Vatican promotes agreement between museums to convey religious culture as a sign of hope

Secularization has forced a loss of cultural and social identity in the West that hinders the cultural transmission of Christianity.

To find solutions and propose new methods for the promotion and transmission of Christian cultural roots, the Dicasteria for Culture and Education and the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Assets of the Vatican Government have called Museum leaders, directors of institutions cultural and university professors to a common reflection.

“At the end of the meeting, an educational manifesto on the transmission of the cultural code of religions will be signed,” said the Government of the State of the Vatican City in a statement.

The appointment, which will take place in the Conference Room of the Vatican Museums, on Saturday, February 15, at 10 am, local schedule, will be structured around the subject Sharing hope – Horizons for Cultural Heritage (Share hope – Horizons for a cultural legacy).

“At the origin of Western civilization is Christianity with its message of hope, inclusion, concord and universality,” says the historian of the University of WisdomAlessandro Zuccari, one of the rapporteurs who will take the floor.

In this way, it highlights that the biblical themes have been in the center of artistic production for many centuries.

Under this premise – Zuccari Indica – its study is in itself an impulse to promote Christian values ​​such as fraternity and peace “in a world in which individualism and belligerence predominates.”

The event, in which it will be deepened about the cultural impact of Christian roots on contemporary society, is part of the jubilee of artists that will be held from Sunday, February 16 to Tuesday, February 18.

It is promoted by the prefect of Dicastery for Culture and Education, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, and the director of the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Assets, Barbara Jatta.

The expert in modern art, a discipline that covers from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, ensures that the knowledge of the Bible is revealed in this “fundamental” way to understand Western civilization.

“The works of this period narrate the dramas of life, sufferings, difficulties, but are illuminated by the Holy Scriptures that involve a crucial legacy to understand the meaning of paintings, sculptures or churches,” explains the person in charge also responsible of the Accademia Nazionale Dei Lincei (National Academy of Linces).

This Italian institution presumes to preserve the oldest scientific archive in the world with a collection of more than 600,000 volumes of astronomical, physical, botanical, historical and literary material.

Boticelli and Concordia

A “palm example” of the message of hope that carries the art that represents biblical scenes is, according to Zuccari, the

“The beginning of the 16th century is a time of great turbulence in Italy with the death of Lorenzo the magnificent, which left a great void, and the French invasion,” says the expert.

However, Boticelli left written an inscription within the painting in which he said that “I saw the future full of Concordia and Paz,” explains Zuccari.

He also painted three couples of angels in the lower part who embrace people with crowns in the head.

For the Italian historian they are a specific sign of concord and peace in the light of the Gospel. “It is a message very close to what Pope Francis wants to convey,” he details.

And he adds: “Peace seems defeated, overwhelmed by war and violence, but never exhausted. It is a deep aspiration of peoples that cannot be canceled and that is reflected in cultural and religious heritage. ”

It is another example of how biblical passage translates into works of art in a message of hope. “Clearly this picture invites us to look at the other with the eyes of Jesus and do what the Gospel has taught us,” he explains.

In this international conference, the participation of those responsible for some of the most important museums in the world is planned. Among them, the director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, Christian Greco; that of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni of Rome, Marco Delogu; that of the National Gallery of London, Gabriele Finaldi; that of the Prado National Museum, Miguel Falomir Faus or that of the National Gallery of Washington, Kaywin Feldman.

In addition, that same Saturday, February 15, the project of the Chinese artist Yan Pei-Ming will be presented, in collaboration with the Department of the Italian Penitentiary Administration and the Regina Coeli penitentiary community.