The special exhibition “Shards of Hope” at the Vatican Museums presents the restoration of Saint-Eutique’s cross, which was reduced to splinters during the 2016 earthquake. The painting and wood restoration workshop of the Vatican Museums, responsible for restoration, celebrates its centenary this year.
(Vatican News Network)The Vatican Museums have launched a special exhibition “Shards of Hope”, featuring a crucifix reborn from the rubble of an earthquake in its gallery. Ms. Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, said that after the special exhibition, the cross will return to its hometown and be exhibited in the Diocesan Museum of Spoleto throughout the summer.
Central Italy has been plagued by earthquakes in 2016. The strong earthquake on October 26 of the same year caused the ancient Sant’Eutizio monastery and other buildings to collapse. The cross above the altar of the chapel was destroyed and shattered into about 30 pieces of wood. Made and painted around 1472, the cross lay quietly on the ground for weeks after the 2016 earthquake, mixed with rubble and dust. Firefighters then went into the disaster area together with a team of experts from the Vatican Museums Painting and Wood Restoration Workshop to collect the pieces among the ruined walls.
The restoration work is obviously difficult, it is complex and detailed, and the broken pieces are like a heart-wrenching puzzle. “We need hope,” said Ms. Yata, director of the Vatican Museums, to this news network. As Pope Francis said in 2017 when he met the victims of the earthquake: “Reconstruction requires hearts and hands, our hands, the hands of all people. “” pointed out Ms Yata. “This is what we do. We put our hearts and hands into action. Many people have raised their hands, hoping to give back to the Archdiocese of Spoleto, and in particular to all the faithful, something very important to the local people. A work of great importance, from the monastery of Saint-Eutique, which was completely destroyed in the earthquake”.
After its special exhibition at the Vatican, the cross will return to the place where monks longed for its presence more than 500 years ago. “The work will be on display throughout the summer in the Diocesan Museum of Spoleto. Then the archbishop will decide whether to return it to its original location,” explained Ms Yata. The sanctuary of Sant’Eutio is still devastated. On September 17, 2022, when the Pope received members of the Archdiocese of Spoleto in the Vatican, Archbishop Boccardo reported the reconstruction to the Pope. On that occasion, Pope Francis blessed the stone of the monastery of Caia.
It coincides with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Vatican Museum Painting and Wood Restoration Workshop. The head of the workshop, Ms. Francesca Persegati, introduced to this news network: “We are one of the oldest institutions in the global preservation of cultural relics. . … The workshop was founded with clear principles that are still new today. For example, to control and recognize those areas that need to be protected and preserved; to do a good job of archiving, because our task is not only to restore, but also to Write down everything you do in case someone has to do the same job in the future.”
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