Amazement and Hope … these are the dominant emotions as Chagall's White Crucifixion leaves Rome after Jubilee Exhibition

Amazement, wonder, hope and a desire for meaning … these are the sensations which Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion, left in the hearts and minds of over 100,000 pilgrims and tourists who visited the Museo del Corso in Italy’s capital to see the masterpiece by the Belarusian artist.

It was exhibited in Rome for the Jubilee from November 27, 2024, to January 27, 2025. There were long queues at the Museum in Piazza Cipolla, for the unique, free event, throughout the full two months of the exhibition. Young people, children on school trips, families and the elderly were often to be seen standing in front of the painting, experiencing a moment of encounter with genuine beauty.

The painting, which enchanted Romans and tourists alike, seemed to speak to people’s hearts in a kind of universal language. A language steeped in pain that refocused attention on the violence of the past, of man’s inhumanity to man, while also reflecting the current situation, with wars continuing to blaze, causing suffering in Europe and the Middle East.

Yet it is no coincidence that the Jewish artist placed at the center of the work the figure of Jesus crucified, who for Christians is the ultimate sign of Hope, the one who takes on his shoulders the weight of death and suffering of all the children of God, and transforms them into life with his Resurrection.

"Whoever stood before the White Crucifixion was able to see the entire history of salvation,” commented Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. The Dicastery organized the Exhibition, as part of the cultural series, "Jubilee is culture". Archbishop Fisichella added: “The suffering of Jesus on the cross becomes a synthesis of the suffering of people have endured over the centuries".

The success of the Chagal exhibition follows that of the El Greco and Salvador Dalì Exhibitions in the "Jubilee is culture" season. Meanwhile the "Icons of Hope" Exhibition, organized for the Holy Year together with Vatican Museums, continues until February 16, 2025, at the Borromini Sacristy, in the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone.

Marc Chagall in Rome for the Jubilee - "The White Crucifixion"