Rome, Italy, Jun 5, 2017 / 12:42 pm
Adorning the crypts hidden among Rome's catacombs are frescoes which reveal 1,600 year-old history, as well as the life of early Christians, which are regaining vividness through new technology.
The paintings had been masked by a veil of algae and calcium deposits, and blackened by the smoke of oil lamps until lasers were used to strip the paintings of centuries of grime without damaging their integrity.
"Until recently, we weren't able to carry out this sort of restoration – if we had done it manually we would have risked destroying the frescoes," said the head of the restoration project, Barbara Mazzei, in a comment to The Telegraph May 30.
"When we started work, you couldn't see anything – it was totally black. Different wavelengths and chromatic selection enabled us to burn away the black disfiguration without touching the colors beneath."