AUSTIN, Texas — For centuries, millions have traveled to Rome to gaze upward in awe at Michelangelo’s breathtaking ceiling inside the Sistine Chapel. Yet for most visitors, the moment is fleeting—the vast scale, the crowds, and the distance make it nearly impossible to truly see the details of the artist’s genius.
Now, Austinites won’t have to cross an ocean to experience one of the world’s most revered masterpieces. The Sistine Chapel Experience, an immersive exhibition years in the making, opens November 12 inside the former Sears building at Barton Creek Square Mall.
The massive space is being transformed into a window to the Vatican, with scaffolding and digital projections recreating the splendor of Michelangelo’s frescoes in stunning detail…