How did 'Conclave', 'The Two Popes' shoot Sistine Chapel scenes?

It is common knowledge that visitors are not allowed to use cameras when inside Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel, the famous location where the papal conclave takes place.

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Yet movies such as “Conclave” and “The Two Popes” managed to have scenes in the chapel, as if actually being surrounded by historic frescoes of Sandro Boticelli, Pietro Perugino, and Michelangelo.

Suzie Davies and Cynthia Sleiter received a Production Design Oscar nomination for their work in 2024’s “Conclave,” which dramatizes the election of a new pope. In an interview with studio distributors Focus Features, Davies said her crewmates toured the Vatican to “get a sense of the real place,” taking artistic license when necessary.

“We had to get clearance to use the art in the Sistine Chapel, which weirdly isn’t actually owned by the Sistine Chapel but by a company that’s not even Italian,” Davies continued. “As with any film, I have to get the artwork cleared or I have to make it bespoke.”