More commentary on the Sistine Chapel event last Saturday.
Impelled by higher things:
Artists moved by Benedict's
discourse on beauty
by Giuseppe Frangi
November 25, 2009
The first thing that leapt to mind after the Pope's encounter with a large representation of artists last Saturday at the Vatican, was that of sincere and shared satisfaction. There was not a single one of the participants who did not say so.
The assembly, put together by Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi with his usual ability, was truly one without labels nor cultural exclusions. In short, without any fences.
And so, the outcome could not be taken for granted, if only because the occasion called for the artists to step back for once and be the audience.
Moreover, they were asked to do so by a great institution, the Church, which many men of culture have regarded for some time with suspicion and wariness.
So we must ask what brought on this unanimous and shared feeling of contentment about the meeting and the words they heard. I think this was due to two factors which were decisive and probably unforeseen.
The first is that the meeting was promptly understood as a great gesture of esteem, particularly on the part of the Pope, for the work of those who make culture. And the choice of such an extraordinarily beautiful and moving location for the meeting immediately confirmed this to everyone who came.
These days, esteem for the world of culture either does not exist at all or is conditioned by political and ideological alignments.
But n the contrary, the Pope signalled his openness and trust, which seemed the start of something new to everyone present. Thus, it is significant that someone so unlikely to be considerate towards the Church and its positions as film director Nanni Moretti was among those who came, and also thought it useful and constructive to get Mons. Ravasi's opinion on the script for his next film [about a Pope who goes into psychoanalysis].
The second factor emerged clearly from Benedict XVI's address to the artists. One word recurred 36 times in the Pope's test - beauty. As much esteem as there is for the work done by men and women of culture, there is still greater esteem for what they do - which is to give form to beauty.
Beauty is not preconstituted, nor is it a canon that one must live up to. Beauty is an actual experience, an activity that also introduces some uneasiness - in that it opens up man's eyes to questions about his ultimate end; it provokes struggle towards something higher, beyond, towards the infinite.
Beauty, said the Pope, "draws man out of himself, wrenches him away from resignation and from being content with the humdrum - it even makes him suffer, piercing him like a dart, but in so doing, it 'reawakens him', opening afresh the eyes of his heart and mind, giving him wings, carrying him aloft."
To reinforce this concept, he used a beautiful statement by Georges Braque, the painter who founded Cubism with Picasso at the start of the 20th century: "Art is meant to disturb, science reassures".
To generate beauty which is capable of 'setting us back on our path': how can one not be content to have such a mission? How can one not grasp with new impetus the historical and concrete importance of such a task?
At the Sistine Chapel on Saturday, something was definitely triggered which can set so many things in motion, leaving behind all conservationism of any type.
In a certain sense. it means an end to 'veltronism' and its idea of a coddled navel-gazing culture. But it also means filing away the culture of endless recrimination against modernity.
The challenge has been launched, and concretely. The Church has even undertaken the first risk: the idea of opening a Vatican pavilion at the next Biennial of Art in Venice will be the first fascinating evidence of the path that has opened.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/11/2009 20:25]