by Kathy Boccella

For decades, a giant 17th-century Italian masterpiece has been slowly losing its luster on an obscure library wall on the Villanova University campus.

Also fading - from memory - has been the artwork's fascinating backstory. It begins with an American-born Italian princess and a papal palace, twists through World War II, and ends up on the Main Line with the help of an ambitious priest. But now the century-long, operatic tale of the princess, the priest, and the painting is getting a bright and uplifting new finale.

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Source: http://www.philly.com/