Vatican Museums get first ever female director
Pope Francis has chosen Dr Barbara Jatta as the first woman to direct the Vatican Museums. Barbara, who is presently the Deputy Director of the museums, will assume office on January 1, 2017, becoming the highest-ranking female administrator in the Vatican. The Vatican Museums are among the most popular in the world and reportedly drew six million visitors in 2015.
In a move being hailed as historic by many, Pope Francis has given the Vatican Museums their first-ever female director. Dr Barbara Jatta, presently the Deputy Director of the museums, will reportedly assume office on January 1, 2017. In doing so, Dr Jatta will become the "highest-ranking female administrator in the Vatican," a report in New York Times reads. The top administrative positions at the ancient Vatican Museums, are generally dominated by bishops and cardinals, but Jatta's recent appointment as the director seems like a ray of hope for women everywhere. Also Read: List of 'First' Indian women in Indian historyJatta, 54, who has been serving the museum as the Deputy Director since June 2016, is an Italian art historian and graphic arts expert, whose first tryst with Vatican dates back to 1996 when she headed the Vatican Library's departments of prints, reports catholicnews.com. 