Vatican Museums’ Jubilee
On February 14, the anniversary of the Vatican Museums, Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, president of the governorship of the Vatican City, and Francesco Buranelli, director of the Vatican Museums presented various inaugurations to the press, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Museums between March and November 2006.
On February 17, Cardinal Szoka launched the Jubilee with the celebration of a Mass for the intentions of the Museums’ personnel, in the Sistine Chapel.
On March 16, a new presentation of the Christian Museum founded by Benedict XIV in 1756-1757 to house the Paleo-Christian antiquities, coming mainly from the Roman Catacombs, will be unveiled.
On April 27, the Mysteries Hall will reveal to the public the frescoes of the life of Christ and the Blessed Virgin, painted by Il Pintoricchio and his disciples between 1492 and 1495.
On June 20, the Ethnological-Missionary Museum, founded in 1926 by Pius XI will present its new sections : China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia.
On October 20, a new sector of the Roman Necropolis, located along the Triumphal Way in the Vatican City will be unveiled
On November 16, the main exhibition on the theme “Laocoon” will be presented to the public. Discovered in January 1506 around the Coliseum, this ancient group of marbles was the origin of the Vatican Museums.
The museums are open from 8:00 am for groups, and until 7:00 pm for individual visits. There are 400 people working there to welcome around four million visitors per year.
