Pope Leo XIII

Pope Leo XIII and Count Pecci, No. 1

From Wikipedia: Sua Santità papa Leone XIII (Italian for "His Holiness Pope Leo XIII") is an 1898 short film directed by William Kennedy Dickson for the Biograph Company and is one of the first existing films shot in the Kingdom of Italy. The short film was shot in the Vatican gardens between June and July of that year (possibly on January 4), after a long wait and negotiations with the prefect of the Apostolic Chamber Francesco Salesio Della Volpe and with the intercession of the pontiff's nephew, Count Pecci. It is a montage of three different shots with the blessing of Pope Leo XIII, eighty-eight years old at the time, and was probably filmed on Kodak film.

Filmmaker WKL Dickson, one-time right hand man to Thomas Edison, the 'Wizard of Menlo Park', here captures an even greater eminence, Pope Leo XIII. This was one of a series of films that exploited Dickson's unique, hard-won access to the Pontiff. Here the Pope arrives in a carriage and bestows a blessing. Whether this blessing was intended for the camera or for the audience beyond it, capturing it on film was a great prize for Dickson.

Film produced by William K. Dickson’s British Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

Film produced by William K. Dickson’s British Mutoscope and Biograph Company.

Probably the first video of a Pope: Leo XIII sits in his chair with guards and attendants, then blesses the viewers.

The pope resting.