As part of the Franciscan Jubilee Year, the Franciscan Museum affiliated with the Capuchin Historical Institute has launched the Sacred Capuchin Itineraries exhibition.
As it did the first time, the festival aims to bring together the visual arts and sacred music throughout the academic year; intended for students of the International College of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, it extends to the Pontifical University Antonianum, ultimately engaging the lay community of Rome and its environs.
The events, aptly named Itineraries, take place every two or three months and consist of two main components: lectures on the fine arts (with a focus on Franciscan-themed painting) and concerts (chamber music, choir, and orchestra), accompanied by a critical analysis of the music. The roundtable thus features leading figures in the field: professors of art history at state or pontifical universities, faculty members at select state music conservatories across the country, and finally museum officials or directors.
On May 16, Barbara Aniello, art historian and professor of Christian iconography at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Faculty of Church History and Cultural Heritage), spoke on the topic “Eros and Thanatos in Franciscan iconography between the 16th and 17th centuries: in the passage of a life, a story of love.” Antonio Marinozzi, Professor of Organ Performance and Gregorian Chant at the “U. Giordano” Conservatory in Foggia, illustrated sacred chant in the Franciscan tradition based on historical sources and testimonies. The director of the Franciscan Museum, Friar Gian Nicola Paladino, moderated the roundtable discussion, highlighting iconographic and musicological content.
The vocal ensemble l’Amatostile then performed a carefully curated repertoire in a concert titled Flores et Lacrimae. Moving between the purity of the lily and the tears of the Passion, the vocal performance wove together pieces of Renaissance polyphony, offering a spiritual journey that united Marian devotion, meditation, and hope.
The music, drawn from various parts of Europe, bears witness to the richness and variety of the musical languages through which the composers of that era were able to express the mystery of faith, in an intense dialogue between contemplation and joy.
Sacred Capuchin Itineraries is part of a project to further promote the Order’s extensive museum collection; it will therefore provide an upcoming opportunity to organize themed exhibitions.