A modern Pietà

A father picks up his son’s lifeless body from the ground. A Pietà that is not only the transposition of the liturgical episode but also “a modern re-elaboration of a moment of recollection and pain, with which humanity has identified itself for centuries”. The work of the sculptor Jago, photographed by Stefania Casellato for Women Church World, is on display until February 28, 2022 in the Chapel of the Crucifix in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Montesanto, the Church of the Artists, in Rome. The installation is part of the project Una porta verso l’infinito – l’uomo e l’Assoluto nell’arte [A Door to Infinity - Man and the Absolute in Art], within the Arte e Liturgia [Art and Liturgy] cycle, promoted by the rector of the basilica, Monsignor Walter Insero. The exhibition is curated by art historian and project manager Tommaso Zijno and organized together with partners Studio Arte 15 of Simona Cresci and Federica Romano, FERCAM Fine Art with Chiara Prisco and Daria Licata, P.L. Ferrari & Co. with Massimo Maggio and Anna Maria Amato. Jacopo “Jago” Cardillo, 34, from Frosinone, worked there for 16 months in the studio of Sant’Aspreno ai Crociferi, in Naples.   This father’s pain is not sublimated into contemplation “because I was interested in making a true study of expression, to be able to communicate an emotion through the deformation of the face, instead of idealizing it”. (WCW)