Elaborate recreations of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter?s help viewers believe in a pretend papacy. It normally takes the best minds in set design to create a truly over-the-top, lavish interior. But when the project requires a set director to recreate the lavish interiors of Vatican City, home to some of Christendom?s most iconic and treasured artwork, it seems that even Hollywood needs to be a bit more humble and really do its homework.
The new HBO limited series Young Pope, a joint effort between the premium channel and European partners that explored the premise of an unlikely American pontiff (played by Jude Law), takes viewers deep inside Vatican walls. But due to the church?s ban on filming within this hallowed ground, and no direct contact with the church to confirm details, members of the crew, such as production designer Ludovica Ferrario, had to get creative. While past film and television projects took a more high-tech approach to creating the Pontiff?s home?for Dan Brown adaptation Angels and Demons filmmakers posed as tourists, took photos, and digitally recreated the Vatican?Ferrario and his colleagues did extensive research, building detailed replicas of priceless artwork and iconic interiors, and eventually building sets in Rome?s famed Cinecittà Studios, which has hosted production from La Dolve Vita and Cleopatra to Life Aquatic. In an email interview, Ferrario discussed the challenges of remaking some of the Western world?s most priceless a...