His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, toured the Vatican Library and Museum complex as part of his state visit to Vatican City on Thursday. The Vatican Library and Museum include manuscripts, historical artifacts and collectibles, paintings, sculptures and art objects.

Shaikh Mohammad and the accompanying delegation first toured the Vatican Museum, comprising several rooms including the fine arts gallery, which houses paintings created for the church over different periods of history. The second section of the museum, the Museum of Modern Art, includes art from the Renaissance period.

Shaikh Mohammad also visited the sculpture museum, which has a number of sculptures and archaeological pieces owned by the Vatican that date back to the Greek, Roman and Renaissance periods. He also visited a private display of the evolution of maps throughout history.

Shaikh Mohammad and his delegation were also briefed on the rare frescoes, inscriptions and murals decorating the walls and ceilings of the Vatican and painted by some of the world’s most renowned artists of the Renaissance period.

Shaikh Mohammad was accompanied on his tour by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority, Mohammad Mubarak Al Mazroui, Under Secretary of the Crown Prince’s Court, and Hessa Al Otaiba, UAE Non-Resident Ambassador to the Vatican.