On Saturday, October 18, a dual exhibition opened at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo in celebration of the Jubilee Year 2025. The event features the exhibition “In Defense of the Pope: A Collection of Helmets from the 16th and 17th Centuries”, curated by Sandro Barbagallo in collaboration with Marco Iuffrida, along with the display of the celebrated tapestry designed by Raphael “The Conversion of Saint Paul.”

The exhibits are possible thanks to the collaboration between the Directorate of the Pontifical Villas and the Directorate of the Vatican Museums and Cultural Heritage.

“In Defense of the Pope” brings to public view for the first time, a collection of original helmets and defensive arms preserved in the Historical Collections of the Vatican Museums—authentic artifacts that tell the story of the Pope’s protection in the modern era. Visitors can closely observe morions, skullcaps, burgonets, horse helmets, and tasquettes—often never before displayed—belonging to the pontifical militias of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The exhibition route leads visitors on a journey through the history of papal defense, where art and power, devotion and military valor intertwine. Each artifact bears witness to the dedication of those who safeguarded the Pope and the territories of the Papal States during a period of religious tensions, conflicts, and political reforms. With an installation of great elegance, the exhibition invites reflection on the concept of protection in its many dimensions—physical, spiritual, and symbolic—as the safeguarding of a mission and a millennia-old legacy.

For the next six months, the Sala dei Papi will also host the magnificent Flemish tapestry “The Conversion of Saint Paul”, woven in wool and silver threads and coming from the Tapestry and Textile Department of the Vatican Museums, directed by Alessandra Rodolfo.

The work, part of the series dedicated to the Acts of the Apostles, is based on Raphael’s cartoons commissioned by Pope Leo X, produced to adorn the Sistine Chapel during solemn celebrations. This tapestry—the first in the Pauline cycle—depicts the moment when Saul, lying on the ground, hears the voice of Christ appearing to him among the clouds, bathed in a golden light. In the foreground, the sword stands out, emblem of the saint’s martyrdom and symbol of an inner transformation: from persecutor to witness of faith, from warrior to apostle, along a path of renewal that marks the birth of Saint Paul, Apostle of the Nations.