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Maria Martinetti Stiavelli (1864-1937), a painter from Rome, was only 23 years old when she painted Malaria (1887), a large painting on canvas, measuring 140.5 x 221.5 centimetres. The impressive painting, which had been held in storage at the Vatican Museums, underwent restoration works thanks to the precious contribution of the Canadian Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.
A generous new contribution from the Illinois Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums has permitted the restoration of a tunic of the Sancta Sanctorum, which held the most ‘sacred’ relics of Christianity.
“Paul VI and Jacques Maritain – The Renewal of Sacred Art Between France and Italy (1945–1973)” is the theme of the exhibition inaugurated on Thursday, June 12 at the Vatican Museums. Among those present were Barbara Jatta, Director of the Vatican Museums and H.E. Florence Mangin, Ambassador of France to the Holy See.
On Saturday, August 2, Pope Leo XIV received in audience, in a foyer of the Paul VI Audience Hall, a select group representing the Vatican Museums. During the meeting, a painting depicting Saint Augustine and an angel, the work of an anonymous Roman artist of the 18th century, was presented and entrusted to the Pope.
Completed in record time almost on the eve of the Jubilee Year, a new photovoltaic system has been installed in the Cortile delle Corazze in the entrance of the Vatican Museums and will produce electric energy from a renewable resource.
“I grew up in a small town where contact with the arts was limited to visiting the local museum, whereas here we have an immense heritage spanning from antiquity to the present day.” This is just one of the many comments made from those who visited the Vatican Museums in celebration of the Jubilee of the Holy See on Monday, June 9.
“Music at the Museums”, a series of concerts organized by the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage, will begin on 27 February and continue until 22 November. Concerts will be held at the Vatican Museums and at the Castel Gandolfo Museum Complex.
From Raphael to Laureti – The Restoration of the Hall of Constantine A journey through art, history and innovation at the heart of the Renaissance
“A restoration that has revealed many technical, stylistic, and methodological insights from one of the great Renaissance projects. A restoration that must be called ‘exemplary,’ as it reflects the ongoing work of the vast machine that is the Vatican Museums in the fields of research, conservation, and restoration.
The Band of the Vatican Gendarmerie Corps and the Band of the Rome Capital Police performed together in a concert held in the Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican Museums. The event took place on Friday afternoon, 7 November, as part of the series “Music at the Museums – Jubilee 2025”, organized in collaboration between the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage and the Italian National Music Committee (CIDIM).
In addition to being a credible witness of the beauty of creation, art is also an instrument for evangelization. Within the Church, art – music, architecture, sculpture, paintings – exists above all to evangelize. Through art, the Church explains and interprets the Revelation, Take the Sistine Chapel for instance. What did Michelangelo do? A work of evangelization. The same goes for medieval Cathedrals: the catechism was in the stone sculptures. People did not know how to read but they observed the sculptures and learned. The Church has always used art to reveal the wonder of God’s creation and the dignity of man, created in his own image and likeness, as well as the power of death, and the beauty of the Resurrection of Christ, which restores a world afflicted by sin. Beauty unites us, and as John Paul II said, quoting Dostoevsky, it will save us. To follow Christ is not only a true thing but also a beautiful one, capable of filling life with joy, even in the midst of daily difficulties. In this sense, beauty represents a way to encounter the Lord.
If the Pope has museums, it is precisely for this reason! Because art can be an extraordinary vehicle to proclaim to the men and women of the whole world, with simplicity, the Good News of God, who became man for us because he loves us! And this is beautiful!
The Vatican Museums must always be a place of beauty and welcome. They must welcome new forms of art. They must open wide their doors to the people of the entire world, be an instrument for dialogue between cultures and religions, an instrument of peace - be living! Not dusty collections from the past reserved only for the “elite” and the “learned”, but rather a vital reality that can safeguard the past in order to reveal it to the people of today, starting from the most humble, so that all together, we can look to the present and the future with trust. Art has a salvific dimension and should be open to everything and everyone, offering comfort and hope to each one of us. This is why the Church should promote the use of art in its evangelizing work, looking to the past but also to current forms of expression. We should not be afraid to find and use new symbols, new art forms, new languages, even those that may be less interesting to evangelizers or to curators, because they may be important to others, and touchthem.
This is why, some time ago, a few of Rome’s homeless people visited the Vatican Museums and were able to admire the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museums are the home of all, their doors are always open to all. They bear witness to the artistic and spiritual hopes of humanity and the search for that supreme beauty that finds fulfilment in God. And the poor are at the heart of the Gospel, which is the greatest thing we have. The poor are the privileged of Divine Mercy. If you remove the poor from the Gospel, nothing makes sense. Thus, why should they not enter the Sistine Chapel? Because they don’t have the money to buy the ticket? I have been criticised for this, I know. I have also been criticised for having showers put under Bernini’s Colonnade.
I repeat: the poor are at the heart of the Gospel. We should not forget this.
From Papa Francesco. La mia idea di arte, edited byTiziana Lupi, Edizioni Musei Vaticani – Mondadori, Vatican City – Milan 2015, pp. 9-11.
© Libreria Editrice Vaticana
The following were among the first visitors to the Vatican Museums' new exhibition entitled, “The Mantegna of Pompei”, which opened to the public on Thursday, 20 March: Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, accompanied by Secretaries General, Archbishop Emilio Nappa and Mr. Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, Monsignor Tommaso Caputo, Archbishop Prelate of Pompeii and Pontifical Delegate of the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii, Angelo Scelzo, former Deputy Director of the Press office of the Holy See and Director of Il Rosario e la Nuova Pompei, Ms. Barbara Jatta, Director of Museums and Cultural Heritage, and Ms. Alfonsina Russo, Director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum.
The members of the “Italian and International” Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, led by Sabrina Zappia, President and Amy Gallant Sullivan, Chair of the Chapter, visited the Vatican Museums on Friday afternoon, May 23.
They were welcomed by Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, Secretary General of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and by Monsignor Terence Hogan, Coordinator of the Office for Relations with the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums.
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