Credit: CatholicVote (McKenna Snow)
VATICAN CITY // Among the many preparations underway ahead of the conclave, paint restorers and construction workers have been attending to the Sistine Chapel to ensure even tiny details are looked after.
In a May 3 press release, the Holy See Press Office shared several Vatican Media photos of the preparations the chapel is receiving.
Pictured below is an artist restoring, with a tiny brush, a part of the Chapel’s wall where an image of curtains is painted. This painstaking restoration must be conducted with precision, both of hand and of artistic medium, so as to seamlessly blend the new paint with the rest.
The Sistine Chapel’s floor has also been covered, as chairs will be added in for the 133 electors who will be participating in the conclave. There must be two-thirds majority in agreement in a vote for a new pope; otherwise, another vote must take place. On May 7, the first day of the conclave, only one vote will be taken, in the afternoon. If a pope is not elected in that vote, in the following days of the conclave, up to four votes can be taken per day.
Scaffolding was put up to aid the restoration artists’ reach if need be. Also pictured in the photo below are workers attending to where an altar is placed for Masses celebrated during the conclave, and where the table is going to be for the conclave’s main presiders.
Last week, the outside of the Sistine Chapel also received an addition for the conclave, the chimney that will produce the black or white smoke that will announce whether the cardinals have or have not yet elected a pope.
During the conclave, the electors will reside at the Casa Santa Marta and the Santa Marta Vecchia, which they may move into between the evening of May 6 and the morning of May 7. Preparatory renovation work at Casa Santa Marta, where the late Pope Francis lived, is close to completion.
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