The Vatican formally announced last night what’s being billed as a “once in a lifetime” exhibition to take place at the Victorian and Albert Museum in London.
The display of Raphael’s cartoons and tapestries for the Sistine Chapel, an initiative of Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, will be timed to coincide with Benedict XVI’s state visit to Britain in September.
The exhibition will run from September 8 to October 17, and be inaugurated by the archbishop on September 6.
Depicting the Acts of St Peter and St Paul, the tapestries were originally designed for the Sistine Chapel almost 500 years ago. Raphael was commissioned by Pope Leo X to design them, they were woven in Brussels and then sent to Rome for display.
