The exhibition, entitled «St. Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes,» was previously displayed in Houston, Texas. It will also travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, and San Diego, California.
The collection includes 12 sections which illustrate and explain the 2,000 of the Catholic Church’s history.
The exhibition will be open to the public until Nov. 23. Among other important works is a replica of St. Peter’s tomb and the «Edessa Mandylion,» a linen image dating to the third century, which is considered the oldest known representation of Christ’s face.
Also on display will be a 14th-century Giotto mosaic, Michelangelo’s drawings and sketches for the Sistine Chapel, Pope Pius IX’s golden tiara of diamonds, emeralds and other precious stones, and a Buddhist thangka, an embroidered cloth in silk and pearls, a gift of the Dalai Lama to John Paul II.