Heads up, art and culture enthusiasts: There’s now a smartphone app that can teach you about the Holy See’s works.
The Washington Post reports that the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums has released a free English language app called “Patrum” to showcase a wide range of works from the Vatican Museums. Each work has a brief description, along with other articles and app users can join in the conversation via comments and chat sections.
Users can personalize their own profiles by picking out their favorite Vatican works, and connect with others who like the same piece.
The creators of Patrum say the app’s purpose is not to provide virtual tours of the Vatican museums, but to foster greater knowledge and appreciation of individual works.
Additionally, the app is a new way to encourage art lovers and patrons to help fund restoration. Fundraising goals for specific restoration projects are indicated rght beside the images and descriptions of the pieces to solicit support and make it easy to do. If you want to help with the vestments of Pope Clement VII, for example, you can donate towards the overall cost of that, which is listed at $191,750.
And today we celebrate...