Immersive Voyage into the Sistine Chapel

It is an immersive voyage into the Sistine Chapel. Photography by Ralph Larmann.

Giudizio Universale is an immersive voyage into the Sistine Chapel, which recently received vigorous support from Germany. Acting on behalf of Marco Balich and the Vatican, Giandomenico Barbon, the technical director of Creative System, opted for a kinetic system from Movecat.

Movecat Italy stepped in at short notice to partner the project and succeeded in assuring its timely execution despite the tight schedule and the diverse technical challenges. Among the objects to be moved and positioned were scenery, turntables and walls. Part of the challenge involved the integration of third-party products and encoders into the Movecat system.

To control the system, Barbon chose the new Movecat Expert-T III system controller in conjunction with the Movecat I-Motion NMB-14 network master box. Among the other components used were Movecat V-Motion-30-E-SIL 3 and V-Motion-40-E-SIL3 variable motion powerpacks and Movecat CB-PMC-HV-P-C connector boxes, which were used to establish the connections to the external devices.

The entire process of installing, adapting, configuring and commissioning the system was accomplished in Rome within twelve days under the direction of Jonathan Kruschel and Oliver Nachbauer from Movecat, whilst, to prepare them for the task ahead, the operators were trained to Super User Level at the Movecat Academy on the company’s premises in Nufringen.

The project “Giudizio Universale. Michelangelo and the Secrets of the Sistine Chapel” is Artainment’s first production. The company, part of the Worldwide Shows Corporation (wscorp.com), was founded specially for productions of this kind. “Having worked on numerous Olympic ceremonies all over the world and ephemeral productions of that kind, I am proud to have created in Giudizio Universale long-term production and one that meets the strict academic requirements imposed by the Vatican Museums,” states Marco Balich.

The client is delighted by the new attraction. “The Vatican Museums are forever negotiating a fraught path between tradition and innovation, in search of the perfect synthesis of the two extremes,” explains Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums. “This is essential to the proper functioning of an institution that welcomes more than six million visitors a year and is willing to embrace new forms of communication. It is in this context that the collaboration between the Vatican Museums and Artainment must be seen and judged.”

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