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VATICAN - FEB. 28: The Vatican Museums announced on Saturday, Feb. 28, that it has begun an extraordinary maintenance campaign on “The Last Judgment,” the fresco painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, installing a special scaffold that allows conservators to work while the chapel remains open to visitors in order to restore the work’s chromatic brilliance and ensure its long-term preservation.During a press conference, officials said the intervention would be carried out using a specially designed scaffold erected so as not to obstruct visitors. Experts will remove a thin whitish veil of calcium lactate that has dulled the colors through controlled applications of deionized water over Japanese paper, following extensive scientific testing and documentation.The project, supported by the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, comes roughly 30 years after the major 1994 restoration.Officials said the maintenance campaign is expected to be completed by Holy Week. (Footage by Riccardo De Luca /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)