Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Vatican has unveiled plans for a yearlong restoration of the monumental baldacchino, or canopy, over the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica, pledging to complete the work on Bernini's masterpiece before Pope Francis' big 2025 Jubilee.

The price tag? About 700,000 euros ($770,000).

Portraits of acid attack victims have gone on show at Italy's Uffizi art gallery alongside a sculpture by Baroque master Bernini of his lover whose face he disfigured out of jealousy.

The exhibition at the prestigious Florence museum aims to show the horror of violence against women - starting with one of the world's greatest sculptors.

A rare drawing by the Italian 17th-century sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini sold for 1.9 million euros ($2.3 million) in France on March 20, the highest price ever paid for a drawing by the artist, the auction house said.

Vatican authorities began on Monday to turn off some 100 fountains, including two Baroque masterpieces in St. Peter's Square, due to a prolonged drought affecting the tiny city state and the city of Rome which surrounds it, according to Reuters.