(by Marzia Apice) (ANSA) – ROME, 02 DEC – The Nativity that attracts the eye with its mystery, while the clear blue sky instills hope. The sacred scene, with the Madonna and St. Joseph wearing the same clothes as the Marriage of the Virgin, is set in an architecture that evokes the Serapeum of Villa Adriana in Tivoli, on whose tympanum the famous School of Athens is reproduced in miniature. All around, with the obsessive attention to every detail, there are ancient ruins, the market with vendors, beggars, shepherds with sheep, a square with a well reminiscent of San Gimignano, the evocative views of Spoleto and San Gemini, and the inevitable Magi, to recreate an imaginary but likely landscape, with a sixteenth-century atmosphere. And then again here are Raphael, Dante and Caravaggio, who, intent on their arts in this place between fairy tale and reality, find themselves incredibly together, as if to accompany those who arrive towards the magnificent vision offered by one of the symbolic places of Christian devotion.
It should have been set up in 2020 as a tribute to Raphael in the 500 / o anniversary of his death, then the covid with its fury stopped this project as well, but from 3 December finally the Renaissance style and subject crib inspired by Urbino and Fully funded by the Giulio and Giovanna Sacchetti Onlus Foundation, it will welcome visitors to the Sistine Chapel throughout the Christmas period. The abode of the purest beauty, one of the most important artistic sites in the world and the heart of Christianity, will therefore have its nativity scene for the first time, created in 9 months by a group of artisan artists (Giuseppe Passeri, Eva Maria Antulov and Alfonso Pepe ) and dedicated to the memory of Giulio Sacchetti (who passed away in 2010, former Special Delegate of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State): the work with its 3 meters in length and 2 in depth will remain on display until January 15, for celebrate the embrace between theology and philosophy (the birth of Jesus next to the School of Athens) and at the same time the unattainable talent of Raphael, the first inspirer, but also that of Dante (on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of his death) and Caravaggio , for the 450th anniversary of his birth.
The particularity of this nativity scene, in addition to the perfection of the details and the symbolic meaning of each element, lies in the materials from all over the world with which it was made. From cork to precious wood, from the walnut husk from which the background color of the crib was obtained to the precious lapis lazuli from the Sar-e-Sang mine in northern Afghanistan for the blues with unique shades, and then the rare inserted jasper in the composition and found by Passeri himself in the Tuscan archipelago and the series of azurites arriving from Morocco: a unique work, which thanks to these materials has been conceived to withstand the passage of time. But the nativity scene, donated to the Vatican (which then after the exposure in the Sistine Chapel will choose where to place it), is above all a further example of the enlightened and contemporary patronage that the Sacchetti Onlus Foundation has been carrying out since 2013, in a constant commitment to support art, scientific research, deserving students.
“I am excited, because this crib is dedicated to the memory of my husband who worked here in the Vatican for almost 40 years, a whole life,” Giovanna Sacchetti, president of the Foundation, told ANSA last night during the presentation of the crib. “When they proposed the project to me, I accepted immediately: I see it now for the first time, I didn’t want to look at even a photograph. I was expecting this good result and I hope that the crib will be appreciated by many people”.
“My relationship with this place begins in 1980 with the signing of my husband’s contract to follow the work for the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel and ends in 1994, with the Solemn Mass celebrated by the Holy Father Pope John Paul II, also in the Sistine Chapel, occasion of the presentation of the restorations “, he added. “In those 14 years I have visited the construction site many times and coming back here with a nativity scene dedicated to my husband is personally very moving”. (HANDLE).
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Source From: Ansa
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