Pope John XXIII died at the papal apartments on June 3, 1963, forty days after opening the second session of the Second Vatican Council. His body was embalmed by Professor Gennaro Goglia of the University of Naples using a method developed for the tropical climate of Africa. The pope was buried in the Vatican grottoes below St. Peter's in a triple-shell coffin — cypress, lead, oak — sealed in Roncalli's memorial chapel.
On June 3, 2000, Pope John Paul II beatified John XXIII; on the same day he ordered the translation of the body from the grottoes to the upper basilica. On January 16, 2001, the coffins were opened before a Vatican commission that included Cardinal Virgilio Noè and papal physician Prof. Renato Buzzonetti. The body was found substantially preserved — the face fully recognizable, the papal vestments intact — apparently as a result of both the effective embalming and the airtight triple coffin.
The face and hands were covered with a wax overlay to protect against oxidation, but no additional treatment was given. On June 3, 2001, John XXIII's body was translated in solemn procession to the altar of St. Jerome, on the right side of the nave of St. Peter's, where it remains visible in a crystal casket. He was canonized on April 27, 2014 alongside John Paul II.