The art historian Brigida Mascitti
There Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica will be passed through by millions of pilgrims throughout the Holy Year. Pope Francis solemnly opened it on December 24th starting the Jubilee. But who is the artist who created it? Was there a competition before? What do the panels of the Door that are kissed by the faithful who pass through it represent?
We asked Brigida Mascittiart historian, who graduated from the School of Specialization in Historical-Artistic Heritage of the La Sapienza University of Rome with a thesis in contemporary art history on the twelve finalists of the “International Competition for the Doors of St. Peter in the Vatican ”.
In what year was the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica sculpted and how long did it take the artist to create it?
«It was created by the Tuscan sculptor Vico Consorti in just ten months of intense work starting from the date of the official commission in February 1949. Few, however, know that Consorti participated in and passed the First Grade of the International Competition for the creation of the Doors of Basilica Santa (1 July 1947), reaching, among the 12 finalists, the Second Selection of the Competition (31 May 1948) with the theme of “Church teaching and learning in its Martyrs and Saints”, commonly known as “Gate of Martyrs and Saints”».
Who commissioned it from Vico Consorti?
«Pope Pius XII to replace the ancient wooden doors on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of 1950 and it was Pope Pacelli himself who solemnly inaugurated it on 24 December 1949».
Who was the artist who created it?
«Vico Consorti (Semproniano, 1902 – Siena, 1979) is a Tuscan sculptor and medalist who trained between Siena, where he was a student of Fulvio Corsini at the Academy of Fine Arts, and Rome, where he moved in 1926 to attend three years of famous Medal School conducted by Giuseppe Romagnoli. All his art is imbued with classicism deriving from studies on the Sienese Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centists and on the fathers of Tuscan Humanism (Masaccio and Duccio di Buoninsegna). Moreover, the classical mastery in modeling the most varied materials in bas-relief, from his early works to the great works of his maturity, is an essential component of his style, already known in the capital when he executed the four reliefs of the pylon of the Ponte Duca d’Aosta in Rome in 1938. However, few actually know that Vico Consorti was the only artist of all time to have created as many as five bronze portals: this is an absolute record recognized by the citizens of Siena who, with familiarity and affection, nicknamed him “Vico dell’uscio”».
A pilgrim crosses the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica during the 2016 Jubilee (Ansa)
Have you made other Holy Doors?
«Yes, in addition to that of the Vatican Basilica, Consorti created a bronze door in the Cathedral of Siena for Count Guido Chigi Saracini, a lover of chamber music and an important charismatic figure in the Sienese cultural environment, inaugurated on 16 August 1946. as fulfillment of the vow for the salvation of the city made two years earlier by the Sienese citizens. He modeled the bronze doors for the church of Ludriano (Brescia), commissioned by Count Antonio Folonari; in 1966 he also created the central door of the sanctuary of Oropa near Biella, the largest he created, and one for the archbishop’s palace in Bogotà”.
Where exactly is the Door in St. Peter’s Basilica located?
«It is the last one on the right of the Vatican Basilica, the only one not signed, unlike those by Giacomo Manzù, Venanzo Crocetti and Luciano Minguzzi».
How many tiles is it made up of and what do they represent?
«As clarified in the official contract between the Vatican and the sculptor, dated 1 March 1949, Consorti was commissioned to model two doors of a bronze door to replace the already existing Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica, maintaining the ancient architectural compartments: 16 large panels and 12 small panels. The execution and corresponding reading of the panels deliberately acquires the sense of a text written in images which in turn are accompanied by thematic writings, or indications of quotations from the Holy Scriptures. At the top, the first four tiles must be placed together, divided by subject. On the left the Expulsion of the Progenitors, the Mortal Sin, the Fall, the Perdition. On the right l‘Annunciation, the Mystery of the Incarnation, the Reality of Salvation. The iconographies of Expulsion of Adam and Eve and of theAnnunciation they must be read together, as an announcement of the beginning and end of times, of the human condition placed between the Angel of Judgment and the Angel of Announcement, as Mary is the new Eve, so Christ will be the new Adam. Therefore, from the humbly naked body available for immersion for Baptism, to the shining body of the transfigured person who appears to the converted persecutor, the catechesis of the History of Salvation unfolds. The reading that can be done relates the rows of panels horizontally but allows, also vertically, to reach from the Expulsion to the Pentecost and from the Annunciation to the Opening of the Holy Door, analogous to the Mystery of the Incarnation. As regards the internal doors, the reality of Redemption and Salvation are unified in the two “closed” doors as they are “open” in the conscience of the faithful on pilgrimage. The panels are therefore used as chapters – now closed, now open – of a single story, in a formal construction for modular use, therefore conceived as a real textual articulation”.
John Paul II (1920-2005) opens the door of St. Peter’s Basilica on 24 December 1999 for the start of the Jubilee of 2000 (Reuters)
Is it true that the last tile at the bottom can be removed? And why?
«Yes, it is the one with the depiction of Pope Pius XII and is intended as a “counterpoint” to current events, or rather how the message of Salvation is perpetuated in eternity. It can be dismantled because, as foreseen by the artist, it was destined to be replaced at each Jubilee to present the contemporary historical reality, thus underlining the authority of the papal magisterium. In reality however, in all the Jubilees following that of Pius XII in 1950 it was never replaced. And so also for this Holy Year. In the panel, in addition to Pope Pacelli, we recognize – in the prelate holding the candle depicted next to the Pope – Monsignor Kaas, bursar and secretary of the Reverend Fabbrica di San Pietro and Canon of San Pietro, and Cardinal Nicola Canali, the prelate holding the cope.”
Who were Consorti’s “religious contacts” for iconographic issues?
«The sculptor confronted Monsignor Ludovico Kaas, who, in the months following the “construction” of the Holy Door, between February and December 1949, was for Consorti what Cardinal De Luca was for Giacomo Manzù: an intimate confidant as well as a Friend. It is no coincidence that the last panel which portrays him holding the candle seems to be intended as a pertinent thank you, a sort of implied, polite dedication from the artist to his interlocutor. The other fundamental contact was Monsignor Martino Ceccuzzi, better known as Don Idilio Dell’Era, honorary canon of the Cathedral of Siena”.
Who paid for the doors?
«Prince George of Bavaria, dying in 1943, bequeathed his entire inheritance to the Venerable Fabric of St. Peter in the Vatican so that it could be used, within a specified time, in the execution of the bronze shutters for two of the minor doors of St. Peter, the “Ravenniana” to the left of the power station, called “Argentea” or “Regia”, and the “Romana” to the right. In reality, there will be three doors created for the Vatican Competition, as well as the Holy Door by Consorti, which was extra-competition. However, all of them were paid for through the generous bequest of George of Bavaria.”
