Left: Dr. John Capriccio and a senior expert touring the restoration facilities; right: Managing
Director of the Vatican Museums, Monsignor Paolo Nicolini with Christopher Hyland
The vast galleries of the Vatican Museums are pure
aesthetic wonderlands documenting the glories of the
Church and some of its darkest moments. One clearly
sees, when visiting them, firsthand, what Di Pietrantonio
means when he writes, "The measurement of body in
space is the hallmark of Italian art." The body refers as
much to the viewer as it does to the subject of the artwork,
both on canvas and sculpted, the latter, overwhelming,
and instructive to contemporary artists. Interaction with
the Vatican Museums will inform contemporary artists
whatever their inclinations may be.
There are settings, both cynical and cruel, deeply holy
and ethereal, rooms that evoke the profound. Some of
the art brazenly celebrates conquest as much as the
ongoing efforts to defend the Church. The scale of
the galleries is so large that one imagines a duel with
Darth Vader being filmed within: they may evoke a kind
HYLAND
