Vatican City: In a groundbreaking move to preserve centuries of literary and spiritual heritage, the Vatican Library has signed a five-year agreement with the Colnaghi Foundation to restore and digitize over 80,000 priceless manuscripts. This ambitious initiative aims to safeguard fragile documents from further deterioration and to grant global digital access to rare and ancient texts that have long remained accessible only within the library’s walls.
The Vatican Library, renowned for its vast collection of over 1.6 million printed books and 82,000 manuscripts, holds some of the most exceptional cultural artifacts in human history, including a nearly complete copy of Cicero’s Republic and Botticelli’s illustrated version of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Many of these documents have been threatened by age-related decay, humidity, and ink degradation, prompting urgent action.
“We’re at a critical point — these manuscripts, made of organic materials, are breaking down,” said Candida Lodovica de Angelis Corvi of the Colnaghi Foundation. “Without immediate restoration, we risk losing irreplaceable pieces of our collective memory.”
As part of the agreement, state-of-the-art digitization technology from Factum — a subsidiary of the Colnaghi Group — will be employed. This innovative scanner not only captures high-resolution images but also detects underlying texts, faded details, and historical layers within the parchment, potentially revealing hidden writings or reused materials.
The project also involves an architectural renovation of the Vatican Library, to be executed by the renowned David Chipperfield Architects. The modernization effort will enhance the facility’s preservation capabilities and create an improved environment for both researchers and staff.
“This partnership reflects our unwavering commitment to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge,” said Monsignor Cesare Pasini, the library’s prefect emeritus. “We are deeply grateful to the Colnaghi Foundation for supporting several key initiatives.”
To celebrate the collaboration, a rare art exhibition titled Codex was inaugurated on May 26. The exhibit showcases 14 extraordinary Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces from private collections, many of which are rarely seen by the public. Highlights include Caravaggio’s Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, Michelangelo’s preparatory drawing for The Adoration of the Brazen Serpent, and Van Dyck’s moving St. Peter the Penitent.
Visitors must obtain special Vatican permits to attend the exhibition, which will close on June 2. Afterward, the artworks will return to their private collections across Europe.
This restoration and digitization effort is not merely a technical upgrade; it is a bridge across centuries, uniting the ancient and modern worlds in a shared mission to preserve and explore humanity’s spiritual and intellectual inheritance.