Barbara Jatta

{{short description|Italian art historian (born 1962)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = | name = Barbara Jatta | honorific_suffix = | image = Barbara Jatta.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = The Director of the Vatican Museums Barbara Jatta | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|10|06}} | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause = | discipline = Art history | sub_discipline = | movement =  | religion =  | denomination =  | education = | alma_mater = Sapienza University of Rome | thesis_title = | thesis_year = | thesis_url = | workplaces = Vatican Library<br>Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples<br>Vatican Museum | notable_works = | awards = }} '''Barbara Jatta''' (born 6 October 1962) is an Italian art historian who has been the director of the Vatican Museums since June 2016.

==Early life and education== Jatta has joked that she was born among the smell of solvents.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.corriere.it/cultura/16_dicembre_23/musei-vaticani-intervista-barbara-jatta-bb9fe38c-c937-11e6-bac6-8c33946b31a6.shtml|title=Barbara Jatta: "Aspetto il Papa in visita ai Musei Vaticani"|last=Conti|first=Paolo|date=23 December 2016|newspaper=Corriere della Sera|access-date=28 December 2016|language=it}}</ref> Her mother was a painter and conservator, and her sister a conservator.<ref>{{Cite interview|interviewer =Desmond O'Grady| first = Barbara | last= Jatta | url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/beauty-can-lead-to-faith-an-interview-with-the-director-of-the-vatican-museums/|title='Beauty can lead to faith' – an interview with the director of the Vatican Museums|date=20 December 2018|work=Catholic Herald|language=en-GB|access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

She often visited her grandparents on Via Giulia in Rome, or at Fregene on the outskirts of the city, where her grandmother, Assia Busiri Vici, a portrait painter, would paint her. Her grandfather Andrea was an architect. She has studied conservation at Istituto centrale per la patologia del libro, today Istituto centrale per il restauro e la conservazione del patrimonio archivistico e librario.<ref>^ Barbara Jatta, La fortuna di Raffaello nell'incisione del '500 (Marcantonio Raimondi), SBN IT\ICCU\RMS\1785318. (Dattiloscritto alla biblioteca dell'Istituto centrale per la patologia del libro Alfonso Gallo).</ref> Despite her family background, she only determined on a career in art history when she was living in an artists commune in Rome and went with one of the artists to an art history lesson.<ref>{{Cite interview| interviewer=Michela Tamburrino |first= Barbara | last= Jatta| url=http://www.lastampa.it/2018/04/14/societa/barbara-jatta-io-prima-donna-capo-dei-musei-vaticani-cerco-la-diplomazia-dellarte-con-la-cina-mhOMlVmv4R9WqxQe2oU6EK/pagina.html|title="Io, prima donna capo dei Musei Vaticani cerco la diplomazia dell'arte con la Cina" |work= La Stampa | language=it| access-date=22 March 2019}}</ref>

She studied literature at the University of Rome (''Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"''), completing her thesis, ''The History of Drawing, Engraving and Graphics'', in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.restauratorisenzafrontiere.com/en/team-member/barbara-jatta-2/|title=Barbara Jatta|website=Restauratori Senza Frontiere|access-date=21 December 2016| language = it}}</ref> She later went on to earn degrees in Archive Administration and Art History.<ref name="HERALD20161220" /> After her studies in Italy, she studied in England, Portugal, and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|language = it|date= 2 July 2016| url= http://www.lastampa.it/2016/07/02/vaticaninsider/ita/news/barbara-jatta-una-donna-alla-guida-dei-musei-vaticani-nzyYRdMSpSvKAgBr8CjvAL/pagina.html|title=Barbara Jatta, una donna alla guida dei Musei vaticani|work=La Stampa |access-date=22 December 2016}}</ref> Since 1994 she has taught at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University in Naples.<ref>{{Cite web|date= 20 December 2016| url=https://zenit.org/articles/barbara-jatta-appointed-to-direct-vatican-museums/|title=Barbara Jatta Appointed to Direct Vatican Museums |work= Zenit |access-date=22 December 2016}}</ref>

==Vatican career== In 1996 she joined and led the prints section of the Vatican Library. She became the vice-director of the Vatican Museums under Antonio Paolucci in June 2016.<ref name="HERALD20161220"/> On 20 December 2016, Pope Francis appointed her the director of the Vatican Museums,<ref name="HERALD20161220">{{Cite web|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/12/20/pope-names-first-woman-to-head-vatican-museums/|title=Pope names first woman to head Vatican Museums|work=Catholic Herald|access-date=22 December 2016|date=20 December 2016|first=Carol|last=Glatz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716045639/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/12/20/pope-names-first-woman-to-head-vatican-museums/|archive-date=16 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> effective 1 January 2017. Jatta became the first female director of the Vatican Museums.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/barbara-jatta-interview-vogue-march-2018-issue|title=Meet Barbara Jatta, the First Woman Director of the Vatican Museums|website=Vogue|date=13 February 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-07-05}}</ref> She is responsible for artworks that includes the iconic ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican museums earns more than $300m with profits of $40m from visitors to their museums.<ref name="wsj">{{cite news | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-francis-names-new-female-director-of-vatican-museums-1482258455 |title=Pope Francis Names New Female Director of Vatican Museums|first= Francis |last=Rocca |date= 20 December 2016 |accessdate = 21 December 2016| work = Wall Street Journal}}</ref> Jatta has recognised the work done by her predecessors. She says that she will eliminate the unsightly queue of visitors who stand to await entry. She will encourage visitors to enjoy the lesser known sections of the museum which should reduce crowding of the Sistine Chapel. She planned to utilize the "new media" to both publicize and educate. All this must be done, she said, while "paying special attention to the ‘Vatican tradition’."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mv.vatican.va/1_CommonFiles/pdf/Eventi/73_case_study_Jatta.pdf|title=The Vatican Museums: transformation of an organisation|last=Jatta|first=Barbara|date=13 October 2016|website=Musei Vaticani|publisher=|access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref> In March 2017, Jatta presided over the opening of a show at the Vatican Museums for the first time: Dilectissimo fratri Caesario Symmachus». From Arles to Rome, the relics of St. Caesarius, treasure of Paleo-Christian Gaul.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.acistampa.com/story/ai-musei-vaticani-le-reliquie-di-san-cesareo-tesoro-della-gallia-paleocristiana-5686| accessdate = 19 March 2019| language = it| date=28 March 2017 | title = Ai Musei Vaticani le reliquie di San Cesareo, tesoro della Gallia paleocristiana| work = ACI Stampa| first = Veronica | last = Giacometti}}</ref>

In March 2018, Jatta attended meetings in Rome that marked the UN's International Day of Women and she represented the Vatican at a conference sponsored by the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the first time the Vatican had participated in a meeting sponsored by the CSW.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://cruxnow.com/church-in-europe/2019/03/15/vatican-participates-for-first-time-at-un-womens-leadership-event/ | work = Crux | accessdate = 19 March 2019 | date = 15 March 2019 | title = Vatican participates for first time at UN women's leadership event | first = Claire | last = Giangravè }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Personal life== Since 1988 Jatta has been married to Fabio Midulla, a medical educator; they have three children.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/musei-del-papa/saluto-del-direttore.html|title=The director Barbara Jatta |website= Vatican Museums|language=en|access-date=23 January 2017}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{Official site|http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en.html |Vatican Museums}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jatta, Barbara}} Category:1962 births Category:Curators from Rome Category:Museum directors Category:Italian women museum directors Category:Living people Category:Italian art curators Category:Italian classical scholars Category:Italian women classical scholars Category:Vatican Museums Category:Italian women curators