Presentation of the volume "The Collections of the Profane Museum, I"

The transfer of the collections of the Museums of the Vatican Apostolic Library to the Vatican Museums, in accordance with the Rescriptum ex Audientia of Pope John Paul II, led to the creation of the Department of Decorative Arts on 1 July 2003.

Since then, the curator, Guido Cornini, his staff and the entire Museum team have been engaged in a series of scientific and conservation initiatives aimed at revitalising these diverse collections, which had been housed in the Apostolic Library for centuries.

Diagnostic studies, restoration work, numerous studies, new displays and various exhibitions have been launched. About ten years later, on 1 October 2013, the reorganisation of the rich and varied collections of the Secular Museum, founded in 1761 by a Cedula motu proprio by Clement XIII, was inaugurated. The museum was intended to house 'profane' antiquities that could not find a place in the Christian museum.

The initial collection consisted mainly of items from the rich Carpegna collection, relating to sumptuary art anddomestic instruments (cameos, ivories, rock crystals and small bronzes). Over time, until around the 1940s, works and artefacts from other ancient collections, from excavations carried out in the Vatican State, from other archaeological horizons (the Near East, South American civilisations) and post-Classical art objects were added.

The 2013 exhibition, curated by Cornini and Claudia Lega for the scientific aspects, sought to highlight the "Cabinet of Antiquities" in the Profane Museum Hall and the historical distribution of the artefacts, as well as the formation of the collections.

The first inventory of the Profane Museum provided the basis for identifying the objects to be placed in Valadier's four display cases.

The large number of remaining objects from the "Profane" collection found a home in the four sections of the Clementine Gallery, organised according to topographical and thematic criteria. The guidelines of the exhibition aim to illustrate the evolution of the history of the excavations, the measures taken to protect the archaeological heritage and the broadening of the horizons of archaeological research under the various pontificates. The study of the individual works in preparation for the exhibition showed that the majority of the "secular" collection was completely unknown and unpublished in the scientific literature. There was therefore an immediate need to provide the Museum with an in-depth tool for knowledge and scientific research.

On 5 May 2014, the late Guido Cornini and his assistant Claudia Lega presented the editorial programme for the Catalogue of the Secular Museum Collections to the Directorate of the Vatican Museums. The catalogue is divided into several volumes on different themes, ranging from pre-Roman to pre-Columbian artefacts.

The arrival of Luca Pesante in the Department bodes well for the continuation of this programme of valorisation and dissemination of this important heritage in the coming years, together with Claudia Lega. The scientific study of the 1,300 or so movable works and the 430 in the doors of the Secular Museum's showcases has, in recent years, involved numerous and varied experts: Maria Gilda Benedettini, Elisa Cella, Maria Cristina Leotta, Antonella Natali, Maria Stella Pacetti, Fabrizio Santi, Marina Sclafani, Alessandro Naso and Leonardo di Blasi. A total of 193 objects have been studied, most of which have never been seen before. They come from Italy and the Mediterranean and date from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age and the end of the 3rd century BC. The production of all the volumes of the Catalogue (those in preparation and those published here) has also involved the active collaboration of many professionals from the Vatican Museums (restorers, the Department for Applied Scientific Research on the Cultural Heritage, the Photographic Laboratory, the Custodial Corps, the Secretariats, the Image and Rights Office, etc., and, of course, the Editorial Office).

The information recorded in the inventory cards of the General Inventory and the documents preserved in the Historical Archives have also been of essential assistance. In particular, since 2000, the work of the restorers of the Metal and Ceramics Restoration Laboratory and the Stone Materials Restoration Laboratory, who have carried out conservation work on the artefacts in close collaboration with the Department of Applied Scientific Research for Cultural Heritage, which has carried out the necessary analyses, has contributed to a deeper understanding of the processing and production phases of the works being restored.

The Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums played a very important role, as their contributions made it possible to carry out many of these conservation interventions (in particular for the objects included in this volume): Patrons of Illinois, Chapter of Houston, Texas, and Patrons of Michigan, Chapter of California). The volume, the result of a synergetic and constructive team effort, is therefore rich in important new discoveries and elements of great interest. It represents the first milestone in a major scientific project aimed at making available to scholars the rich heritage of the collection of the Secular Museum, one of the many collections that make up the rich heritage of the Vatican Museums.

I am grateful to the Editorial Office, in the person of its Director Giuseppe Mazza, to Cristina D'Andrea for her work on the revision, and to Alessandra Murri for the graphic design and layout. Finally, I would like to thank Claudia Lega, who has worked for years on these materials and on this project, the results of which are truly remarkable, given her extensive expertise in the field, and which everyone will be able to see in this volume.

BARBARA JATTA - Director of the Vatican Museums