Belgium Chapter Visit

The 2019 Belgium Chapter visit commenced with a cocktail greeting on the roof terrace of the Minerva Hotel in the historic center of Rome. Overlooking the Pantheon and taking in fantastic views of the city’s many domes, the Belgium patrons were welcomed by Fr. Kevin Lixey, Sara Savoldello, Romina Cometti, and Annarita Imperio.

The following Monday morning, the Belgium patrons visited the Vatican Museums. Their first event was a presentation given by Dr. Alessandra Rodolfo, curator of 17th and 18th Century Art and Textiles, and Dr. Guy Devreux, head restorer of the Marble Laboratory, in the Museums’ conference room. The subject of this in-depth presentation was the restoration of the Giardino Quadrato, the section of the Vatican Gardens adopted by the Belgium Chapter in 2018. The presentation covered the various scientific methods used to restore the natural and stone aspects of the space, as well as the history of the gardens from the sixteenth century onwards. After the presentation, the patrons travelled to the Giardino Quadrato with restorers in order to see the restoration progress made on the space firsthand.

On Tuesday, the Belgium patrons had the rare and rather unique experience of touring the Vatican Bank. The tour was followed by a lunch in bank as well.

The Belgium patrons had requested special seating for the papal audience in St. Peter’s Square, which the group attended Wednesday morning despite the rain. After hearing the address of the Holy Father, the patrons had the opportunity to enter a Vatican chapel rarely accessed by the public: the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace. The Belgium patrons had the elaborately mosaiced walls of the Chapel explained to them by their Flemish, French, and Italian-speaking guide Blanche Bauchau.

On Thursday the Belgium Patrons visited the Paper and Marble restoration Laboratories, as well as the Scientific Research Laboratory. In each lab, restorers displayed their various methods and technologies employed to entreat a wide array of restoration issues on paperworks and ancient Roman statues and relief sculptures. That evening, the Belgium Patrons returned to the Museums for the exquisite opportunity of a private, after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, a cocktail under the stars in the treasure trove of the Octagonal Courtyard, and a gala dinner in the Gallery of Busts and Statues.

To conclude a week of art experiences, on Friday the Belgium Patrons travelled to Castel Gandolfo to view the beautiful Lake Albano, as well as receive an exclusive tour of this Apostolic Palace, the traditional summer residence of the Pope.

It is a joy for the Patrons of the Arts to host the Belgium Patrons for a week of unforgettable moments in some of the most stunning locations in Rome, and we look forward bringing the Chapter back next year.

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