Vatican Museums

On 1 December 2010, sixty models of watercraft from all over the world temporarily left their official spaces in the Ethnological Museum in order to be displayed along the Spiral Ramp of the Vatican Museums.

Visitors who choose to access the exhibition halls on foot – without using the escalators – are still able to begin their itinerary by admiring a rare selection of boats in miniature from all continents, accompanied by interesting photographic documentation produced by missionaries at the beginning of the 1900s.

The intention of this exhibition project, as declared by Professor Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums, is to “represent the civilisations of mankind, demonstrating the historic care, curiosity and respect of the Catholic Universe with regard to extra-European cultures, and to offer an emblem of the Church of Rome, that is the barque of Peter in its journey towards the salvation of each and all”.

Starting with the Ivukapi pirogue, a rare watercraft from the Solomon Islands, the journey unfolds by way of two sail boats, evidence of the encounter between West and East in a world without borders; an elaborate English vessel, which shuttled between England and Australia, and, by its side, a Japanese sailboat. These are followed by a broad range of Asian models that clearly illustrate the different types and functions for which the watercraft were used. Of particular interest is the long tapered canoe of the Thai rulers. Oceania is represented not only by its pirogues or dugouts and dovetail sailboats, but also by a special canoe from the Solomon Islands with an bird-shaped prow recalling the great Ivukapi pirogue.

Along the way we encounter canoes made of bark and the pirogue representing the populations and cultures of the vast territories of the Americas. The raft of the Mosethenes with two rudders shows, for example, the great ability of populations who have to navigate in tumultuous, rich and rapid waterways, while the Alakuf watercraft is evidence of the courage of a people that has to face the hostile climate of the Tierra del Fuego.

At the end of the itinerary, after the African vessels, the reader is greeted by the breathtaking view of the Dome of St. Peter’s and the promise of a new voyage of discovery in the Pope’s Museums.
The exhibition was conceived by Fr. Nicola Mapelli, curator of the Ethnological Department of the Vatican Museums, and realised by the architect Piero Castri.