This year the pontifical academies awarded Giuseppina Cipriano, a student at Rome’s Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, for her doctoral thesis on «Mausoleums of the Exodus and Peace in the Necropolis of El-Bagawat: Reflections on the Christian Origins of Egypt.»
The 20,000-euro award was given Thursday at the annual session of the pontifical academies, whose theme was «The Martyrs and Their Monumental Memorials, Living Stones in the Making of Europe.»
The session, coordinated by the Pontifical Council for Culture, brings together the pontifical academies of St. Thomas Aquinas, of Theology, of Mary Immaculate, of Fine Arts in the Pantheon, of Archaeology, and of Devotion to Martyrs. It also includes the International Marian Pontifical Academy.
Sara Tamarri received the second prize, a gold medal of the pontificate, for her doctoral thesis on «Iconography of the Lion from Late Antiquity to Medieval Times.»
The award, considered the Holy See’s Nobel Prize in humanities, recognizes the work of young researchers.
