Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Light switch in the papal apartment...


Whenever a new Pope is elected a quick renovation of the papal apartments is carried out. In 1963 the Archbishop of Milan was elected and so he hired Milanese designers to fit the apartment to his tastes.
It was then that the lovely, vividly red crimson damask came off the walls and in its place they put up this more "humble" looking brown (which never matched the Baroque ceilings or floors). Forty years later Pope John Paul II had the brown taken down and new damask put up, albeit this time a lovely white with the pattern of festoons and tiara with keys.
So now that the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican and the Papal Summer Villa at Castel Gandolfo are done, now someone just needs to remind them that now they have to save the walls of the Lateran Palace from this same (brown!) wall-covering!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the brown felt must be ripped off and burnt as soon as possible! Maybe red damask for the Palazzo Laterano? I think it would look very dignified.

Unknown said...

Hello!
Wonderful site! There is some awesome wall paper in the Popes Study, white with vatican seals all over it. Any chance you would know anyone who could tell me more about it or even where to find it! I want to buy some BAD!!!!Greg Snyder