Vatican Museums looking to attract Russian sponsors

VATICAN, March 24. /TASS/ Vatican Museums are interested in attracting Russian philanthropists to finance major restoration projects, said Director of Vatican Museums Barbara Yatta in an interview with TASS correspondent. She went on to explain that regular conservation and preservation works, including those in the Sistine Chapel with paintings by Michelangelo, are paid for by the Vatican. "When it comes to major restoration works, the Vatican Museum has a support group called Patrons of the Arts, which is divided into regional categories for different parts of the world, and we turn to them for sponsorship in implementing a particular project," Yatta said. "We have a New York group, a Hong Kong group, a European group. By the way, there is no Russian group among them yet. That would be great if we got a Russian group on our team. TASS can make our invitation known," she noted, adding that the philanthropic sponsorship system has been in place for 35 years. The Vatican conducted a series of large restoration works in 2016, including Raphael's Stants, candelabra galleries and geographical maps. The recent Vatican exhibit at the Tretyakov Gallery was sponsored in part by the Alisher Usmanov Foundation for Art, Science and Sport. "I won’t even tell you the insurance cost, because those numbers are frightening. When we hold exhibits at that level, we always try to find sponsors, because the museum can’t independently finance projects like that," the museum director explained. Read more