From the Vatican Museums a Restored Painting of Saint Augustine is Presented to Pope Leo XIV

On Saturday, August 2, Pope Leo XIV received in audience, in a foyer of the Paul VI Audience Hall, a select group representing the Vatican Museums. During the meeting, a painting depicting Saint Augustine and an angel, the work of an anonymous Roman artist of the 18th century, was presented and entrusted to the Pope.

The painting, restored by the Laboratory for the Restoration of Paintings and Wooden Materials, is a freeform copy of the image of Saint Augustine as featured in the Renaissance fresco The Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament, executed by Raphael in 1509 in the Stanza della Segnatura in the papal palace, now one of the highlights in the Vatican Museums tour.

Present at the audience were, among others, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Barbara Jatta, Director of Museums and Cultural Heritage, Giandomenico Spinola, Deputy Artistic-Scientific Director of the Vatican Museums, Alberto Albanesi, Deputy Administrative-Managerial Director; Francesca Persegati, former Head of the Laboratory for the Restoration of Paintings and Wooden Materials, together with the new Head, Paolo Violini. Also in attendance were Monsignor Terence Hogan, Coordinator of the Office for Relations with the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, Alessandra Rodolfo, Curator of 17th- and 18th-Century Art and Laura Baldelli, master restorer of the Laboratory for the Restoration of Paintings and Wooden Materials of the Vatican Museums.