JR’s ‘Diluvium’ takes center stage at Vatican Library as Pope Leo opens ‘AQVA’

A towering wave appeared to crash across the Vatican Apostolic Library on Monday (September 14) as Pope Leo inaugurated “AQVA,” an exhibition exploring water as both a destructive force and a source of life.

French artist JR’s “Diluvium” covers the Library’s 16th-century facade and takes inspiration from Gustave Dore's 1866 engraving of the Great Flood. The Vatican said it is the first site-specific artwork ever commissioned for the exterior of the Vatican Library.

The work, together with JR’s second installation “Undae,” plays on the vulnerability of books and human memory when confronted by the forces of nature. 

The exhibition brings together Renaissance fish treatises, ancient and Asian cookbooks, maritime travel writings and marine bestiaries from the Vatican collections alongside JR’s contemporary installations.

It also commemorates the 60th anniversary of the 1966 Florence flood and includes works by American typographer Bill Moran and Italian chef Fulvio Pierangelini. It opens to the public on September 25 and runs until May 14, 2027.

-Camera by: Gabriele Pileri, writing by: Yesim Dikmen/Reuters