Artist sues Vatican over stamp with ‘his’ Christ

Babrow tells the AP news agency how she pasted a photo of her drawing on a bridge near the Vatican in early 2019. She was taken aback when she found out more than a year later that he had been used for the traditional stamp that the Vatican issues each year at Easter.

“I just didn’t believe it,” says the artist. “I really thought it was a joke. But of course the real shock was that you don’t expect certain things from certain organizations.” Babrow says the Vatican has never responded to its demands for a settlement.

Sixtine Chapel

The Vatican itself is still doing everything it can to safeguard its copyright. In the famous Sistine Chapel, visitors are not allowed to film or photograph Michelangelo’s famous frescoes. The ban dates back to years when image rights were in the hands of a Japanese television station. He had paid for part of the restoration of the chapel.

Babrow’s depiction of Christ is part of a series she has been working on since 2013 called Just Use It. In it, she provided Buddha, the Hindu god Ganesha, and the biblical figure Mary with a heart drawn by her.

‘Use your heart’

She says she wants to indicate that people should use their hearts and that no religion can claim “universal truth.” It is precisely this message that is violated because the Vatican has appropriated the image, says his lawyer.

Officially, the Vatican has not responded. But the head of the issued stamps and coins department told an Italian journalist that he passed the image on his scooter and photographed it. He allegedly used the “graffiti image” for the Easter stamp “to attract a new generation of stamp enthusiasts”.