From shipwreck to mercy, from wounded matter to the consciousness of the present. In the solemn atmosphere of the last Jubilee audience, maestro Domenico Sepe met Pope Leo XIV and presented him with "Franciscvs – Miserando atque eligendo," a monumental sculpture rooted in wood recovered from the wreck of the Steccato di Cutro shipwreck in February 2023. A nearly two-meter-tall work, cast in bronze using the lost-wax technique, it transforms a fragment of death into a pastoral symbol and living memory.
At the center of the composition, the crosier is born from wood broken by the sea, heavy with expectation and absence, while the fragments of the cross, donated by Don Pasquale Squillacioti, insert the work into a liturgical dimension that transcends simple artistic representation. The Pope's cloak transforms into the habit of Saint Francis, evoking a Church stripped of its superfluous elements, and the feet rest on bronze slabs that simultaneously recall the stone of Peter and the Tablets of the Law, foundation and responsibility.
During the meeting, Sepe also donated the bronze bas-relief "The Lion of Saint Peter," a symbol of vigilance and spiritual strength, and two versions of the Nativity scene, one in aluminum and one in bronze, presented by his sons Angelo and Michele. The presence of the family, alongside the artist and his wife Antonella, gave the audience the feel of a concerted gesture, in which art served as a testimony and a legacy.
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"Franciscvs – Miserando atque eligendo" was conceived as a tribute to the new Pontiff but extends to a universal dimension, presenting the image of a Church that walks with the least and takes on the world's pain as a responsibility. A work that neither consoles nor decorates, but questions, carved in the material of shipwreck and the grammar of mercy.
The words spoken by Pope Leo XIV at the end of the meeting left a profound impression on the artist, sparking a new creative vision already announced in the title "Misericordia Pacis – The Pietà of Peace," a further step in a quest that intertwines faith, art, and redemption. With this gesture, Domenico Sepe reaffirms the artist's role as a vigilant conscience of the present, capable of transforming pain into language and matter into prayer.
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
The article discusses a very important work, but I don't quite understand how a piece of wood from a shipwreck could become a symbol of mercy. The connection between art and religion is interesting, but there are many questions about this topic.