Milwaukee, Wis., May 31, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Officials at the Milwaukee Public Museum have been pleasantly surprised at the public’s reaction to a visiting Vatican exhibit on the history of the papacy. “Saint Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes” received more than 144,000 exceeding museum by expectations by almost 23,000 visitors, The Business Journal of Milwaukee reported.
The exhibition also ran longer than anticipated. It was scheduled to run from Feb. 4 to May 7 but, due to popular demand, it was extended to the end of May. Several weekends either sold-out or neared sold-out capacity and museum officials expect to have netted up to $400,000 for the exhibition.
Milwaukee was the exhibit’s third and final North American stop and only venue in the Midwest. It featured more than 300 historic Vatican objects, documents and art, tracing 2,000 years of Church leadership, from Saint Peter to Pope Benedict XVI. It included some never-before-seen artwork and historic pieces from the permanent collections of the Vatican Museums. The Vatican Museums are celebrating their 500th anniversary this year.
The exhibition was presented in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and was organized and circulated in conjunction with the Vatican.