One year after the death of Pope Francis, the Capitoline Museums commemorate the memory of the "Bishop of the Last" with an exhibition route through the ground-floor rooms of the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Thanks to its commemorative nature, the exhibition is an event of significance not only artistically but also spiritually.
The 'concept' of the project
Over the centuries, angels have stimulated the collective imagination to such an extent that they have become an essential topos of art in its various forms of expression. Through a selection of works – paintings, sculptures and materials on parchment – from museum collections and private collections, the exhibition presents a thematic route dedicated to the role that angelic figures have in the Western artistic tradition. The project aims to trace their iconographic evolution in their dual nature as a bridge between the human and the divine, while at the same time offering the public a point for reflection on the relationship between the visible and the invisible.
Particular attention is given to the progressive transformation of the angelic image, which in the modern age assumes a dimension closer to humanity, up to the symbolic and metaphorical reinterpretations of art between the 19th and 20th centuries.
The exhibition project boasts a body of works of extraordinary importance, the result of synergy with prestigious lending institutions. Thanks to their precious contribution, the exhibition offers the public the unique opportunity to admire masterpieces from the Museo Real Bosco Capodimonte, Museo di Roma, Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze and Musei del Bargello, Galleria degli Uffizi, Collezione Intesa Sanpaolo, Collezione BNL BNP Paris Bas, Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica di Roma, Musei Nazionali di Perugia, Direzione Regionale Musei Nazionali dell'Umbria, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Museo Barracco and Fondo Edifici di Culto, brought together for the first time on this occasion.
The exhibition route
Ranging from archaeology to artefacts of the 21st century, the route reflects the themes of custody, guidance and announcement, the spiritual cornerstones of the pontificate of Pope Bergoglio.
Three thematic sections were devised by the curators to encourage visitors to contemplate:
From the Ancient to the Contemporary
The exhibition sequence unfolds along a broad chronological arc, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary age, with references to early Christian tradition, and is organised into thematic sections dedicated to the main iconographic variations: from putti to Annunciations, from warrior archangels to guardian angels, up to wandering figures and musician angels.
It includes works of extraordinary artistic interest, among them "L'Angelo Custode" by Pietro da Cortona (1656), from the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini; "L'Angelo annunziante" by Carlo Dolci (c. 1650), on loan from the Galleria degli Uffizi; the "San Matteo con l'Angelo" (1622) by Guercino, already in the collection of the Capitoline Museums.
The exhibition is also an occasion to admire works usually "invisible", owned by private institutions, noble collections or foundations not accessible to the public and exceptionally lent for this initiative. Among these, the hypnotic "Angelo Custode" (c. 1620) by Giovanni Antonio Galli, known as Lo Spadarino, exceptionally granted by the Fondo Edifici di Culto (FEC) of the Ministry of the Interior and kept at the Church of San Rufo, in Rieti. This work, together with others related to the theme of divine protection, titled "Uno sguardo dall'alto", aims to underline the indissoluble bond between the beauty of art and the mission of the Bishop of the Eternal City. Numerous, moreover, are the works by contemporary artists, belonging to private collections. Among these are "Blu oltremare" and "Ri-annunciazione di una annunciazione" by the Emilian Omar Galliani, or "l'Angelo ribelle su fondo blu cupo" by Osvaldo Licini.
The curators Massimo Rossi Ruben and Viviana Vannucci wished to dedicate this exhibition to Pope Francis because "just like the angels who are the protagonists of the exhibition, he sought to interpret his vocation for the neighbour as a bridge between heaven and earth".