From the Vault: "Where Is the Vault?"

Since we began the "From The Vault" column in the newsletter, highlighting many of the important works from the University Art Collection, several Associates and University employees have, quite reasonably, wondered, "Where is this mythic 'Vault?'"

No mere metaphor, a bronze-doored vault on the ground floor of Healy Hall truly does store hundreds of the University Art Collection's paintings, sculptures, ceremonial religious objects, Civil War memorabilia, and historical artifacts. Constructed in 1904 and believed to have housed the University Archives, the Vault became storage space for the University's art treasures when the Archives moved to the new Lauinger Library in 1970.

A related question to "Where is the Vault?" has been, "Where is the Art Collection?" That can be answered a number of ways. The staff offices are in Special Collections, on the fifth floor of Lauinger Library, which is also where the fine prints and drawings are stored. The permanent exhibit of masterworks from the Art Collection is on public view in Carroll Parlor, Healy 107. Some works are in buildings throughout campus; in fact, the first landmark many visitors see at Georgetown, the statue of John Carroll by Jerome Connor (1912), is part of the Art Collection. But currently the bulk of the "where" is in the Vault.

One example of a rarely seen art treasure in the Vault-and one important to the University's Catholic heritage-is Christ Carrying the Cross, attributed to Giacomo and Giulio Francia. This oil-on-panel, triple portrait study reflects the balanced compositional treatment and attention to individual human details that were characteristic of Renaissance painting in Italy. Christ Carrying the Cross has recently been reproduced and discussed in two recent studies: Francesco Francia e la Sua Scuola by Emilio Negro and Nicosetta Roio (1998); and the catalog Maastricht TEFAH 2002, by Altomani & Sons gallery in Pesaro and Milan. Christ Carrying the Cross is in fine condition, despite a flood during the mid-1960s that posed a risk of warping the panel.

Due to campus-wide space shortages, the Vault is overly crowded, and missing the resources for monitoring climate, dust, and other conservation factors. Should the Art Collection acquire new storage and exhibition space, many more of the fine works such as Christ Carrying the Cross can be seen, studied, and preserved in the most advantageous manner.