The Mysteries of Santa Croce

Brief guide on the immersive itinerary realised thanks to the new lighting control system in Santa Croce. The Theology of Beauty is explained through the details of the Basilica, in the contrast of light and darkness.

Saint Peter Celestine (Pope Celestine V) - Basilica of Santa Croce by Cesare PennaArtWork Cultura

The Basilica of Santa Croce let us enter the world of Celestine V, who resigned from the papal office stating his desire to return to his pre-papal life.

Counterfaçade - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

The silence and the dark lead us through an experience of inner research. The dim light coming from outside reveals the chapels, the paintings, the ceiling, the cross, and the dome.

Internal view - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

Light and music draw our attention towards the chapels which, illuminated gradually, reveal their beauty and their deep significance.

Baptismal font and Chapel of Saint Peter Celestine - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

The silence marks the starting point and the baptismal font, in the chapel of Saint Peter Celestine, is the first element to be lit.

While the music is playing, we hear the story of Pope Celestine V’s struggle, who, kneeling before the Virgin and the Child, decides to resign from the papal office to follow his vocation.

Detail of the dome - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

Like a wayfarer, Celestine V searches his way to the New Jerusalem, the path to purity, represented by the stylised lilies on the keystones and capitals.

Chapel of Saint Francis of Paola - Basilica of Santa Croce (1614 - 1615) by Francesco Antonio ZimbaloArtWork Cultura

In the chapel of Saint Francis of Paola, a Baroque masterpiece sculpted by Francesco Antonio Zimbalo, twelve panels depict some episodes from the life of the Saint.

Liberation from demonic possession - Basilica of Santa Croce (1614 - 1615) by Francesco Antonio ZimbaloArtWork Cultura

Only one panel is illuminated: Liberation from Demonic Possession, where a possessed woman is at the mercy of evil forces.

Chapel of Saint Francis of Paola in the Basilica of Santa Croce - detail (1833) by Alessandro CalabreseArtWork Cultura

The painting of Saint Francis of Paola by Alessandro Calabrese is gradually revealed.

Melchisedek - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

On a capital in the transept, the light illuminates the figure of Melchisedek, protector of Abraham, David’s predecessor, king of Salem and priest of El Elyon, whose name means “king of righteousness”.

Chapel of the Holy Trinity - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

Light and music draw our attention towards two couples of spiral columns and, at the centre, the painting of the Trinity, an early sixteenth-century masterpiece by Gianserio Strafella from Copertino.

Chapel of the Relics in the Basilica of Santa Croce - detail (1639) by Cesare PennaArtWork Cultura

We are now inside the Christian mystery: the cross with the Relics of the True Cross, in the seventeenth-century Chapel of the Relics realised by the sculptor Cesare Penna.

Internal view from the presbitery - Basilica of Santa CroceArtWork Cultura

The light gradually fills the Basilica and the beauty of Santa Croce is revealed in its entirety.

Credits: Story

Lighting control system designer: eng. Mario Torchio

Project creator: Paolo Babbo, president of ArtWork Cooperativa Sociale

Theological consultant: Monsignor Flavio De Pascali, parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Croce

Director and platwright: Alessandro Valenti

Composer: eng. Stefano De Santis

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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