The Holy See at the Biennale

The spontaneous and prolific alliance between art and faith has lastedfor so long that, as in the words of Chagall, «for centuries painters havedipped their brush into that coloured alphabet which is the Bible», consideringit a sort of «iconographic atlas».At the root of this resort to art lies the very heart of the Christianmessage, that is the Incarnation, because, according to the Christian faith,in the face of Jesus Christ the invisible God is made visible. And it is thisintertwining between theological motivations and artistic aspirations whichgives rise to this alliance between faith and beauty, an alliance destined tolast over the centuries with artistic events both at the highest level and inpopular expression (like the ex-voto).It must be acknowledged that for a long time now, particularly duringthe last century, this alliance has been shattered. Art left the temple, theartists relegated the Bible to some dusty bookshelf taking the «secular»roads of contemporaneousness, fleeing from any figure, symbol or narrative.While at the same time the theologian has turned exclusively tosystematic speculation believing there is no need for any signs or metaphors,consigning instead this huge symbolic repertoire to the storeroomsof the past.However, the Church itself, in its highest authority, that is its pontificalmagisterium, has resisted this drifting away into a resigned dyscrasia betweenart and faith. The Popes have wished to stimulate the ecclesiasticalcommunity and, among them, Pope Paul VI with his famous speech tothe artists on 7 May 1964 proposing the restoration of a new alliancebetween art and faith should be remembered: an invitation taken up byPope John Paul II during Easter 1999.Events which, together with numerous experiences at the local level ofthe dioceses and parishes, was inevitably destined to lead to the emblematicact of the Holy See pavilion at the LV Venice Biennale.It is not just the small State of the Vatican City that is on display, butthe Holy See in all its universality. For this reason, among the manypossibilities, it was decided to have just a trio of artists of different nationalities: the American, Lawrence Carroll, the Czech photographer, JosefKoudelka and the «Studio Azzuro» choir school of an Italian, Paolo Rosato interpret the text of the first eleven chapters of the Genesis. In these thefigures, symbols, primary and permanent events of humanity are encountered,naturally interpreted according to the hermeneutics of faith. Thesewill be flanked, almost as an important witness to the art-faith dialogue -we venture to say «fuori concorso» - by an astonishing, fascinating andhitherto almost unknown painted ceramic Via Crucis by Lucio Fontana.