Call it the Catholic 20th century in pictures.
More than seven
million photographs in the Vatican archives — including historic and
intimate shots from every pontificate back to Pope Pius XII — are slated
for a hi-tech makeover.
The Vatican announced that it has begun the process of translating
the photo archives of its daily newspaper L'Osservatore Romano from
negatives and prints to digital images.
In a press conference, the head of the Vatican’s photography
department, Father Giuseppe Colombara, said the project would be
spearheaded by Solegenia Group, an Italian hi-tech company.
The group has its work cut out for it.
Many of the negatives and
prints have yellowed and degraded over the years.
Restoration in many
instances will require painstaking work by hand, with experts forced to
review individual frames.
The project will take at least five years and may cost an estimated $3-4 million.
Nearly 80 percent of the photos are in color, with the remainder in
black and white.
The archives cover seven pontificates, beginning with
the photos taken by Francesco Giordani, a Rome-based photographer who
began shooting for the Vatican in the 1930s.
Among the extraordinary material in the collection are shots of Pope
Pius XII visiting the bombed-out San Lorenzo neighborhood just after it
had been shelled by the Nazis in 1943.
By far the most photos are of Pope John Paul II.
In addition to a
reign of more than 25 years, Pope John Paul was said to have given the
Vatican photographer unprecedented access to record informal and private
moments with the Pope — including his daily Masses celebrated in the
papal apartment.
The Rome press conference used as its backdrop one such memorable
photo — the Pope’s famous meeting with his would-be assassin, Ali Agca,
in a Rome prison cell.
SIC: CNA/INT'L