In the revered halls of the Vatican Museums, a notable addition has taken center stage – the Boat of Peter. Pope Francis blessed this precious artefact, gifted on 15 March 2023 by the esteemed Aponte family, renowned shipowners. A meticulous creation by the skilled Aprea family, master shipbuilders from the Sorrento Peninsula, in collaboration with the International Diplomatic Institute, this handcrafted vessel is a faithful reproduction of the ancient “Navicella of Peter,” discovered in 1986 at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee and now held in the Yigal Allon Museum of Ginosar, Galilee.
Since Tuesday, 10 October, this majestic 9-meter-long sailboat, with a width of 2 meters, has found its permanent home at the entrance of the Vatican Museums, gracefully nestled at the base of the modern spiraling ramp known as Via del Mare – a permanent exhibition route featuring models of boats from around the world. The Boat of Peter will serve as a symbol of profound spirituality, welcoming pilgrims and tourists embarking on their captivating journey through the treasures of the Vatican Museums, often fondly referred to as the “House for All,” a term dear to Pope Francis.
The boat is a meticulous reproduction of an ancient vessel discovered on the shores of the Sea of Galilee in 1986, revealed when water levels suddenly dropped. Safely preserved at the Yigal Allon Center of the Ginosar Museum in Galilee, this well-preserved relic, thanks to the mud covering its wooden hull structures, has been carbon-dated to the second half of the 1st century AD. Measuring 8.8 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width, with a mast of 8 meters, this boat most likely dates back to the time of Jesus’s preaching. Capable of accommodating four rowers and around a dozen individuals, it is plausible that the Sea of Galilee wreck belongs to the same type of boat described by the evangelists Luke (5:1-11) and Mark (4:35-41).
The Boat of Peter symbolises the Church, guided by its successors. Just as Jesus encouraged hesitant disciples to set sail, entrusting their faith in God, the Church, too, faces the challenges and tempests of the world to spread the message of the Gospel of Grace. An in-depth study of the original artefact, combined with insights from ancient naval iconography drawn from reliefs, graffiti, and mosaics in Ostia and Pompeii, allowed the Aprea family, a historical lineage of master shipbuilders from the Sorrento Peninsula, to craft this faithful model. The boat was generously gifted to Pope Francis in March 2023 by the Aponte family, owners of Nlg – Navigazione Libera del Golfo, with the collaboration and support of the International Diplomatic Institute of Rome.
The delicate operations of movement and installation were meticulously carried out behind closed doors, thanks to a sophisticated acrobatic construction intervention and the support of specialised firms. This endeavor was a joint effort involving the staff of the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage and the Directorate of Infrastructure and Services of the Vatican City State.
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