A man looks at a scroll of the Trial of the Templars of France as the sections of the Vatican Secret Archive go on display
The papal order in which Martin Luther was excommunicated and a letter by England’s King Henry VIII asking for an annulment of his first marriage are among 100 items from the Vatican Secret Archives to go on display overnight in Rome.
Titled “Lux in Arcana (Light in the Secret) – The Vatican Secret Archives Reveals Itself,” the exhibition is being held at the city’s Capitoline Museums.
It contains manuscripts, parchments and registers which are usually only viewed by scholars who have obtained special permission from the Vatican.
The signature of Galileo Galilei is seen on a document displayed as part of the exhibition
The exhibition includes written exchanges between a long succession of popes and various world leaders and famous historical figures, including Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo, French Enlightenment author Voltaire and US President Abraham Lincoln.
Other documents on display are related to the separate heresy trials against astronomer Galileo Galilei and the warrior priests of the Knights Templar.
A visitor looks at Copernico’s letter of plea to Pope Paul III
The exhibition is scheduled to run until September.
The Vatican Secret Archives, a collection spanning more than 1000 years, are stored in climate controlled chambers in Vatican City.
A purple parchment written in gold, the privilegium granted by Otto I
A letter on silk from the Grand Empress Dowager Helena Wang (the “honorary mother” of the Yongli Emperor) to the Pope with a request for help, dated Nov. 4, 1650
Interest in the archives has increased in recent years among the general public after they formed one of the key settings of US author Dan Brown’s international bestselling novel, Angels and Demons, which spawned a Hollywood film of the same name.
The book deals with a fictional conspiracy by a secret order, the Illuminati, to destroy the Vatican.
