EXPLORE | CLOSER LOOK
UNLOCKING THE VATICAN
EACH DAY, THE KEY KEEPER PROVIDES ACCESS TO THE HEALING BEAUTY FOUND IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST ART COLLECTIONS.
BY GULNAZ KHAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALBERTO BERNASCONI
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Head clavigero Gianni Crea is in charge of 2,797 keys that access 300 doors throughout the Vatican Museums.
GIANNI CREA IS intimately familiar with the contours of history. Almost every morning for the past decade, he’s unlocked the doors to the Vatican Museums. He’s witnessed the splendor of the Sistine Chapel at dawn, studied the shadows of Caravaggio, and admired the textures of ancient Egypt.
“Yes, I’m a key keeper, head key keeper, but I’m still a doorman that opens a museum,” says Crea, a devout Catholic. “But I open the doors to the history of art and the history of Christianity—and it’s the biggest and most beautiful history that exists in the world.”
His workday begins around 5 a.m. in a secure bunker that holds 2,797 keys. Crea and his team of 10 clavigeri navigate some 4.3 miles of passageways through the museums to reach 300 doors—many of them portals to vanished kingdoms and primordial gods.
“I know the smell that is waiting for me when I open the first door is the smell of history—the smell that men before us have breathed in,” Crea says. Surrounded by the steady beat of his own solitary footfalls, he often marvels that the ground beneath him is the same one that generations have walked, loved, and cried on.
The Vatican Museums have housed papal collections since the beginning of the 15th century, including tens of thousands of precious artworks and archaeological artifacts spanning prehistory to modern times. But Crea believes that none are as striking as Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, where 12,000 square feet of frescoes—including scenes from the Book of Genesis and over 300 figures—adorn the seat of the papal conclave. Crea recalls being overcome with emotion the first time he accompanied an older key keeper to open the chapel more than 20 years ago.
The figures are “so beautifully rendered in their details,” Crea says. “The movements, the twisting, the musculature.” He’s witnessed people of all faiths being moved by the chapel’s loveliness—something the church believes is increasingly vital in these turbulent times.
“In the difficult current context that the world is experiencing, in which sadness and distress sometimes seem to have the upper hand, [art] is more necessary than ever, because beauty is always a source of joy,” Pope Francis said during a visit with a Catholic art organization last year.
The burgeoning field of neuroaesthetics—which examines the biological basis for our emotional responses to art—supports this view. Research shows that engaging with art can activate the brain’s reward system, releasing chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Aesthetic experiences, like museum visits, are also associated with decreased loneliness, improved mood, and stress reduction. Some neuroscientists have even compared viewing art to the feeling of romantic love.
And in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic—which forced the Vatican Museums to close three times between 2020 and 2021—there’s a growing global movement to expand access to the arts as a pathway to well-being.
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“The real privilege is being able, every day, to walk through this, and each day learn something new,” says Crea.
A 2019 World Health Organization analysis of more than 3,000 studies revealed that artistic and cultural activities promote physical and psychological health, and the UN agency called on policymakers to strengthen public arts programming. In fall 2022, physicians at one of the largest hospitals in Brussels partnered with the city to launch a six-month pilot study examining the benefits of “museum prescriptions” as supplemental treatment for stress, burnout, and anxiety. It’s the first investigation of its kind in Europe and could have ripple effects across the continent.
Pope Francis has also long advocated for more inclusive access to art. “[The Vatican Museums] must open their doors to people from all over the world, as an instrument of dialogue between cultures and religions, a tool for peace,” he wrote in his 2015 publication La Mia Idea di Arte.
Crea suggests that the Vatican Gardens—where plants from all over the world bloom and flourish—embody this philosophy.
“Everyone can find something beautiful, something moving,” says Crea, who welcomes small groups of travelers to accompany him during his morning routine on select dates. “The Vatican Museums, in my opinion, should be visited because they give you an understanding of art and history regardless of your faith.”
Gulnaz Khan is a writer and editor covering the intersection of climate change, environment, and culture. Photographer Alberto Bernasconi is based in Milan. ■