BOSTON -- Not everyone can make the journey to visit Rome, but a show that opened earlier this month aims to bring the artwork and architecture of the Eternal City to Boston.

"Immersive Vatican," a surround-projection experience featuring animated high-resolution images of Vatican artwork, is making its world premiere at Lighthouse Artspace Boston, with showings Oct. 7-Nov. 6. Similar shows by the organization have featured the artwork of Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Klimt, and Monet and the Impressionists.

For this show, the Vatican granted creators the right to reproduce artwork from the Vatican Museums, which includes paintings, sculptures, frescoes, architecture, blueprints, and artifacts.

"The program delves into how art has been used in the Vatican to tell stories and preserve histories, both sacred and secular," creator Massimiliano Siccardi said.

Richard Ouzounian, creative consultant for Lighthouse Immersive, spoke with The Pilot on the opening day of "Immersive Vatican," Oct. 7.

He explained how Lighthouse Immersive founders Corey Ross and Svetlana Dvoretsky, who have backgrounds in different areas of the arts world -- Ross in theater, Dvoretsky in music and dance -- believed that the "next move" in art would be immersive. They met Siccardi while viewing an earlier version of "Immersive Van Gogh" in Paris, and they invited him to bring it to North America.

Their plans were delayed by the onset of the pandemic, but they were able to set up a drive-through experience in Toronto, allowing people to view the animated images of Van Gogh's artwork from their cars. A quarter of a million tickets were sold in its first six months. Since March 2021, Lighthouse Immersive has opened 20 different venues across North America.

Ouzounian acknowledged that some art critics did not think theirs was the right way to view art. He said he agrees that the ideal way is to go to a gallery, like the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

But, he said, "a lot of people can't afford to go to Amsterdam, and a lot of people have families that they'd like to introduce to this. Especially when kids are younger, kids do not want to stand in line behind tall people to stare at a little tiny picture on a wall. They want to be immersed in it," he said.

Ouzounian recalled visiting the Vatican himself when he was in college.

"It was a hot summer day, and I stood behind tons of tourists with guards pushing us along as you try to stare up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel," he said.

In contrast, "Immersive Vatican" enlarges the art pieces to fill the space, giving a close view of the details in the work.

"I don't think that would replace, ideally, somebody one day going and seeing the Sistine Chapel, but with inflation being what it is and reality being what it is, I think this is a great way for people to get into it," Ouzounian said.

He said was particularly moved by "The Creation of Adam," one of nine scenes from the book of Genesis that Michelangelo painted in the Sistine Chapel.

"You can see the look on Adam's face, the look on God's face, you can see the details of the hands. It becomes more powerful," he said.

Ouzounian said they chose to premiere "Vatican Immersive" in Boston, a city renowned for its universities and patronage of the arts, because this is "the most intellectual" of the shows they have produced so far.

"Boston audiences get passionate about things. We thought they would like this show, which is a little different. This isn't just, 'Oh yeah, here's a bunch of pictures from the Sistine Chapel.' It also goes into the history of the Vatican and how it developed," he said.

Ouzounian added, "Don't think that if you're not Catholic or Christian or religious you won't appreciate this. You'll appreciate the beauty of the art and the scope of it, the sheer magnificence of seeing all these pictures."