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Decades-long restoration of Vatican Raphael frescoes almost completed

VATICAN CITY — As visitors ooh and aah at the vivid hues revealed by the cleaning of Michelangelo's frescoed ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, some of the greatest work of a fellow Renaissance giant has been quietly restored to glory a few rooms away.

Now, nearly 30 years after work began, the restoration of Raphael's frescoes in the rooms named after him in the Vatican Museums is approaching completion.

Restorers said in recent interviews that their work in the Raphael Stanzas has brought insights into how the artist worked, from mistakes he made in mixing plaster to how he transferred his exquisite designs from small pieces of paper to the sprawling walls of papal apartments.
Read entire article at AP