Pope to artists: True beauty inspires the desire for, renders glory to God

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"In true beauty, we begin to experience the desire for God."

Pope Francis made this observation as he addressed artists in the Sistine Chapel for the 50th Anniversary of the Inauguration of the Vatican Museums’ Collection of Modern Art on Friday, as he told artists they are "sharers in God's dream."

During the exceptional encounter, the Pope expressed his hope and prayer that their works "prove worthy of the women and men of this earth, and render glory to God who is the Father of all and whom all seek, also through the testimony of works of art." 

The Holy Father thanked them for accepting his invitation, and expressed his joy to be among them. He recalled the Church's long-standing "natural" and "special" relationship, or rather "friendship" over the centuries.

Spirit propels forward

Artists, he said, remind us that the dimension in which we move, is always that of the Spirit.  "Your art," he said, "is like a sail swelling with the wind of the Spirit and propelling us forward.  The Church’s friendship with the arts is thus something quite natural."

Pope Francis meeting artists

The Holy Father recalled that Romano Guardini once wrote that: “The situation of the artist is not unlike that of a child and even that of a visionary,” noting his intrigue over these two comparisons.   For Guardini, “a work of art opens a space into which we can step, in which we can breathe, move about and encounter objects and persons as they open up before us.” 

He reaffirmed that in the encounter with art, boundaries become more fluid, and the limits of our experience and understanding broaden.  With everything seeming more open and accessible, he said, "we experience the spontaneity of the child filled with imagination and the intuition of the visionary who grasps reality."

'Behold I am doing something new'

"For the artist is a child – by this I mean no offence," he argued, who gives free rein to originality, novelty and creativity, and thus brings into the world something new and unprecedented."   

Pope Francis said he thinks back to those words found in the Prophet Isaiah, where God says: “Behold, I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” (Is 43:19).  In the Book of Revelation, he also recalled, God says the same thing: “See, I am making all things new” (21:15).    

"The creativity of the artist" he said, "can thus be said to share in God’s own passion for creation.  You are sharers in God’s dream!" 

The Holy Father said it is not enough to see, there is the need to be able to dream.

Artists during their encounter with Pope Francis

Ability to dream

Recalling Guardini's visionary-like description of artists, the Pope confirmed they are a bit like prophets, noting their ability to see things both in depth and from afar, "like sentinels who strain their eyes, peering into the horizon and discerning deeper realities."  

In doing so, Pope Francis urged, "you are called to reject the allure of that artificial, skin-deep beauty so popular today and often complicit with economic mechanisms that generate inequality: a fake, cosmetic beauty, a greasepaint that conceals rather than reveals." 

The Pope said that In Italian, the word for “makeup” is also the word for “trick,” "since a touch of deception is always present."  

Like the biblical prophets, he said artists often confront that which is "uncomfortable," often criticizing "today’s false myths and new idols, its empty talk, the ploys of consumerism, the schemes of power."

The human dimension of humanity

The Pope called on them to discern genuine religiosity, "too often presented in trite or demeaning ways." 

The Pope said the "humanness of humanity" is dear to him, because "that is also the great passion of God." 

Art is drawn closer to faith, he continued to observe, since both tend to be troubling. 

"Neither art nor faith can leave things simply as they are," he said, observing, "they change, transform and convert them.  Art can never serve as an anesthetic; it brings peace, yet far from deadening consciences, it keeps them alert. Often, as artists, you attempt to plumb the depths of the human condition, its dark abysses."

The Pope called for being a light in the darkness. 

Artist performing in Sistine Chapel for Pope Francis' encounter with artists

Desire for God

Many today, he said, hope that art can return more and more to the cultivation of beauty.  Certainly, as I have said, there is also a kind of beauty that is futile, artificial, superficial, even dishonest.

The Pope said the important criterion for discerning the difference is harmony. 

"True beauty is in fact a reflection of harmony.  If I may say so," he said, "harmony is the operative virtue of beauty, its deepest spirit, where the Spirit of God, the great harmonizer of the world, is at work." 

Beauty is work of the Spirit

Harmony, he noted, exists when elements different from each other nonetheless form a unity.  This is not easy; only the Spirit can make this possible, as He did at Pentecost.

"Beauty is that work of the Spirit which creates harmony," the Pope highlighted, exhorting the artists to let their "artistic genius pursue this course!"

Be interpreters of the poor's silent plea

Before leaving, the Pope said he had one more thing to say, very close to his heart: "I would like to ask you not to forget the poor, those especially close to the heart of Christ, those affected by all of today’s many forms of poverty."  

The poor too, he noted, need art and beauty.  "Some are living lives of great hardship, and so have even greater need of this.  Usually, they have no voice to make themselves heard. 

Leaving expressing esteem

The Pope thanked the artists, and said, "once more I affirm my esteem for you. 

The Holy Father concluded, asking them to "please, each in your own way, pray for me."

Pope Francis' encounter with artists