The Chapter’s list of major accomplished restoration projects is long and diverse, including the Santa Rosa Necropoli, the Coriolanus Tapestry , the Early Renaissance panel paintings of Spinello Aretino’s Virgin and Child with a Goldfinch and Allegretto Nunzi’s Madonna with Saints, Egyptian sarcophagi and statues of the Bramante Courtyard, Etuscan Vases, and Drawings from St. Paul’s Basilica. Most recently, the Chapter has commited generously to the Bramante Courtyard restoration, and awaits the completion of their other current project adoption--the restoration of the fifteenth-century frescoes of the Room of the Liberal Arts in the Apostolic Palace, one of the apartments of Borgia Pope Alexander VI.

Preceded by a historic commitment to the mission of the Patrons of the Arts and an involvement in the Vatican Museum’s most major, current restoration projects, the Canada Chapter was warmly welcomed by the Patron’s Office staff for their biannual visit to Rome and the Holy See. Canada Chapter Leaders Tom and Debra Mauro, along with guide and professor Liz Lev, lead the patrons through a week of exclusive experiences in some of the most culturally-important sites the city and the Vatican have to offer. 

The week of the Canada Chapter visit commenced with a welcome dinner at the famous Mirabelle Royal Splendide Hotel, the restaurant’s top floor location and floor-to-ceiling windows offering spectacular views of Rome at night, particularly of the lit Basilica of Saint Peter’s. The next morning, the Canadians would have mass in this basilica, followed by a private visit to the Saint Peter’s dome lead by guide Jill Alexy. Later that day, the patrons would receive exclusive access to the Vatican Library and the Lapidarium Gallery in the Apostolic Palace. 

On Tuesday, the Canadian Patrons would arrive at the Vatican Museums, but rather than touring the galleries, they would descend into the restoration laboratories located below the art-viewing spaces. In the Painting and Wood and Marble Restoration Laboratories, the Canadians had the opportunity of hearing the  restorers discuss their various methods and technologies employed to entreat a wide array of restoration issues. During their visit, Canada Chapter Leaders Tom and Debra Mauro made the executive decision to adopt the restoration of the Christus Patiens Wooden Crucifix, which will be restored in the Painting and Wood restoration laboratory. More information about this major restoration can be found on the Patrons of the Arts website. 

The Tuesday was concluded with a visit to the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs, the structural and decorative entirety of which restored by the Patrons of the Arts, and the Lateran. Here, Mary Angela Schroth lectured on the importance of the site to Catholic pilgrims, and well as the iconography of the fresco cycles surrounding the stairs. The next morning, the group would once again meet with guide Jill Alexy and Dr. Pietro Zander to visit Michelangelo’s sculpture of the Pietà in Saint Peter’s Basilica, and proceed to the Papal Audience to hear Pope Francis address his congregation gathered in Saint Peter’s Square. Canadian patrons Al and Irene Hildebrandt received a bacio mano, a special opportunity to meet and shake hands with the Holy Father after the audience was concluded.  Later that day, the group would switch their centuries of artistic focus, visiting the MAXXI, Rome’s Museum of Contemporary Art designed by starchitect Zaha Hadid. 

On Thursday evening, the Canada Patrons would conclude their week of festivities with the exquisite opportunity of a private, after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, a cocktail under the stairs in the treasure trove of the Octagonal Courtyard, and a gala dinner in the Gallery of Busts and Statues. During this gala dinner, Canadian patrons Paul Brandt, a country singer hailing from Calgary, sang “Amazing Grace” to the accompaniment of his guitar and his wife Liz Brandt’s vocals. Tom and Debra Mauro then gifted the Patron’s Office staff with scarves as a thank you for their help in orchestrating a successful week of events. 

It is a joy and an honor  for the Patrons of the Arts to host the Canada Patrons, and we look forward to once again welcoming the Chapter to the Vatican soon.