Sistine Chapel ceiling painted in only two days. The Eleazar and Mathan picture contains two figures with a wealth of costume detail that is not present in any other lunette. Prior to restoration, of all the paintings in the Sistine Chapel, the lunettes and spandrels were the dirtiest. Added to this, there has always been a problem of poor daytime visibility of the panels nearest the windows because of "halination". Consequently, they were the least well known of all Michelangelo's publicly accessible works. The recent restoration has made these masterly studies of human nature and inventive depiction of the human form known once
Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes out of the gloom above the lunette of Jesse. Arguimbau says: Richard Serrin, in an essay entitled "Lies and Misdemeanors: Gianluigi Colalucci's Sistine Chapel Revisited" says: Carlo Pietrangeli, former Director General of the Vatican Museums, writes of the restoration: "It is like opening a window in a dark room and seeing it flooded with light." His words resonate with those of Giorgio Vasari who, in the 16th century, said of the Sistine Chapel ceiling: Pietrangeli, in his foreword to "The Sistine Chapel", written after the restoration of the lunettes, but prior to the restoration of the ceiling, commends those who