CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER

By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
A new show of rare and rarely seen items illustrates the history of the Vatican.
The show, "Saint Peter and The Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes" is on display through April 18 at the Cincinnati Museum Center. It's the show's only stop in the Midwest.
Jeffrey S. Wyatt, the curator of the show, said there are 391 items that range from documents to statues.
About 70 percent of those items have never been seen by the public, including many from the pope's private chapel, he said.
Items in the show include an early mosaic showing St. Peter, the first pope, and the Mandylion of Edessa, which may be the oldest known image of Jesus.
Vatican officials collected the items but left their presentation to Clear Channel Exhibitions, which employs Wyatt.
"They wanted to tell the story of the papacy, and they gave us an outline of what they proposed, but they gave us the liberty to organize the objects as we felt best to tell that story," Wyatt said.
Starting out
The show begins with the rediscovery in 1938 of St. Peter's remains.
"We used that archeological find of the century, that story, in the entry theater, to bring people back to the place were he was crucified," Wyatt said.
Visitors then go to a reproduction of the saint's tomb as well as the earliest objects in the show. The show then moves forward chronologically to modern popes.
The show also makes physical and spiritual connections.
"In the Vatican, in the Basilica of St. Peter, the altar itself is built directly over the tomb of St. Peter, so literally on his bones or upon his rock, the church is built," Wyatt said.
He referred to Matthew 16:18-19, in which Jesus tells St. Peter, "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
As the Vatican was built and remodeled, Wyatt said, "You literally have the church growing over the tomb." Arrangements must be made to visit the tomb in Rome, he added.
Popular item
The Mandylion of Edessa is arguably the most popular item in the show, the curator said. The painting of Christ's face is on linen attached to wood mounted in a gold and silver frame. It has been dated to the third to fifth century.
"The one thing that's neat, despite whatever you believe, [is that] if you look at the image and compare it with the Shroud of Turin and some of the other early imagery, they are all very old and they are all very consistent, which is fascinating," Wyatt said.
Many people who have seen the show in other parts of the country spent time looking at the painting and were moved, said Wyatt, with the thought of, "Here is the face of God."
The show also reproduces a portion of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as if the visitor is at Michelangelo's height, painting it. There are also architectural drawings and figure sketches from Michelangelo's family's museum, the Casa Buonarroti, in Florence, Italy.
Wyatt said the show tries to educate Catholics, other Christians and people of other faiths about one of the cornerstones of western civilization.
"What I was particularly moved by was the fact that from Jesus through Peter through Constantine through Charlemagne through Napoleon to today, how the history of the world had weaved through Rome and the Vatican," he said.
XFor more information, visit http://www.cincymuseum.org/vatican/SaintPeter & amp;theVatican.html.
wilkinson@vindy.com