Barbara Jatta

Jatta was born in Rome on 6 October 1962. Her grandmother was a painter, and both her mother and sister work in art restoration. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Jatta joked that she was born among the smells of solvents. She studied Literature at the University of Rome (Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"), with her thesis, "The History of Drawing, Engraving and Graphics", being completed in 1986. She later went on to earn degrees in Archive Administration and Art History. In addition to her studies in Italy, she has also studied in England, Portugal, and the United States. Since 1994 she has taught at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University in Naples and in 1996 she joined and led the prints section of the Vatican Library. She became the vice-director of the Vatican Museums under Antonio Paolucci in June 2016.

In December 2016 it was announced that Jatta was selected to become the new Director of the Vatican Museums, which will make her the highest ranking female in the Vatican on 1 January 2017. There are higher positions but the role of bishops, cardinals and the Pope are reserved for male priests. She is responsible for artworks that includes the iconic ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican museums earns more than $300m with profits of $40m from visitors to their museums. In a talk given on 13 October 2016 Jatta stated appreciation for the work done by her predecessors, and noted that her chief concerns as Director will to be to eliminate the unsightly line that visitors must stand in as they await entry, to encourage visitors to enjoy the lesser known sections of the museum, to reduce crowding of the Sistine Chapel, and to utilize the "new media" to both publicize initiatives and educate visitors. All this must be done, she continued, while "paying special attention to the ‘Vatican tradition’." In March 2017, Jatta presided over the opening of a show at the Vatican Museums for the first time: Dilectissimo fratri Caesario Symmachus». From Arles to Rome, the relics of St. Caesarius, treasure of Paleo-Christian Gaul.

Since 1988 Jatta has been married to Fabio Midulla, a medical educator, and they have three children.

• Barbara Jatta and Joseph Connors, Vedute romane di Lievin Cruyl: paesaggio urbano sotto Alessandro VII. Roman views by Lievin Cruyl: urban landscapes under Alexander VII. Accademia americana in Roma, 1989.
• Manuela Gobbi, and Barbara Jatta, eds., I disegni di Bernini e della sua scuola nella Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Drawings by Bernini and His School at the Vatican Apostolic Library. Vatican City: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2015.