Between November 23 and December 10, 2018 the Pantheon of Rome will receive "Sacra Sacrorum, The Sacred of The Sacred Things", an exhibition of the Italian artist Joseph Pace. With 10 sculptures illustrating the biblical passages of the "Genesis" and of the "Crucifixion", the solo exhibition marks the reopening of the Pantheon as an exhibition space for sculpture.
BASILICA COLLEGIATA - "S. MARY AD MARTYRES"
- THE CHAPTER -
In order to create an artistic itinerary which be at the same time catechesis and Christian mystagogy, it has been thought the Chapter of of Canonicals of the ancient Roman Basilica of Sant Mary "ad Martyres", better known as Pantheon of Rome, decided to continue the initiatives already taken in recent past years with an International Exhibition of Sacred Art, calling, for 2018, the distinguished and well known Italian artist dott. Joseph Pace.
The Chapter of Canonicals complying with the desire of His Holyness Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation "Evangeli Gaudium", intended to resumes the dialogue between art and faith which in the past led the Pantheon Basilica to host the most famous artists of an age, among them Raffaello, at the “Congregation of Saint Joseph of the Holy Land” (nowadays called “Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters of the Virtuosi al Pantheon”) becoming the center of the Roman artistic life, culminating in the periodic exhibitions of the most prestigious works of famous painters.
The illustrious artist dott. Joseph Pace happily accepted this initiative. His soundly rooted faith and the refinement of his artistic horizons did the rest. The project sharing turned into enthusiasm for all, and thus “Sacra sacrorum” (the scared of the sacred things) the present sculptures exhibition was born, which is present a true itinerary of the soul at the oldest Basilica in the world, a pedagogy of art rooted in Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Raffaello Sanzio, and in the contemporary language of the great artists of the 20th and 21st centuries as well.
As Pope Francis states in the book "My idea of art”, “…art, besides being a credible witness to the beauty of creation, is also an instrument of evangelization. Let's look at the Sistine Chapel: what did Michelangelo do? A work of evangelization… The Church must welcome the new forms of art. It has to open the doors to people all over the world. Being an instrument of dialogue between cultures and religions, an instrument of peace. Be alive! Not dusty collections of the past only for the 'elect' and the 'wise', but a vital reality that knows how to keep that past to tell it to the people of today, starting with the most humble.” And again: "This society has got into the habit, after the throwaway of things, to use and discard people, as well as throw away the their illusions and their dreams ... Nothing is lost, nothing is discarded, everything makes sense within the magnificent work of God. God's mercy does not discard. This is the role of the poet, the artist: to counter the culture of waste and to evangelize.”
Gathering what was hoped for by the Holy Father Francis on art, this exhibition is born with the title "Sacra Sacrorum", a dialogue between art and faith whose theme is the sacredness of the sacred.
By recovering various materials and reusing also residues of industrial production, assembling this shimmering waste material no longer in fashion, Joseph Pace intends, through sacred and religious themes, to transform those materials into "producers of hope", to awaken the attention of the distracted man of today to the only true value, that of Christian hope.
The exhibition includes the use of seven sculptures plus a small sculptural group and two medium-sized crucifix. They deal with the creation of land and birds, the creation of man and woman, the great human family, and the theme of crucifixion.
The event will take place from 23 November to 10 December 2018 and will serve to draw the attention of the visitors / pilgrims of the Basilica to the values of faith, the last bastion today of human freedom.
