Vatican is Launching NFT Gallery to ‘Democratize Art’

On May 2, it was announced that the Vatican, in partnership with the augmented reality company Sensorium ****and Humanity 2.0, will open an NFT art gallery for visitors from all around the world to view its collection of artworks, manuscripts and other items.

The director of Humanity 2.0, an NGO focused on identifying and removing impediments to human flourishing through the use of technology and human ingenuity is Father Philip Larrey. He is the Chair of Logic and Epistemology at the Pontifical Lateran University in the Vatican, the Dean of the philosophy department, and the author of a couple books on the effect of technology on modern society and the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence.

In a press release, Father Larrey explained the goal of the exhibition: “We look forward to working with Sensorium to explore ways to democratize art, making it more available to people around the world, regardless of their socioeconomic and geographic limitations. Partnering with Sensorium takes this goal one step further and equips us with the latest technology solutions.”

The Vatican houses some of the finest art and objects in the world. The Vatican’s museum was founded in the 16th century and holds around 800 artworks, including works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Wassily Kandinsky, Vincent van Gogh and many more well-known artists.

The exhibition will be part of the Sensorium Galaxy metaverse (now available in beta only) and will allow users to visit the museum’s various collections via immersive augmented reality devices, a computer screen or a mobile phone application that will allow to see live broadcasts and create NPC’s (non-player characters) to communicate with them.

The virtual Vatican exhibition will incorporate the use of NFT’s, although it is not yet clear if these will be available for sale. The opening date of the exhibition has not yet been announced.