Vittoriano
On Monday 18 November, the presentation of the volume L'arte degli Anni Santi. Roma 1300-1875, reprint of the catalogue published on the occasion of the great exhibition held at Palazzo Venezia between 1984 and 1985, at the close of the Extraordinary Jubilee of the Redemption, inaugurated by John Paul II in 1983.
Following the message of greeting sent by the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, the presentation was opened by His Excellency Monsignor Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for the New Evangelisation, the Director of the Office for the Pastoral Care of Pilgrimages Sister Rebecca Nazzaro and the Special Superintendent of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome Daniela Porro.
The meeting continued with an introduction by the Director of the VIVE - Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia Edith Gabrielli and speeches by the Councillor for Artistic, Historical and Cultural Heritage of Sapienza University of Rome, Alessandro Zuccari, the Director of the Vatican Museums Barbara Jatta and the Professor of History of Christianity at Sapienza University of Rome Gaetano Lettieri.
The 1984 exhibition project, promoted and financed by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Capitoline Administration, was organised by the Centro di Studi per la Cultura e l'Immagine di Roma, founded by Giulio Carlo Argan at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and directed by Marcello Fagiolo. The initiative also benefited from the collaboration of the Central Vatican Committee for the Holy Year and various cultural institutions of the Holy See.
The decision to organise the exhibition in Palazzo Venezia was not by chance: the pivot of a decisive urban and architectural development, commissioned by Pietro Barbo, and symbol of the Roman Renaissance, which has always been the site of major exhibition projects, the Palazzo was chosen as the venue for the exhibition by virtue of its profound connection with the artistic heritage promoted by the Church from the 15th century onwards. The presentation of the catalogue The Art of the Holy Years. Rome 1300-1875 is part of this tradition.
The two original volumes, published in 1984 at the end of the exhibition and compiled by a large group of scholars under the guidance of Marcello Fagiolo and Maria Luisa Madonna, have over time become a point of reference for the study of the relationship between the Jubilee phenomenon, the arts and the city of Rome.
The reprint, edited by Marco Coppolaro, unites the two books in the catalogue and was produced on the occasion of the Ordinary Jubilee of 2025, with the support of the Vicariate of Rome through the Office for the Pastoral Care of Pilgrimages (Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi).
