Carriage Pavilion – The Popes in motion
By Paolo Ondarza – Vatican City
Jul 21 2021
The history of papal transportation unfolds along the 105 meter-long Carriage Pavilion in the Vatican Museums, commissioned in 1973 by Pope Paul VI to exhibit the means of transportation by which the Pontiffs moved along the course of time.
From the lush greenery of the Square Garden, visitors access the underground Carriage Pavilion, one of the departments that composes the Vatican Museums’ Department of Historical Collections. The route traversed here is fascinating: from sedan chairs, designed to carry Popes during long liturgies or to transport them through the vast spaces of the Apostolic Palace so as not tire themselves out, to court livery, carriages, portable thrones – even scale models of trains and airplanes.
One’s gaze is immediately captured by the beauty of the Grand Gala Berlin, the carriage used at one time for grand occasions. It was constructed in Rome in 1826 by Pope Leo XII. Almost twenty years later, Gregory XVI enhanced its decorations. Its eight gilded plumes distinguish it from the four that embellish the simpler Gala Berlins also on exhibit in the pavilion. Six finely harnessed steeds drew this carriage.
The carriage’s internal furnishings follow the protocol codified at the time of Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Barberini), who inaugurated the use of papal carriages in the seventeenth century. Preserved intact, it was once used solely for the most important solemnities, roughly four times a year. It was designed as a “four-wheeled throne room” – the seat was a real Papal throne, crowned by a canopy decorated with a dove made of fabric, symbolizing the Holy Spirit.
The so-called ‘Papal train’ was preceded by the cross-bearer. Mounted on horseback, the cross-bearer held the processional cross in his hands. Behind him followed the cortege of other carriages moving at a walking pace, thus allowing the Vicar of Christ to greet and bless the faithful lining the way.
“No one could have their backs turned to the Pope and only the emperor was allowed to open the carriage door and help him get out. In his absence”, explains Sandro Barbagallo, Curator of the Vatican Museums’ Department of Historical Collections, who conducts us through the Carriage Pavilion, “this exalted task was performed by the Master of the horse or the General Superintendent of the Post Office, who was responsible for planning the itinerary”.
Their red uniforms, along with those of the coachmen or members of the Palatine Guard and noble guard make a fine display of their own within the Pavilion. The fine workmanship demonstrated on this carriage can be traced back to the hand of Gaetano Peroni, whose name is inscribed on the rear springs. The decorations, instead, bear the engraved signature of ‘Felice Eugenio, metalworker’.
Read the full news with images of the Carriage Pavilion in Vatican News.
