For the first time in five centuries, a woman is in charge of the Vatican Museums. The art historian Barbara Jatta—a native of Rome who previously led the Vatican Apostolic Library’s prints and drawings collection—began her new role last month. Jatta’s appointment by Pope Francis is “revolutionary” for the male-dominated Vatican, her predecessor, Antonio Paolucci, tells our sister newspaper Il Giornale dell’Arte.
Jatta says the Vatican Museums will be increasingly open to “unconventional” forms of contemporary art, in line with the Pope’s inclusive vision. Like her predecessors, Jatta faces two major challenges: crowd control and conservation. More than six million people flocked to the papal collections in 2016, a new record. To prevent overcrowding, Jatta says, “The key is working with the guides and tour operators to make them aware of parts of the Vatican Museums that are just as extraordinary and important… but are currently too little known.”
The recent reopening of the New Wing (Braccio Nuovo) should relieve some of the pressure. Commissioned by Pope Pius VII, the gallery was designed to welcome back the classical sculptures plundered by Napoleon during his Italian campaign. The marble corridor and its 150 statues have been fully restored in an eight-year project spearheaded by Paolucci.