Jubilee, iGuzzini illuminates Michelangelo's Pietà

Advanced technology and beauty. The lighting company iGuzzini has in supporting the Italian cultural and artistic heritage one of its founding pillars. Thanks to the use of light - and of course the most sophisticated lighting technologies - it has contributed in various ocacsions to enhancing monuments and works of art in the region (and beyond).

Now this commitment has spilled over to one of the world's most famous and seen works, Michelangelo's Pieta, housed in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. On the occasion of the work for the Jubilee of 2025, the Pieta has undergone many interventions to improve the visibility of the work, but also its safety and static stability. Light also came into play for this purpose.

In addition to the replacement of the glass wall protecting the work, a new lighting project was carried out, conceived by lighting designers Guido Bianchi and Nicoletta Rossi and entirely supported by the Recanati-based company, which had already taken care of the lighting system in operation until 2018. A project, iGuzzini explain, "realised respecting the will of the artist, who had already studied the light factor very carefully at the end of the 1400s, carefully smoothing the surfaces so that a few candles could make the marble group shine".

"Illuminating masterpieces such as Michelangelo's Pietà is an honour for those who, like us at iGuzzini, believe that beauty and culture are at the heart of social innovation," explains Cristiano Venturini, CEO of the Marche-based company. "Thanks to the new intervention, it will be possible to admire this sculptural unicum even in its most imperceptible nuances, enhancing every movement, every detail sculpted by the great Renaissance master. The new lighting system also makes an improvement in terms of sustainability'.

In fact, the lighting of the Pietà has been realised with the new Sipario projector by iGuzzini, specifically designed for the lighting requirements of works of art and museum spaces, cultural venues and theatres. Characterized by lightness, reduced footprint, low consumption, integrated smart components and easy replacement of components, Sipario exploits patented Opti Beam Reflector optics, designed and produced in-house by iGuzzini, that combine photometric performance with exclusive emissive quality, creating a sharp, clean beam with no double-ring effect.