Vatican Museums director visits art restoration project in quake-hit central Italy

(Vatican Radio)  The Director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, on Wednesday visited ongoing art restoration efforts in an earthquake-hit area of central Italy.

A communique said the laboratories of the Vatican Museums would restore several works of art salvaged from churches in the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia for free.

Eight works of art were chosen for restoration, which will be featured at an exhibit in Spoleto “after being returned to their original splendor”. The communique says the exhibition “is an important sign of hope: alongside the people who are gradually returning to a more-or-less normal life, these treasures of the faith ‘are being reborn’”.

Archbishop Renato Boccardo of the Diocese of Spoleto-Norcia thanked Pope Francis and the President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, for allowing the Museums to perform “this great work”.

He said the eight works of art will be returned to their original churches as soon as the latter are rebuilt and made safe again.