Images of salvation.

Introduction

On June 8, a major exhibition in honour of Toronto's World Youth day opened at the Royal Ontario Museum (the ROM) entitled "Images of Salvation: Masterpieces from the Vatican and other Italian Collections." It will run until August 11. The exhibition is a spectacular one; most of the artefacts in it have never been seen outside Italy, and it is not going to be seen anywhere else but in Toronto. It had two curators: Professor Giovanni Morello, Director of the Vatican Library and Chairman of the Scientific Committee at the Vatican Museum, and Corey Keeble, Curator of Decorative Arts at the ROM.

They and a number of other people associated with this project were present at a media reception on June 5, hosted by William Thorsell, President of the ROM. Thorsell called the exhibition "a profound testament to the power of art," and several other speakers provided variations on this theme. Corey Keeble referred to the exhibit as a spiritually charged reality which speaks to us today. Cardinal Stafford. Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Laity, and a man who has had previous experience of World Youth Days (he was Archbishop of Denver when the World Youth Day was celebrated there), also described the exhibit as a chance for young people to learn. The present age does not deny God, he said, but forgets Him; to remind young people of spiritual reality is one of the important tasks of the celebration in Toronto.

Father Roscisa, a Basilian priest who is the Executive Director for World Youth Day in Toronto, described the exhibition as an opening for youth to the world of Christian art. Young people, he said, are deprived for the most part of light, hope, and peace. Yet the Holy Father says to them "You are the light of the world, you are the salt of the earth." Beauty is the light of the spirit, and our challenge is to give young people a taste for it. As the ancients said, truth and beauty go together.

The earliest piece on display is a marble fragment of a sarcophagus dating from the 4th century B.C. Among the outstanading works on display is a painting of doubting Thomas touching Christ's side by Guercino; a marvellous silver and bronze reliquary of the Sacred Cross by Bernini; and a painting of St. Matthew with an angel by Guido Reni. But the treasures are almost endless, and besides the many paintings from the Italian Renaissance they include beautifully illustrated bibles from the 12th and 13th and 14th centuries; a 16th-century ivory sculpture of the Holy Family from the School of Raphael; and hymnals, copes, and pyxes used in liturgical celebrations.

Here indeed is God's plenty. This is an exhibition not to be missed. When hundreds of thousands of young people converge on Toronto, this remarkable and joyful panorama of faith will be available to them. It was Pope Gregory I, 590-604, who pointed out that while a scriptural image teaches those who can read, an actual image informs those who cannot read but can see. Images will be of great importance here, for many different languages will be represented in the vocabularies of these young pilgrims.

David Dooley

Images of salvation

Mary Mason

To say that the images of salvation is an exhilarating experience is to put it mildly. To be literally blown through a portal, "salutis Imago" inscribed on its lintel, and then to confront a larger than life image of Christ in an enormous Belgian tapestry, bursting with nuclear energy from the tomb, scattering confused and overawed soldiery out of the way, is to marvel at Rubens' conception of the Resurrection.

Resurrection--Peter Paul Rubens (1577- 1640) Tapestry. Rubens was engaged to make numerous cartoons for tapestry factories in Belgium. This is one of four tapestries of Rubens from the Museo Diocesano d'Aete Sacra, Ancona. Other splendid liturgical fabrics in their care are from the eleventh century and are too fragile to travel.

The creation

The exhibit is divided into seven sections, the first of which is "The Creation." In the beginning...we see how God created the universe and all living things. Eve arises from Adam's side and both are placed in the Garden of Eden, a place of innocence and plenty. Through the sin of disobedience, they will lose innocence and are expelled into the world of suffering and then, through God's displeasure, a flood washes away all but Noah and his family and a pair of each living thing.

Drawings for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo are on view here, along with an autographed sonnet and a rueful self-portrait reminding us of the physical difficulties that this Renaissance master underwent to paint the glorious work. Many artists sketched the various figures in the Sistine Chapel after Michelangelo's work.

Figure Studies for the "Punishment of Haman--Michelangelo (1475-1564) made these studies for the Sistine Chapel about 1511. Designed for a spandrel (a triangular space between the curve of an arch or two arches). Spandrels of the Sistine Chapel depict four Old Testament examples of Salvation: David and Goliath, Judith and Holofernes, The Brazen Serpent and Death of Haman. In the book of Esther, Haman the Grand Vizier of Xerxes planned to have all the Jews slaughtered, but Esther obtained permission for the Jews to slay all who might attack them on the day that Haman appointed for their destruction. The Feast of Purim commemorates the Jews' deliverance. (Casa Buonarroti, Florence).

The covenant

The second section is headed "The Ancient Covenant. "I will take you to be my people." The Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, tell us of the relationship between God and the Jewish people, founded on loyalty and love. The Hebrew Bibles on display echo the beauty of the poetry they illustrate. Very precious and rare scrolls testify to their creators' reverence for the sacred texts.

The prophets

Section three, "The Witnesses of the House of Israel." God sends the patriarchs and prophets who represent the conscience of the people of Israel, commanding them to follow God's ways." We see "The Fight of Jacob with the Angel" by Pier Francesco Mazzuccheli, 1571/73-1626. The two figures are locked in a fiery struggle, a baroque tussle indeed, all arms and legs.

In an entirely different mood of calm, two tondi (oval paintings or reliefs) of Isaiah and Jeremiah, commanding, yet benevolent, by Mario di Laurito, post- 1536, attract our attention.

A nineteenth century painting "After the flood" by Filippo Palizzi, 1881-1899, shows us God's beautiful, splendid creatures leaving the Ark to confront a horrid wasteland, a potent reminder of the effects of human disobedience and greed. This work has a special reference in the twenty-first century, perhaps never conceived by the painter. The detached fresco of David, the second King of Israel and an ancestor of the Messiah, is a work of compelling strength by Gentile da Fabriano, 1370-1427.

The last of the prophets was the forerunner to the Messiah, St. John The Baptist 

St. John the Baptist--Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, II Guercino (the squinty-eyed) (1591-1666). Pope Gregory XV summoned him to Rome in 1621. He returned to his birthplace, Cento, in 1623 and then upon the death of Guido Reni in 1642, he took over Reni's studio at Bologna. Guercino was accounted the leading painter of Bologna and was considered one of the most outstanding baroque draughtsmen of the mid-seventeenth century. His St. John is shown as a young man wearing a camel-skin garment. We are drawn close to the saint and are made to share his longing and anticipation, in the same way that we share with the Reni painting of St. Matthew.

The Incarnation

Section four, "The Incarnation." "And the word came to live among us."

The birth of the Saviour has inspired artists in all media over the centuries as has the Crucifixion. In this section we see the Blessed Virgin Mary as the loving Mother, as gentle Queen of Heaven, and as the Bearer of infinite sorrow.

The "Last Supper" is represented in marble on a capital dating from the end of the twelfth-century. Although it is worn by time and warfare, the intensity of the emotions and the actions engage us as strongly as they did the people of San Vitale in Carpineti, almost a millennium ago. In tempera on wood, wood and ivory, polychromed wood, silver, gilded bronze, oil on canvas, ivory and parchment, artists, some famous such as Lorenzo Lotto, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Pietro da Cortona, and others unknown represent the most fateful moments in history when by His death, Jesus became our means of salvation.

Holy Family--Raphael Circle of the sixteenth century. Ivory sculpture from a private collection, courtesy of the Vatican Museums. Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) (1483-1520) painted and drew the Holy Family many times. He kept a studio in which presumably this ivory carving was made. He had only just turned his attention to architecture when he died at the age of 37.

Madonna and Child--Jacopo Bellini (c.1400-1470). Jacopo, a Venetian, was the father of Gentile and Giovanni and the father-in-law of Andrea Mantegna. His work is a bridge between the late Gothic and the early Renaissance styles, for which his sons were well known. This work presages the glories of the High Renaissance to come. (Museo Piersanti Matelica).

The twelve apostles

Section five, "Announcers of the Good News." God has placed them in the Church as Apostles. The twelve apostles are represented in a row of 56 centimetre-high gilded wood statues by the School of Bernini. Each bears his attribute and the instrument of his death, truly the "Image of Salvation."

Niccolo Ricciolin, 1687-1763. "The Healing of a Cripple," shows us St. Peter performing a miracle in a swirling circle of figures, our eye directed from the saint to the cripple, whose faith has him slowly stretching up to the saint, while another smaller circle of putti (infant cherubs) peer through clouds rejoicing. A wonderful composition in Baroque splendour.

St. Matthew and the Angel-Guido Reni was a Bolognese painter who was inspired by Raphael...acquired by the Vatican in 1924. Reni was considered one of Italy's greatest painters until the middle of the 1800s. In 1954, a retrospective exhibition of his works re-established his reputation as one of the greatest artists of the seventeenth century. The poignancy of St. Matthew and the Angel draws us close to the apostle as we share his rapt attention to the teaching of the youthful angel. (The Vatican Museums).

The Saints

Section 6, "The Saints," Imitate me as I imitate Christ.

In this section there must have been a plethora of choice in the vast collections of the Holy See, for every day of the year commemorates at least one saint. From the 14th to the 18th centuries, we are shown a variety not only of saints but of artistic styles, some by well-known artists and some by unknown ones, all with a depth of feeling and a tremendous mastery of their art.

One of the most striking "The Miracle of St. Toribio in Lima" by Sebastiano Conca, 1680-1764, depicts Toribio blessing a dry pothole which immediately produces water. St. Toribio is also credited with establishing the first seminary in the Americas so that Peruvians would have priests from their own people. He also defended native labourers from Spanish grandee overlords. Perugino, 1448-1523, the teacher of Raphael, is represented in a portrait of St. Benedict as the founder of the Benedictines with his flail (a threshing instrument) and his book.

Corey Keeble, in a very dynamic presentation, called special attention to the energy shown in a painting by Lodovico Mazzanti entitled "Ecstasy of the Saint upon seeing Loreto." It shows St. Joseph of Copertino rising into the air, his Franciscan robes trailing behind ... He was famous for levitating: in fact for the last thirty-five years of his life, his superiors would not let him say Mass in public. No wonder he is the patron saint of aircraft pilots!

The Miracle of St. Toribio in Lima-Sebastiano Conca (1680-1764). St. Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo was born in Leon, Spain. In 1530, he went to Peru to minister to the faithful and became archbishop there in 1580. Toribio founded the first seminary in the Americas and fought with courage and determination to protect the lives and rights of the Peruvian native people. Conca painted this work in 1726, the year that Toribio was canonized. (The Vatican Museums).

Holy Conversation-fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. Painting, tempera on board. Camerinese School. Titian helped to establish "A Camerino d'Alabastro" (Albaster Chamber) for his patron Alfonso d'Este of Ferrara in Camerino, a town near Perugia. The Holy Mother of God is in discourse with two bishops, (one is probably St. Augustine), a barefoot friar, and a sister with a book, all haloed. The donor is shown in supplication at the foot of the Blessed Virgin. (Museo Diocesano, Ancona).

Reliquary of the Sacred Cross--Gian Lorenzo Bernini (15981680). Bernini's bronze and gilded silver shrine dedicated to the saints is a work of his maturity, a monument of profound spirituality. Bernini thought of the colonnades of St. Peter's as the arms of the church stretching out to embrace Catholics to reinforce their belief. (The Museo Diocesano, Osimo).

Liturgical celebration

Section seven, "The Liturgical celebration" Do this in memory of me. These objects for Liturgical use, the epitome of the arts of the smiths in precious metals, the carvers of wood and ivory, the embroideries in silks, gold, and silver threads are exquisite. These crafted objects express the richness and solemnity of the Mass by the works of the most famous artists in Western history.

As we leave this last section and return to our everyday world, we walk between two pieces of art of the most elegant simplicity. An exact model in resin of Michelangelo's Pieta, the original commissioned in 1475, (now in St. Peter's in Rome, sadly shielded in a glass case.) The other is a portrait in chalk of the Holy Father by Dina Bellotti, made in 1996; it is a strikingly beautiful portrait that depicts a wise, thoughtful, compassionate human being, yet a man of immense strength.

With all the awe-inspiring richness and soul lifting surprises of this wonderful collection, perhaps these two images are the ones that we will most cherish. The Pieta, the very image of salvation, and the face of this most holy Christian warrior.

This remarkable collection of humankind's ability to create beauty has been selected with great care. We in Toronto are blessed to have it with us and for the thousands of young people who are deprived of simple beauty in their daily lives, this exhibit will perhaps, and most hopefully, bring back some of that lost innocence, a quality that if lost irrevocably will be at our peril.

The Royal Ontario Museum will extend its opening hours from July 19 - 26th to 9:30 p.m. Admission prices from June--August 2, 2002 is $16.50 for adults; $12.00 for seniors and students with ID; $10.00 for children 5-14 years of age. Infants 4 years and under are admitted free. World Youth Day pilgrims are admitted for $5.00 with a WYD registration pass.