Downloads of the 2024 film have surged since the death of Pope Francis—but in the 16th and 17th century, it was etchings that drove public fascination with the historic process

For over 600 years carpets from Turkey and Iran have been used in Catholic ceremony and religious paintings by artists, including Andrea del Verrochio, to indicate a carefully defined, sacred space

Antonio Paolucci discusses the role of the Vatican's museums as custodians of sacred and profane art after the city state makes its underground necropolis accessible during Francis's first year as spiritual leader of the world's catholics