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The Vatican Museums comprise of an extensive collection of art and artifacts held by the Vatican.
History[]
Around October 1937, with the aid of Prime Minister Benito Mussolini and his Blackshirts, Father Cesare Ventura took control of the Vatican after the Pope had fallen ill (which the Holy See's intelligence network noted the priest may also have had a hand in). Under his leadership, he launched a purge of material perceived to be subversive which included an extensive inventory of the Vatican's holdings, such as its museums and pharmacy.[1]
While the effort was largely an elaborate front to give Third Reich Special Antiquities Collection agent Emmerich Voss access to the Treasury of Esoteric Artifacts,[1] it flagged the suspicious activity of conservator Orlando Ricci and marked him as the primary suspect in the disappearance of the Gold Dagger of Mithras from the Vatican Museums.[2]
