli; Supervised Restoration of Sistine Frescoes

Fabrizio Mancinelli, 54, who oversaw the restoration of the Michelangelo frescoes in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Officially, Mancinelli was director of Byzantine, medieval and modern art for the Vatican Museums. But, as an expert on the works of Michelangelo, he was asked to supervise the cleaning and restoration of biblical scenes in the chapel where popes are elected. The project took 14 years and was completed only a couple of months ago. Mancinelli staunchly defended the undertaking against claims by some art historians that the newly revealed bright colors violated the somber and subtle work of Michelangelo. Mancinelli also disputed the popular idea that the artist had painted the frescoes while lying on his back on scaffolding. On Sunday in Rome of pancreatic cancer.