The 237 works of art (catalogued as 168 entries) selected for “The Vatican Collections: The Papacy and Art” are a most extraordinary distillation and synthesis of some of the highest moments ofhuman artistic achievement. They will provide the great majority of Americans who have never visited Rome with a unique opportunity to see and to better understand some of the most admired ancient and Renaissance masterpieces—such as the Apollo Belvedere, the Belvedere Torso, the group ofMarsyas andAthena after Myron, Raphael’s tapestry The Miraculous Draught ofFishes, Leonardo’s Saint Jerome, and Caravaggio’s Deposition. But above and beyond the presentation ofthese supremely important works, this exhibition has an entirely different dimension. It is not a mere anthology of treasures culled from the Vatican Museums, but is instead a thoughtful selection of works drawn from the entire range of artistic holdings within the Vatican, including the basilica of Saint Peter’s and its Tteasury, the Papal Apartments, and the Apostolic Library. Ranging in date from Greek sculptures and vases of the fifth century ac. to contemporary works of art by Andre Derain and‘Henri Matisse, these objects reflect the history ofpapal patronage and collecting and are thereby able to convey a broad cultural and historical message.

Ever since the founding, about A.D. 320, of the church of Saint Peter’s on the site of the tomb of Saint Peter, popes have commissioned, preserved, and collected works of art. In order to show the development and changing meaning of these activities throughout the centuries, this exhibition has been divided into five sections. In the first one, some ofthe few surviving remains from the decoration of Old Saint Peter’s—such as three fine mosaics, two frescoes of Saints Peter and Paul, and a series of reliefs from the fifteenth-century ciborium ofthe high altar—kindle the visitor’s imagination, providing a glimpse ofthe medieval church that stood for twelve centuries on the site now occupied by the great Renaissance basilica. In the second section, which covers papal patronage frOm the Late Gothic to the end of the Baroque period, the works exhibited evoke the beauty of the papal palaces in the Vatican, as well as the continuous concern of the popes for the preservation of Roman antiquities and the decoration of Saint Peter’s. The colorful murals ofthe palace interiors are brought to mind by a group of thirteenth-to-fourteenth—century frescoes and by precious Flemish tapestries 0f the early sixteenth century. One of Raphael’s best-known tapestries, The Miraculous Draught ofFishes, and two ofthe most splendid and admired sculptures from the Vatican Belvedere—the Apollo Belvedere and the Belvedere Torso—present, in a dramatic and unique juxtaposition, the harmonious and powerful vision that lies at the heart of High Renaissance art.