The keys Holder of the Vatican Museum
39 images Created 4 May 2017
Imagine what it’s like to hold the key to the world’s finest art treasures.
Every day Gianni Crea arrives at work before most artlovers have lifted their head off the pillow. He is the first man inside the doors of the Vatican Museums.
He is the chief key keeper or ‘clavigero’ who holds the keys – nearly 3000 – to the rooms and corridors that are filled with stunning masterpieces by Michelangelo, Raphael, Perugino and more.
He and his team open and close 300 rooms every day and he has the rare opportunity to also open the doors to the Sistine Chapel, a museum highlight.
“This is an extraordinary job because it gives me and my colleagues the possibility to open the pope’s museums to all the visitors who come here from every corner of the world,” Crea says. “It is unique.”
More than six million people visit the Vatican Museums every year. What began in the early 16th century with a group of sculptures collected by Pope Julius II has grown into a vast collection of art and sculpture surrounded by architectural splendor.
Meanwhile behind the curtain teams and experts are dedicated to painstaken restoration and protection of the musuem vast collection. Large laboratories deals with paintings, statues and sculpures collected by the popes. Cutting edge technology is used to save some of the oldest items of the collection.
A journey in the backstage of what can be considered the most impressive art collection in the world
Every day Gianni Crea arrives at work before most artlovers have lifted their head off the pillow. He is the first man inside the doors of the Vatican Museums.
He is the chief key keeper or ‘clavigero’ who holds the keys – nearly 3000 – to the rooms and corridors that are filled with stunning masterpieces by Michelangelo, Raphael, Perugino and more.
He and his team open and close 300 rooms every day and he has the rare opportunity to also open the doors to the Sistine Chapel, a museum highlight.
“This is an extraordinary job because it gives me and my colleagues the possibility to open the pope’s museums to all the visitors who come here from every corner of the world,” Crea says. “It is unique.”
More than six million people visit the Vatican Museums every year. What began in the early 16th century with a group of sculptures collected by Pope Julius II has grown into a vast collection of art and sculpture surrounded by architectural splendor.
Meanwhile behind the curtain teams and experts are dedicated to painstaken restoration and protection of the musuem vast collection. Large laboratories deals with paintings, statues and sculpures collected by the popes. Cutting edge technology is used to save some of the oldest items of the collection.
A journey in the backstage of what can be considered the most impressive art collection in the world
