Featured Entertainment Stories
Sep 15, 2008 6:50 pm US/Central
Exhibit Of 'Vatican Splendors' Coming To Minn.
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
-
-
Thirty people work to unload the packing cases, which in turn contain the display cases for priceless objects.
CBS
St. Paul is where history, art and religion come together this month. The Historical Society will host "Vatican Splendors" starting Saturday, September 27.
It takes 10 trucks to move The Vatican Splendors exhibit from city to city. Thirty people work to unload the packing cases, which in turn contain the display cases for priceless objects.
"There are also Plexiglas tops that cover most of the objects, so the display case and the Plexiglas top each have their own cases," said Anne Kinsey with Evergreen Exhibitions. "The objects require very high security, they're valuable, priceless. You won't be seeing any of them today, because they are behind locked doors."
There are about 200 artifacts to be displayed at the history center, including a tiara that was given as a gift by Napoleon Bonaparte to Pope Pious, a Thangka, which is an Buddhist banner given by the Dalai Lama to Pope John Paul The Second and tools used by Michelangelo and documents that passed between him and the church.
"Some of the documents that transpired between him and the church are in the exhibit, as well as a pair of his tools, a pair of calipers that he would have used in St. Peter's Basilica," said Daniel Spoke with the History Center Museum.
In addition to tight security, the items go nowhere without a curator directly from Rome.
"The works on display are an example of the entire narrative of the Vatican, starting from Jesus Christ," said Monsignor Roberto Zagnoli through a translator.
When the exhibit is over in St. Paul, all the items will go back to Rome.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Best Celebrity Mustaches
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
