More than 80,000 manuscripts from the Vatican Library to be restored and digitized

Europe

The Sistine Hall of the Vatican Library. the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City, is one of the oldest libraries in the world. / Credit: Checco2/Shutterstock Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). More than 80,000 ancient manuscripts from the Vatican Library will be restored and digitized thanks to an agreement with the Colnaghi Foundation. The initiative seeks to preserve unique documents and facilitate worldwide access to this treasure of the Church.The shelves of the Vatican Library house a large part of humanity’s literary legacy. They include more than 82,000 manuscripts and 1.6 million printed books (more than 8,000 of them “incunabula,” which means those printed before 1501).Among the gems in its catalog are a document with Botticelli’s illustrations for the “Divine Comedy” and the only nearly complete copy of Cicero’s “Republic” that has survived.Humidity and the decomposition of the inks over time have turned their preservation into a major challenge for all popes.“The preserved organic material is in a very deteriorated state and would disintegrate if we don’t take action to restore it in the best possible way,” Candida Lodovica de Angelis Corvi of the Colnaghi Foundation told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.Lodovica just signed a five-year agreement with the Vatican precisely to prevent this deterioration.The agreement includes an ambitious digitization project “that will allow scholars remote access to important documents that are currently only available in person,” she explained. The director of this prestigious commercial art gallery, founded in 1760, noted that this will have “a profound impact on the average person’s ability to access knowledge.” One of the main advantages of this project is that the Vatican Library will be able to use a special and unique scanner from the Factum company, a subsidiary of the Colnaghi group. “When you scan the surface, you can obtain more details, for example, determining the date of the [book or document] itself,” she explained.Furthermore, this device also makes it possible to bring to light parts that are hidden from view. “There is a stratification relative to time within the paper itself. Beneath what we see is previous [writing, printing, or sketches]. There could be a secret message, or it could simply be the result of the need to reuse a piece of paper,” she noted.In addition, the project also includes an architectural renovation of the library, to be carried out by the David Chipperfield firm, which was founded by the renowned London-based British architect 40 years ago.The papal library, directed by the Italian Raffaella Vincenti since 2012, has enthusiastically embraced this collaborative effort. “We wish to express our profound gratitude to the Colnaghi Foundation for its generous support of several important library projects, which reinforce our commitment to the dissemination of culture,” said the institution’s prefect emeritus, Monsignor Cesare Pasini. Previously unseen works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Tintoretto, and TitianTo celebrate this collaboration between the art world and ecclesiastical institutions, the Codex exhibition opened May 26. It brings together 14 works from private collections that are not normally on view. In fact, visits to this exhibition are limited to a special permit that must be requested from the Vatican through the library. On June 2, the works will return to private collections.The works on display comprise a visual and historical tour through sacred art and portraits from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, highlighting pieces by some of history’s greatest masters.The exhibition opens with “St. Peter the Penitent” by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, depicting the apostle in tears with a profoundly human expression of repentance, featuring Baroque “chiaroscuro” (strong light and dark contrasts).Next to the painting is the letter, preserved in the Vatican collection, with which the archbishop of Seville, Antonio Salinas, who commissioned the painting, granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful.The letter, preserved in the Vatican collection, from the archbishop of Seville, Antonio Salinas. Credit: Victoria Isabel Cardiel/EWTN NewsThe exhibition continues with “The Triumph of Flora,” a mythological allegory by Mario Nuzzi, exuberant in color and symbolism, celebrating the fertility of nature with a festive and decorative spirit that contrasts with the gravity of other pieces.”The Triumph of Flora,” a mythological allegory by Mario Nuzzi. Credit: Victoria Isabel Cardiel/EWTN NewsAnother work on display is Michelangelo’s preparatory sketch for “The Adoration of the Brazen Serpent,” a powerful scene from the Old Testament. The drawing demonstrates the artist’s anatomical and expressive intensity, which manages to condense drama and redemption into a single figure.Another renowned piece is the “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini,” a work by Caravaggio painted around 1598. I

The Sistine Hall of the Vatican Library. the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City, is one of the oldest libraries in the world. / Credit: Checco2/Shutterstock Vatican City, May 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA). More than 80,000 ancient manuscripts from the Vatican Library will be restored and digitized thanks to an agreement with the Colnaghi Foundation. The initiative seeks to preserve unique documents and facilitate worldwide access to this treasure of the Church.The shelves of the Vatican Library house a large part of humanity’s literary legacy. They include more than 82,000 manuscripts and 1.6 million printed books (more than 8,000 of them “incunabula,” which means those printed before 1501).Among the gems in its catalog are a document with Botticelli’s illustrations for the “Divine Comedy” and the only nearly complete copy of Cicero’s “Republic” that has survived.Humidity and the decomposition of the inks over time have turned their preservation into a major challenge for all popes.“The preserved organic material is in a very deteriorated state and would disintegrate if we don’t take action to restore it in the best possible way,” Candida Lodovica de Angelis Corvi of the Colnaghi Foundation told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.Lodovica just signed a five-year agreement with the Vatican precisely to prevent this deterioration.The agreement includes an ambitious digitization project “that will allow scholars remote access to important documents that are currently only available in person,” she explained. The director of this prestigious commercial art gallery, founded in 1760, noted that this will have “a profound impact on the average person’s ability to access knowledge.” One of the main advantages of this project is that the Vatican Library will be able to use a special and unique scanner from the Factum company, a subsidiary of the Colnaghi group. “When you scan the surface, you can obtain more details, for example, determining the date of the [book or document] itself,” she explained.Furthermore, this device also makes it possible to bring to light parts that are hidden from view. “There is a stratification relative to time within the paper itself. Beneath what we see is previous [writing, printing, or sketches]. There could be a secret message, or it could simply be the result of the need to reuse a piece of paper,” she noted.In addition, the project also includes an architectural renovation of the library, to be carried out by the David Chipperfield firm, which was founded by the renowned London-based British architect 40 years ago.The papal library, directed by the Italian Raffaella Vincenti since 2012, has enthusiastically embraced this collaborative effort. “We wish to express our profound gratitude to the Colnaghi Foundation for its generous support of several important library projects, which reinforce our commitment to the dissemination of culture,” said the institution’s prefect emeritus, Monsignor Cesare Pasini. Previously unseen works by Caravaggio, Bernini, Tintoretto, and TitianTo celebrate this collaboration between the art world and ecclesiastical institutions, the Codex exhibition opened May 26. It brings together 14 works from private collections that are not normally on view. In fact, visits to this exhibition are limited to a special permit that must be requested from the Vatican through the library. On June 2, the works will return to private collections.The works on display comprise a visual and historical tour through sacred art and portraits from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, highlighting pieces by some of history’s greatest masters.The exhibition opens with “St. Peter the Penitent” by Flemish artist Anthony van Dyck, depicting the apostle in tears with a profoundly human expression of repentance, featuring Baroque “chiaroscuro” (strong light and dark contrasts).Next to the painting is the letter, preserved in the Vatican collection, with which the archbishop of Seville, Antonio Salinas, who commissioned the painting, granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful.The letter, preserved in the Vatican collection, from the archbishop of Seville, Antonio Salinas. Credit: Victoria Isabel Cardiel/EWTN NewsThe exhibition continues with “The Triumph of Flora,” a mythological allegory by Mario Nuzzi, exuberant in color and symbolism, celebrating the fertility of nature with a festive and decorative spirit that contrasts with the gravity of other pieces.”The Triumph of Flora,” a mythological allegory by Mario Nuzzi. Credit: Victoria Isabel Cardiel/EWTN NewsAnother work on display is Michelangelo’s preparatory sketch for “The Adoration of the Brazen Serpent,” a powerful scene from the Old Testament. The drawing demonstrates the artist’s anatomical and expressive intensity, which manages to condense drama and redemption into a single figure.Another renowned piece is the “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini,” a work by Caravaggio painted around 1598. I