“In this Holy Land afflicted by hatred and division, we have to build bridges, propose new initiatives and open up horizons.” These were the words that the Custos of the Holy Land, Fra Francesco Patton, pronounced at the inauguration of the exhibition “The beauty of the sacred: the Altar of the Medicis and the gifts of Kings” on 12 September at the “ Marino Marini” Museum in Florence.
The exhibition, which starts from the Rucellai Chapel, is open from 13 September to 7 January 2025. It has 108 works with an extraordinary historical-artistic value. The collection of works of the Custody on display for the occasion, and pending the opening of the Terra Sancta Museum-Historical section, includes religious objects, jewellery, ornaments and sacred vestments, codices and canopies which the Franciscans have preserved over more than 500 years. The altar from the Latin Chapel of Calvary in the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem stands out for its importance.
Italy and the Holy Land, a deep bond
The exhibition comes from the collaboration between the Terra Sancta Museum of Jerusalen and the “Marino Marini” Museum and the involvement of other important Italian museums which, by lending their works, have wanted to celebrate the deep bond which has united the Holy Land and Italy over the centuries.
Various people who played a fundamental role in accomplishing this project attended the inauguration. They included Carlo Ferdinando Carnacini, President of the Marini San Pancrazio Foundation, Fra Stephane Milotovitch, Director of the Cultural Heritage Department of the Custody of the Holy Land and in charge of the Terra Sancta Museum project, Leyla Bezzi, executive curator of the exhibition, Fra Matteo Brena, commissar of the Holy Land for Tuscany and Fra Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land.
The Medici altar, the star of the exhibition
The star of the exhibition is the Altar of Calvary - named “Ornament of Ferdinando I de’ Medici” – donated by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Last April, just over four centuries since its creation, the Medici altar left the Jerusalem basilica to return to Italy, where it was restored and returned to its original splendour in the workshops of the “Marino Marini” Museum.
Art and conflict
The exhibition aims to promote beauty as an instrument to foster a culture of peace and fight every form of violence and conflict. At a time in history when the Holy Land is the theatre of divisions, this exhibition aims to rediscover the spiritual and cultural roots that unite, through the universal power of art.
Speaking of art in times of war could seem superfluous, but it is actually now that it plays a crucial role to foster peace in the Holy Land. As Fra Stéphane Milovitch recalled: “As Franciscans, we believe deeply that culture can cure wounds when all the other doors are closed. This is our objective in creating the first museum of Christian art in Jerusalem: to provide the possibility to meet. The Church must be inventive and creative. We do not have the right to give up.”
Lucia Borgato
