Benedict was invited to feature on Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana's 2007 charity wall calendar. Calendar images reprinted by permission of photographer Giancarlo Giuliani.

Mr Giuliani, a trusted papal photographer, was allowed to spend a day following the Pope at his summer residence.

This picture suggests a pontiff keeping in the background, says Vatican observer John Wilkins.

Benedict at prayer before the famous Polish icon of the Black Virgin of Czestochowa, a favourite of his predecessor John Paul II

The bookish pope's calendar is accompanied by quotations about love from his first papal encyclical.

And here we see the Mozart-lover at his piano, in one of the palace's humbler rooms.

Perhaps the most symbolic of all the pictures on the calendar: Benedict the reflective pope.

Proceeds from the sale of the calendar are going to Nazareth Town, an aid project for children in Mbare, Rwanda.