For this exhibition, the Library lent the following man:
Vat.ebr.392 ; Vat.ar.319 ; Vat.ar.761 ; Vat.gr.211 ; Ott.lat.1902 ; Vat.gr.681 ; Vat.ebr.357 ; Vat.lat.4071 ; Ross.1033 ; Vat.lat.4606 ; Vat.turc.73

Organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale was held at the Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport, an architectural landmark specifically designed to accommodate the vast numbers of pilgrims traveling to Mecca. The site holds profound significance for Muslims worldwide, welcoming millions of travelers each year undertaking the sacred pilgrimages of Hajj and Umrah.
This unique cultural event is dedicated to Islamic civilization in both its artistic and scientific expressions and serves as a platform for encounter, dialogue, and creative exchange. The Biennale celebrates and promotes the diversity of Islamic artistic traditions across the globe, fostering mutual understanding and collaboration among cultures while creating a bridge between past, present, and future.
As stated by the Rev. Msgr. Mauro Mantovani, Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library:
“On this occasion, our Institution made available a number of works of exceptional cultural, historical, and symbolic value from its collections, contributing to the beauty and distinctiveness of this exhibition. From the earliest stages of human history, the concept of number, from the simplest considerations of quantity and relationships between things to the most complex mathematical and computational systems and contemporary digital technologies, has accompanied humanity's journey and has brought into dialogue, creating bridges and connections, people, cultures, societies, and philosophical and religious worldviews.”

https://www.vaticannews.va/it/mondo/news/2025-01/biennale-jeddah-arti-islamiche-cultura-arte-turismo-vision-2030.html https://biennale.org.sa/en/biennales/islamic-arts-biennale/islamic-arts-biennale-2025

The Vatican Apostolic Library participated in the exhibition by lending the following manuscripts
Barb.lat.2154.pt.B,f.18r. (Mensis Martius) ; Barb.lat.2154.pt.B,f.19r. (Mensis Augustus) ; Barb.lat.2154.pt.B,f.21r. (Mensis October) ; Barb.lat.2154.pt.B,f.23r. (Mensis December).

The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna houses some of the most remarkable Renaissance paintings depicting the cycles of the seasons and months, including celebrated works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
While the roots of these representations extend back to Antiquity, it was only during the sixteenth century that such compositions achieved widespread prominence throughout Europe, attracting not only rulers and aristocrats but also patrons from emerging social groups. Drawing upon a rich and complex tradition, these paintings frequently combine multiple iconographic strands: zodiacal signs, planets associated with the gods of classical mythology, and the agricultural traditions of the annual cycle inherited from both ancient and medieval popular culture.
The representation of naturalia, which became increasingly prominent during the second half of the sixteenth century and was closely linked to the emergence of the Scientific Revolution, constitutes a key element of Renaissance visual culture. Leonardo da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer were among the pioneers of this development. Their creations, simultaneously faithful to observation and deeply poetic, inspired numerous followers and imitators.

https://www.khm.at/en/exhibitions/arcimboldo-bassano-bruegel

For the occasion, the Vatican Apostolic Library lent
Vat.lat.3738,(Codice Rios) ; Barb.or.152 (Letters from the Christian Communities of Japan to Pope Paul V, seventeenth century) ; Vat.lat.14166,(Carlo Maratti, Portrait of a Siamese Ambassador, 1688) ; Barb.or.150 (Matteo Ricci's six-panel world map).

Organized by the Scuderie del Quirinale, The World in Rome takes as its historical point of departure the diplomatic vision of Pope Paul V Borghese, memorably represented in Guido Reni's fresco in the Sala Regia of the Quirinal Palace, depicting ambassadors to Rome from non-European kingdoms. The project reflects the Pope's explicit intention of positioning Rome and papal policies at the center of a complex network of global relations.
The exhibition represents the first public undertaking dedicated to exploring the relationship between Rome and the wider world during the seventeenth century. By focusing on one of the principal centers of the Western artistic canon while revealing its multicultural dimensions, diplomatic connections to geographically and spiritually distant regions, and visual narratives shaped by transcultural exchange, the exhibition offers visitors a renewed perspective and provides an important opportunity for historiographical engagement with the now well-established field of Global Art History.

https://www.gbopera.it/2025/03/roma-scuderie-del-quirinale-barocco-globale-il-mondo-a-roma-nel-secolo-di-bernini-dal-04-aprile-al-13-luglio-2025/ https://scuderiequirinale.it/exhibition/barocco-globale-il-mondo-a-roma-nel-secolo-del-bernini/

The Vatican Apostolic Library lent the following works:
Vat.lat.973 (Juan de Torquemada, Meditationes…supra Minerva, 1463); Vat.lat.1812 (Master of Nicholas V, Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica in the translation of Poggio Bracciolini, c. 1450); Vat.lat.961 (Lorenzo da Pisa, Dialogus Humilitatis ad Nicolaum Papam Quintum); Chig.M.VII.149 (Descriptio Urbis Romae)

Held in the magnificent setting of Palazzo Strozzi, the exhibition Angelico aims to highlight not only Fra Angelico's full engagement with the innovative artistic language that emerged in Florence during the fifteenth century, but also the leading role he played in its development.
Visitors are guided through the artist's principal fresco cycles, including the Crucifixion in the cloister, the monumental and complex Crucifixion in the Chapter House, and the Annunciation. Within the Library, five display cases are devoted to illuminated manuscripts by Fra Angelico, members of his circle, and his predecessors, while an additional five cases present Greek and Latin manuscripts that were part of the Library's collections during his lifetime, thereby illustrating the humanistic milieu in which the artist operated.

https://www.palazzostrozzi.org/mostra/angelico/ https://www.raicultura.it/arte/articoli/2025/09/Beato-Angelico-5067d3a4-7510-4e4f-a1d7-7dcdfa3df2dd.html

In recognition of the long-standing and fruitful scholarly collaboration between the two institutions, the Vatican Apostolic Library lent the following exceptionally valuable manuscripts:
Chig.C.IV.111 ; Chig.D.IV.54 ; Chig.D.IV.55 ; Reg.lat.165

Organized by the Library of the Accademia dei Lincei, this exhibition aims to highlight the extensive production of Books of Hours created in Italy and other regions of Europe between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a body of material that remains relatively little known and has never before been the subject of a monographic exhibition.
Through the display of more than fifty manuscripts representative of the principal centers of production throughout the Italian peninsula, dating from the early fourteenth century to the first half of the sixteenth century and selected primarily from Italy's State libraries, the exhibition provides a comprehensive overview of these remarkable works. Although often overlooked, these manuscripts are of exceptional importance for the study of devotional practices and collecting traditions. The exhibition also features splendid illuminated manuscripts from major European artistic centers, many of them commissioned by highly distinguished patrons.
These loans underscore the Library's continuing commitment to supporting major international research and exhibition projects while fostering scholarly exchange and cultural dialogue on a global scale.

https://www.lincei.it/it/manifestazioni/il-tempo-della-devozione-mostra https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2015305655980924 https://www.rainews.it/tgr/lazio/video/2026/01/il-tempo-della-devozione-in-mostra-i-libri-dore-italiani-tra-medioevo-e-rinascimento-0b9fc7de-6099-434e-a711-76d72134d0bb.html

Loaned work: Vat.lat.4992
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.4922

This brief yet significant exhibition, conceived in synergy with the Vatican Museums, celebrates the donation of the "Tablecloth of Forgiveness" to the Holy Father by the Reggio Ricama Association. The tablecloth symbolizes the forgiveness granted by Gregory VII to Henry IV at Canossa in January 1077. Its title is an invitation for humanity, finally reconciled, to sit together around a single fraternal table. The precious tablecloth is made using Matildic embroidery (ars canusina), a needle-painting technique typical of Reggio Emilia. It was invented in 1932 by Maria Bertolani del Rio as a therapeutic application at the psychiatric institute of Reggio Emilia. The decorative motifs are derived from the Vita Mathildis (1115–1116), a manuscript now preserved at the Vatican Library, produced in Reggio Emilia and displayed for the occasion.

Loaned works:
Reg.lat.2048, f.129v
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Reg.lat.2048
Arch.Cap.S.Pietro, B,87
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Arch.Cap.S.Pietro.B.87

This exhibition explores the compelling interplay between Byzantine influences and modern expressive trends on the cusp of transformative innovations by Cimabue and Giotto at the end of the century. It focuses on the Master of St. Francis, aiming to contextualize and understand the roots of this extraordinary artist. Most of the artist's works, scattered across museums worldwide, are displayed, including a climatized reconstruction of the surviving section of the opistographic altarpiece from the altar of St. Francis al Prato.

<Loaned works:16 medals dedicated to the Pontificate of Paul VI.
The exhibition, organized by the Diocesan Museum of Brescia, is entirely dedicated to Pope St. Paul VI. It aims to celebrate the Brescian pontiff, who was deeply appreciative of artistic creations, by showcasing a variety of works produced by numerous contemporary artists

https://museodiocesano.brescia.it/mostre-ed-eventi/artisti-per-il-pontificato-di-san-paolo-vi/

Loaned works:
Facs.Vat.lat.3868;
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.3868
Ott.lat.2005
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Ott.lat.2005

The vital force of theatrical performances, their popularity, and the sometimes challenging lives of the actors and other major protagonists of the "ludi" in Rome are all brought to life in this exhibition. It aims to consciously go "beyond" the stage, offering a "dramatic" approach in a philological sense: a vivid reconstruction in which the protagonists of ancient performances—through specially created multimedia interventions—engage the audience by narrating not only the stories they told and interpreted but also their roles as actors in a society both so similar to and yet so different from our own.The journey seeks to immerse visitors in the atmosphere experienced in the grandstands of Rome's great theaters, which reflected—segregated by social classes—the social and gender hierarchies of Republican and Imperial Rome. The narrative begins with the Greek, Sicilian, Magna Graecian, Etruscan, and Italic roots of Roman theater, its religious origins in the "ludus," and its early wooden stages, leading to the splendor of the frons scenae of the great theaters designed for tens of thousands of spectators. These architectural marvels, akin to forums or temples, became defining features of the forma urbis of the empire.This journey spans centuries—focusing particularly on the Augustan age—and emphasizes direct audience engagement as its strengt

Loaned works:
Vat.lat.3211, f.XXIIIr e f.XLv.-XXXIXr
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.3211
Vat.lat.11539.
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.11539

The exhibition explores the last three decades of Michelangelo's life, analyzing the projects he worked on during this period, as he faced the challenges of aging. Michelangelo is presented to visitors as a human being, with an emphasis on his relationships with friends, assistants, and family, while also acknowledging his profound and enduring faith.The first section delves into Michelangelo's work immediately after his return to Rome in 1534, focusing (through preparatory drawings) on his late masterpiece, The Last Judgment, on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. The second section examines his relationship with the poet Vittoria Colonna. The third section begins with his powerful late proposals for the Pauline Chapel and then considers a wide range of compositions that were translated into paintings by carefully selected colleagues and assistants. This section highlights the recently restored Epiphany cartoon from the British Museum, displayed alongside preparatory drawings of various subjects and related paintings by artists such as Daniele da Volterra, Ascanio Condivi, and Marcello Venusti.The exhibition culminates with Michelangelo’s deeply personal late drawings of the crucifixion, in which he explored various moving and poignant interpretations of the them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSIAde47pXQ

Loaned works:
Vat.lat.1960;
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.1960
Borg.cart.naut.V.

Before the discovery of the New World, Geography was closely intertwined with History. The first maps appeared in literary and chronicle works to illustrate the locations where the narrated events took place. For this reason, such representations were often accompanied by dense figures and captions, forming an inseparable framework of the depiction of lands and seas. Following the Ptolemaic tradition, from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, these representations became increasingly precise and accurate, culminating in the cartographic masterpiece of this period: Fra Mauro's Map (1460). The exhibition brings together, for the first time, true treasures of cartography, never before displayed side by side, in a genuine journey through the Ancient World. It is organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture–Marciana National Library in Venice and the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The event is spread across two venues: the Abbey of San Gregorio (curated by the Saudi Ministry) and the Sale dei Ridotti dei Procuratori at the Marciana National Library. The exhibition is part of the Celebrations for the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo's death.

Loaned works:
Facs. Borg.mess.1
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Borg.mess.1
Mt.Rom.Imp.Augustus.4, Mt.Gr.Nummi.
Alexandrini.790.
https://www.instagram.com/lacma/reel/DBM239ihzUb/

The scientific framework of this ambitious exhibition aims to explore the history of diverse cosmologies from around the world, spanning from the Neolithic period to the present day. It examines how these cosmologies have evolved over the centuries across various cultures and regions, culminating in an exploration of contemporary approaches to the study of cosmology.

Loaned works:
Facs.Vat.lat.3868
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.3868
Pal.lat.909
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Pal.lat.909

A hallmark of the major exhibitions at the Diocesan Museum of Paderborn is their ability to initiate new research starting from a regional focal point and, through this research, expand the perspective to encompass a broader European view. This approach will also be applied to the exhibition, Corvey and the Legacy of Antiquity.Beginning with the heritage of the Carolingian Abbey of Corvey—which, since the 9th century, became one of the most significant intellectual hubs in the easternmost region of the Carolingian Empire and home to a notable scriptorium, and whose designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site will mark its 10th anniversary in 2024—the exhibition addresses the transmission of knowledge and classical culture to territories north of the Alps during the Carolingian era and the centuries that followed.

https://dioezesanmuseum-paderborn.de/corvey-und-das-erbe-der-antike/

Loaned works:
Ashby.Disegni.147

The exhibition project is entirely dedicated to Guercino’s activity in Rome and aims to reconstruct the aesthetic atmosphere that marked the arrival of the Ludovisi family in the city. This period saw the entrance and resounding success of Guercino, who played a pivotal role in introducing a new vibrancy to painting. For the first time, the Ludovisi collection is reassembled in its dynamic interplay of ancient elements and nature, sculpture and painting, highlighting the dialogue between these art forms and the influences this interaction generated in Rome during the 1620s.

https://www.vaticannews.va/it/mondo/news/2024-11/mostra-scuderie-del-quirinale-arte-roma-guercino-era-ludovisi.html

Loaned works:
Ott.lat.2207
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Ott.lat.2207

This exhibition, organized as part of the celebrations for the centenary of Marco Polo, aims to highlight the exchange of heritage between East and West made possible by Marco Polo’s journeys and The Travels of Marco Polo. The exhibition will cover all sections and themes addressed in the related conference, with detailed maps of Marco Polo’s travels, images of the cities and places described in The Travels, as well as illuminated manuscripts. Featured items include codices and incunabula of great textual and iconographic significance. Additionally, film clips and documentaries will form the backbone of the multimedia section

Loaned works:
Stamp.Ross.6505; Stamp.Ross.6825; Stamp.Cappon.II.93. Stamp.Cappon.II.94.

Marking the 450th anniversary of Vasari’s death, this exhibition showcases the artist’s brilliance. It provides visitors with the interpretive tools necessary to understand the cryptic language of symbols and allegories—a hallmark of humanist culture, often expressed through erudite and mysterious conceptualism. Giorgio Vasari was undoubtedly the foremost figure of this phenomenon, so much so that his artistic workshop has been described as "the factory of allegory."

https://fondazionecrfirenze.it/la-grande-mostra-internazionele-vasari-il-teatro-delle-virtu-ad-arezzo/

Loaned works:
Chig.I.VII.262
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Chig.I.VII.262
Vat.lat.5256
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.lat.5256
Vat.sir.653
https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.sir.653
Chig.M.VI.140;

This exceptional exhibition seeks to illustrate the cosmopolitan atmosphere of China in the 13th and 14th centuries. During this period, China served as a hub of diverse cultures and knowledge exchange. Western writers like Marco Polo found direct inspiration and cultural enrichment, recognizing the magnificence of Chinese civilization. The exhibition follows the narrative of Marco Polo's The Travels, focusing on its most significant passages. Visitors are invited to embark on a journey across the known world, from the Yuan Dynasty’s capital, Dadu—Marco Polo's Khanbaligh (City of the Khan)—to Venice, Europe’s most cosmopolitan city of the 13th and 14th centuries, passing through Quanzhou, China’s international trading hub from the 10th to 14th centuries.

https://iicshanghai.esteri.it/it/gli_eventi/calendario/mostra-wonders-of-the-world-china-and-beyond-in-the-eyes-of-marco-polo/