Vatican City: The Vatican Museums rival the Louvre and the Metropolitan…
The Vatican Museums had more than 5 million visitors in 2011, and as of December 31, 2011, the very precise count was 5,078,004. This is an “objectively impressive” statistic, said Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, in an interview that appeared in the January 11 issue of L’Osservatore Romano.
“In Europe,” he assured the interviewer, “the Vatican Museums rival the Louvre, the British Museum, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Prado in Madrid.” It is a question therefore of using “the most advanced digital techniques” as resources so as to “ensure the maximum level of effectiveness in protecting this heritage”. “For the major museums in the world,” he explained,
“joining the ‘Five Million Club’ means confronting problems that were previously unknown and testing new solutions.”
The director of the Vatican Museums insists on their “didactic” potential, speaking about a fundamental offering so that everyone might have access to the collections. New signage is being implemented in the Museums so as to mark out the tours more clearly.
The art historian showcased also the high esteem enjoyed in the world of culture by the Museums of the world’s smallest state. Mentioning the ranking by Cultor College, which observes public art collections, Antonio Paolucci noted that his museums came in third place, behind the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. He listed the reasons why: “the fame of the collections, a fascination with the atmosphere, the quality of the reception, the professionalism of the services offered”. (Sources : apic/imedia/OsservatoreRomano – DICI no. 250 dated February 17, 2012)
