Protecting and Preserving the cultural Patrimony of the Church
The Vatican Museums are one of the greatest repositories of art and culture in the entire world.
The Vatican Museums are one of the greatest repositories of art and culture in the entire world. With its origins firmly rooted in papal patronage, founded by Pope Julius II in 1506, it not only displays many of the greatest masterpieces of art but its rooms were the working studios of some of the world’s greatest artists, Michelangelo and Raphael to name but two.
The Museums contains over 70,000 works, a third of which are displayed in 54 galleries.
The Galileo Foundation works with the Museums and its fundraising arm, the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, identifying restoration projects. Our founder John McCaffrey has worked pro bono on projects for the Museums since 1995, establishing the UK chapter of the Patrons and raising much of the funding for the iconic Pauline Chapel restoration in the mid-2000s for which John was awarded a papal knighthood by Pope Benedict XVI.
More recently, the foundation adopted the Patrons’ restoration project of the papal telescope at The Papal Observatory in Castelgandolfo, the Pope’s summer palace outside Rome.
In the city of Rome itself, the Bambino Gesu ministers to the city’s poorer neighbourhoods and parishes through it’s ‘mobile care unit’.
In 2020 the foundation will be closely involved in the celebrations to mark the 500th anniversary since the death of Raphael in 1620. The Raphael Rooms in the Museums are famous throughout the world as some of arts greatest masterpieces.
To find out more about the Vatican Museums, please visit www.patrons.va.
