A faithful copy of the boat from the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ, found in the Holy Land in 1991, was installed on October 10 at the entrance to the Pontifical Museums.
This is “Peter’s barque,” offered to the Sovereign Pontiff last March.
The Pope personally wanted it available for all to see.
“A boat symbol of our Church and of all of us,” is how the director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, describes the imposing reproduction of Peter's boat which is now permanently exhibited at the entrance to the Vatican Museums.
The object is placed at the base of the helical ramp, the Via del Mare – the Road of the Sea – along which various models of boats from all over the world and offered as exhibits.
Made by the Aprea family, marine carpenters from the Sorrento peninsula, this faithful copy of the ancient and original boat of St. Peter found in 1986 at the bottom of Lake Tiberias and today preserved at the Yigal Allon museum in Ginosar in Galilee, was offered to the Pope on March 15 by the Aponte family, owners of NLG-Navigazione Libera del Golfo shipbuilders, with the collaboration and support of the International Diplomatic Institute of Rome.
“It is a magnificent and symbolic object that Pope Francis wanted to share with as many people as possible,” continues Barbara Jatta. “It is therefore quite natural that we placed it at the entrance to the Pope's Museums, in a place where everyone could see it, but especially in a place which would symbolically represent the strong message it contains: the Via del Mare.”
It is a reproduction of a boat found on the shores of Lake Tiberias in 1986 during a sudden subsidence of the waters, well preserved thanks to the mud from the seabed which had covered it.
The arge sail boat likely dates from the time of Jesus's preaching.
The boat measures 8.8 meters long x 2.5 meters wide with an 8 meter mast, and was used for fishing. It was able to accommodate four rowers and a dozen people.
It is probably of the same type of boat of which is mentioned in the evangelical stories about the miraculous catch of fish and the calming of the storm.
“It’s the boat of boats,” continues the Italian art historian. “It speaks of our origins, it is a symbol of the Church, of what we are today. Peter's boat represents the difficulties we encounter in our daily lives, but also Jesus's invitation to trust God, addressed to Peter and the disciples, who were hesitant and doubtful about taking to the sea. It is a beautiful message.”
A short video published on the Vatican news site allows one to view the boat sailing on a body of water, and then its installation in the Vatican Museums.
The second illustration in this article shows the boat as it was when discovered in the mud of Lake Tiberias, near the village of Magdala, later dated as being from the first century AD.
Although this boat is perhaps not the one that belonged to St. Peter, it represents the type of boat used for fishing at that time, and therefore gives us a precise idea of the boat from which Christ calmed the storm.