VATICAN CITY.- His Holiness Pope Leo XIV inaugurated AQVA, the landmark exhibition of the Vatican Apostolic Library’s new five-year cycle, Catastrophe and Wonder (Catastrofe e Meraviglia). Marking a dynamic new chapter in the Library's centuries-long mission of preservation and public engagement, the ambitious multi-year initiative offers a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary exploration of the natural elements — framing them as mirrors to humanity’s deepest fears and highest hopes.
Conceived as an immersive journey through the environmental and human threats that have historically imperilled the written word — ranging from water and fire to light, insects, and human intervention — Catastrophe and Wonder invites visitors to look beyond fear to discover new avenues of interpretation and artistic creation. The very forces that threaten our collective memory are reimagined as universal allegories for the anxieties surrounding all that lies beyond human control.
The inaugural showcase, AQVA, examines the fundamental duality of water as both a life-giving force and a destructive power. The exhibition unfolds as an immersive experience that weaves together history, science, and contemporary languages, guiding visitors from an initial sense of threat toward a gradual reconciliation with the natural world — an issue that is more urgent than ever in the context of the global climate crisis facing our planet.
The experience opens with Diluvium, a monumental site-specific installation by acclaimed artist JR. Adorning the Library's 16th-century facade, the work serves as a striking visual meditation on the fragility of knowledge and memory. From there, visitors explore the rich intersections between the Vatican's centuries-old heritage, the marine world, and contemporary interventions by Bill Moran and Fulvio Pierangelini, culminating in the evocative Barberini Hall, transformed for the occasion into a space for quiet contemplation.
At the scientific and symbolic heart of the exhibition lies two extraordinary copies of Ippolito Salviani’s Aquatilium animalium historia (1557), a masterpiece uniting scientific inquiry, fine printmaking, and culinary culture.
“The AQVA exhibition provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the 470th anniversary of this landmark treatise on fish,” explains Don Giacomo Cardinali, Vice Prefect and Commissioner for Exhibition Activities. “Authored by the physician Ippolito Salviani, it was originally published in Rome in 1557 at the direct initiative and expense of the Vatican Library itself.”
Alongside Salviani's masterwork, a curated selection of manuscripts, printed books, engravings, and artefacts from the Vatican collections illustrates the timeless relationship between water and human knowledge — ranging from Apicius’s ancient culinary text De re coquinaria to the travel narratives of Giovanni Battista Ramusio, marine bestiaries, and aquatic numismatics.
“Believing that the wisest response to fear is to pause and confront it directly, we invited three extraordinarily creative minds to dialogue with our heritage,” Don Giacomo Cardinali adds. “In doing so, we have discovered unexpected horizons within the very elements that typically daunt us.”
JR presents two site-specific installations of profound visual and emotional weight, challenging our perceptions of the boundary between nature and culture.
“There is something almost mystical about books. These fragile objects contain the thoughts of the world; they carry voices, stories and knowledge across centuries. Their strength is immense, and so is their vulnerability: paper resists none of the elements. By bringing a wave into the Vatican Library, DILUVIUM and UNDAE confront this paradox. What can survive, and what do we choose to preserve?” said JR.
Bill Moran presents his Letterfishes series, transforming traditional typography into a captivating visual language. Moran constructs intricate marine creatures using a creative assemblage of metal type, numbers, and punctuation marks.
“The privilege of making work for the Vatican Library allowed me to unite the past with the present by pairing my family’s traditional printing equipment and vintage wood type to create new original LetterFish,” Moran recounts.
Fulvio Pierangelini explores the deep connection between water, cuisine, and memory through six original gastronomic narratives — written as culinary declarations of love for raw ingredients, crafted with reverence, expertise, and a touch of subtle irony.
“I am deeply honoured to contribute to this project and its accompanying agenda. In both, I share my own interpretation of the fish recipes discovered within a magnificent text preserved with infinite care and wisdom by this extraordinary library,” said Fulvio Pierangelini.
The exhibition journey concludes with a dedicated section highlighting the work of the Vatican Library’s Conservation and Restoration Laboratory. Here, water reveals its final paradox: while a primary cause of physical decay, it is also an indispensable tool for the preservation and restoration of paper and parchment.
Curated by Don Giacomo Cardinali, Simona De Crescenzo, Francesca Giannetto, and Delio Proverbio, AQVA is more than an exhibition; it is the opening chapter of a major cultural initiative connecting diverse disciplines, eras, and artistic sensibilities. It offers audiences a profound reflection on the fragile balance between catastrophe and wonder, while contributing meaningfully to a deeper awareness of our relationship with the natural world — an issue rendered all the more pressing by the critical moment we are living through.
AQVA will be open to the public from 25 September 2026 to 14 May 2027 on Fridays and Saturdays according to a specific visitor schedule. tesa Sanpaolo.
