The portrait painting of Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga has been installed in the Governorate Palace.

The portrait of the President Emeritus of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, was installed in the presidential corridor of the Governorate Palace on Tuesday morning, June 24.

The painting is the work of artist Pierluigi Isola, who created a half-length portrait of the Cardinal. Also displayed in the corridor are the portraits of the Presidents Emeritus of the Governorate, who have succeeded one another over the years, beginning with the first, Cardinal Nicola Canali, who held office from March 20, 1939, to August 3, 1961, up to Cardinal Vérgez Alzaga, who retired on March 1, 2025, upon reaching the age of 80.

With the Fundamental Law of 1929, the year the Vatican City State was founded, the office of Governor was entrusted by Pius XI to Marquis Camillo Serafini, who held the post until his death in 1952. Pius XII appointed the first President in 1939.

The last painting exhibited was that of Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, who served as President of the Governorate from October 1, 2011, to October 1, 2021.

Attending the ceremony were, among others, Cardinal Vérgez Alzaga, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate, Archbishop Emilio Nappa and Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, General Secretaries; Barbara Jatta, Director of Museums and Cultural Heritage, Alberto Albanesi, Deputy Director of Management and Administration of the Vatican Museums, and the community of Benedictine nuns of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican, led by Abbess Maria Cristina Moroni of the Abbey of Santa Scolastica in Victoria, province of Buenos Aires.