Works by El Greco, which had never left Spain, arrive at the Jubilee in Rome

Three works by the painter Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco, and who had never left Spain, will be exhibited in the Basilica of Saint Agnes in Agony, located in Piazza Navona, in Rome, and are the first cultural act of the Jubilee to be will be held in 2025, the Catholic event that is organized every 25 years and in which millions of pilgrims are expected to visit the Italian capital and the Vatican.

The exhibition of these three works is entitled Los cielos abiertos. El Greco in Rome and was inaugurated by the Italian bishop Rino Fisichella, who is in charge of coordinating the Jubilee events and is the first event for Catholics and visitors to prepare for the event during the months remaining to the Jubilee.

The three paintings placed inside the basilica and which can be visited free of charge in Rome until October 5, are The Holy Family with Saint Anne and The Baptism of Christ, both in the Hospital de Talavera; and Christ embracing the cross, a painting kept by the El Bonillo parish museum, in Albacete.

The Basilica of Saint Agnes in Agony is one of the most popular in Rome and also one of the most visited because it was built in the place where Christian tradition indicates that the saint was martyred, in the then Domitian stadium, during the persecution of the Christians and is located in the famous Navona Square, and is also an architectural marvel designed by Francesco Borromini.

Fisichella, entrusted by Pope Francis with the organization of the Holy Year, had stressed during the press conference on May 9 that exhibitions and artistic events will also be promoted in places such as hospitals and prisons, precisely to bring a message of hope where most needed. And that they will ensure that all of them are free.

The bishop defined this exhibition as "a synthesis between what is the East and the West. Here we have that verticalism, as the experts call it, which means aiming upwards and therefore aiming for transcendence, moving our gaze, which is always too far Often she is chained to the ground, towards the sky.

That's why we wanted to call it "Open Skies" because it expresses openness, it expresses grandeur," he said, referring to the original vision of El Greco's paintings.

Fisichella wished that "this first significant artistic event can help people to perceive the beauty of the faith experience" because "the Jubilee is also culture" and pointed out that "the pilgrim of before became just that, a tourist due to curiosity within him, humanly to be able to investigate, to be able to learn".

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