Winter weather has officially arrived in the Archdiocese of Toronto. As we dig out our snow shovels, heavy coats and windshield scrapers, many of us are thinking the same thing: when can I take a vacation?
If you can’t take a trip this winter, or you just can’t wait until your departure to take a break, there’s good news for you: on December 10 (which also happens to be the Archdiocesan Day of Confessions), you can experience the beautiful Vatican Museums in 3D at a theatre near you. SKY Productions’ The Vatican Museums 3D is a strikingly beautiful and dramatically realistic look into the sixth most visited museum in the world. Additional shows will be in select theatres December 11 and 14.
Filmmakers used the same advanced 3D cinematic techniques used in Hollywood to create a realistic experience of some of the world’s most famous artwork contained in a museum that boasts seven kilometers worth of exhibitions. Paired with powerful music, these paintings come alive in a new way.
For Catholics, these masterpieces are much more than just pretty pictures and statues. As Professor Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums, notes in the film, art is a great analogy for God’s handiwork. Just as God created the world from the void, the artist creates something new from the matter shaped by his hands.
A particularly powerful segment outlines Michelangelo’s personal sacrifice to paint the striking ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Having endured grueling hours perched high atop scaffolding in the heat and cold, the artist lived the remainder of his life with a crooked back and dimmed eyesight. The result is a masterpiece that will forever draw visitors into the awesome mystery of humanity, made in the image and likeness of God.
Upon returning from the 2013 papal conclave that ultimately elected Pope Francis, our own Cardinal Collins often spoke of his experience sitting in the Sistine Chapel before the painting of the Final Judgement and feeling the magnitude of the task with which he was entrusted.
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| The Last Judgement by Michelangelo |
The Last Judgement, completed in Michelangelo’s old age nearly 25 years after he finished the Sistine Chapel ceiling, is said to portray the reality of the human condition in a way that was rare at the time. Other paintings in the Vatican Museums also reflect this shift to realism. The film recalls that Caravaggio painted the saints as being noticeably hardened and Giotto's Stefaneschi Altarpiecesimilarly shows faces “marked by real life and shaped by faith.”
Last year, in an address to 350 patrons of the Vatican Museums, Pope Francis spoke about the power of art to bear “witness to the spiritual aspirations of humanity, the sublime mysteries of the Christian faith, and the quest of that supreme beauty which has its source and fulfillment in God.”
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| The Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio |
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| Giotto's Stefaneschi Altarpiece |
Last year, in an address to 350 patrons of the Vatican Museums, Pope Francis spoke about the power of art to bear “witness to the spiritual aspirations of humanity, the sublime mysteries of the Christian faith, and the quest of that supreme beauty which has its source and fulfillment in God.”
If you can’t get away this winter (and even if you can), we encourage you to take a “Vaticanation.” Treat yourself to a cinematic experience that virtually transports you to Rome, where you can experience art’s power to bring you into deep contemplation of things Divine.
For more information on The Vatican Museums 3D, visit this site, find show times in your area and view the trailer above.
Marlena Loughheed is a communications coordinator in the Archdiocese of Toronto's Office of Public Relations and Communications.
Marlena Loughheed is a communications coordinator in the Archdiocese of Toronto's Office of Public Relations and Communications.