Jubilee. Artists attend White Night in St. Peter’s Basilica

By Antonella Palermo

To highlight the already overwhelming beauty of the Vatican Basilica without risking redundancy is by no means an easy endeavour. Yet, the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education successfully met the challenge by offering an artistic and spiritual journey on Sunday evening , February 16, that led artists and cultural figures into a sacred space of pure contemplation.

A multi-sensory spiritual journey

The responsibility of artists is to make beauty shine, Pope Francis wrote in his homily delivered on Sunday morning by Cardinal José Tolentino De Mendonça for the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture. This was also the idea of the artistic director Andrea Chiodi who arranged the White Night performance in the sacred building using his theatrical experience.

Under the Basilica’s portico, pilgrims were welcomed by the sound installation The Mute Echoes of a Great Sound Sculpture – The Big Bell of St. Peter’s, by artist Bill Fontana, "silent echoes of a great sound sculpture" as explainde on of the curators the Italian diplomat Umberto Vattani. 

The visitors then entered the Basilica in the dark. The only beam of light fell on Michelangelo’s Pietà: the Madonna presenting Christ, while the Laudi of Jacopone da Todi envelopped the scene in an atmosphere of unrest and vulnerability. This, Chiodi explained, was meant to express the idea that it is Mary who shows the way—a path that also includes suffering.

Then came Bernini’s Gloria over St. Peter’s Chair, with the Holy Spirit prominently displayed at the centre of the nave, compelling the pilgrims to look upwards into a rain of hope. But it was a slow motion, filled with gradually unfolding wonders: small beams of light gradually illuminated the lateral statues leading up to the famous Italian sculptor’s Baldachin.

A moment of the White Night event in St. Peter's Basilica

Here, the notes  of Bach, performed on the cello by Jacopo Di Tonno, gently resounded. “It was an unimaginable and unforgettable experience,” the musician later said.  “Every little note tried to merge with the environment, in a perfect marriage between visual and auditory beauty.”

The concert was intimate, with people standing just inches from the instrument, face to face with the source of sound. "I truly believe that beauty can save us, that it is a driving force for a serene life," Di Tonno added.

Art and consolation

Those attending prayed, some visibly overwhelmed with emotion. On the way out, they they passed by baptismal font—the water that allows us to be reborn. And finally arrived at the wide-open door leading to Rome, to everyday life.

"Perhaps this journey is the one also suggested by the Pope when he emphasizes that art should help rediscover beauty and, in some way, be consoling in such a difficult historical moment," observed Chiodi.  Art, he added, also requires courage and engagement: "We live in a time where many artists are very self-referential, but an artist must be able to tell a story and I strongly believe that in our profession, we must be a source of hope”, Chiodi said. “The role of an actor is precisely to console. It is extremely important. We may struggle in our relationship with God, with the Church, but this beauty speaks to us of something great."

Forgetting oneself lost in beauty

Among those attending was Italian actress Claudia Koll's.  She spoke of an emotional, recreated beauty that somewhat reminded  her of the Holy Sepulchre, "the ultimate place of faith."

With her was actress Daniela Poggi, who recounted experiencing a true state of ecstasy: "I lost myself, I forgot about myself, in a very intense spiritual dimension, in this subtraction that the artistic director has made, with this lighting that makes you actively seek hope. For me, it is a night of walking towards Jesus, towards God, the Holy Spirit.”

A gaze of hope on the discarded

According to Italian poet Giovanni Roma the event “makes sense if it becomes a mission" to bring light to a wounded world. “We must recognize beauty not only where it is evident but also in those who are discarded” he said, recalling the words said at Mass in the morning. “Pope Francis has been repeating this throughout his pontificate: we must recognize beauty, give it to the world, offer this perspective on humanity, seek the small that the world doesn’t see," he said. 

Many other artists attending the event echoed this sentiment, highlighting how art can contribute to a more inclusive society and to peacebuilding.