Dear Patrons and Friends,
Lent is a period of prayer, fasting, abstinence and good works, in preparation for Christianity’s most solemn feast of Easter, celebrating Jesus’ glorious resurrection following his passion and death on the cross.
This year we walk with Jesus in a series of stations, the Way of the Cross, accompanied by Monsignor Hogan and his meditations on this special time of the liturgical year. For those who are in Rome, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica invites the faithful to partecipate in the Stations of the Cross (Via Crucis) through the “Passion of Christ” artworks by the Italian artist Gaetano Previati (1852 – 1920).
Let’s find out more!
ARTWORKS ON DISPLAY
The Via Crucis by Gaetano Previati in St. Peter’s Basilica
The Via Crucis by Previati was painted between 1901-1902. The Vatican series is a gift from the industrialist Fabio Ponti during the formation of the Collection of Modern Religious Art commissioned by Paul VI and inaugurated in 1973.
The Via Crucis at the Museo Diocesano Carlo Maria Martini di Milano in 2018
It is the first time that these paintings are displayed for popular devotion inside a sacred building. “Previati had created ‘the Passion’ to stimulate people to pray through art,” said Cardinal Gambetti. “We are happy that this purpose found the place of fulfillment in St. Peter’s Basilica 120 years after he created it in 1902”.
Thanks to an accurate and careful restoration carried out by the Vatican Museums, the images and the vivid colors brought ‘Christ Jesus Crucified’ to light.
| The 14 Stations of the Cross underwent a restoration intervention in the 1980s. In 2020, under the responsibility of Francesca Persegati, the Painting Restoration Laboratory restored the original and recently found frames. Special thanks to the Minnesota and North Dakota Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums who generously supported these works. |
The Via Crucis in Saint Peter’s
