By supporting the preservation, restoration and exhibition of art, especially religious art, the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums share beauty that can touch all people and build bridges between them, Pope Francis said.
The Vatican Museums will extend their opening hours into the evening on Fridays and Saturdays this summer until October 28th. The museums house 70,000 works, including 20,000 on display, with world-famous treasures such as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, and have become renowned for
Expressing his desire to bear witness to "the truth," Pope Francis is returning three marble fragments that were originally from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, according to the Vatican.
The pope will donate the pieces to Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and
Completing a project to repatriate human remains held in the Vatican Museums' ethnological collection, the Vatican and the government of Peru signed an agreement Oct. 17 to return to Peru three mummies sent to the Vatican in 1925.
Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president
The Vatican Museums, Vatican Apostolic Archives and Vatican Library will reopen June 1, almost three months after being closed as part of the lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The closure of the museums dealt a major financial blow to the