A difficult problem with no easy solutions

The Wall Street Journal recently published the news that the four year long restoration of the Vatican’s Gallery of Maps has been completed and that the paintings have recovered something of their original grandeur (“An Italy Alive Again in Maps”, by Liam Moloney, April 24- 25, 2016). The restoration was funded by the California chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums which raised 25% more than the $2.3 million needed to complete the work. There are scores of churches in Italy that will never have the wherewithal to raise even that unneeded half a million dollars for the care of their art. They lack the cachet and importance of the Vatican and therefore the patrons. The disparity in funding among institutions is a difficult problem with no easy solutions.