There are many cities in Italy marked by evidence of a popular religiosity that has accompanied their history, and which distracted tourists and the inhabitants themselves are no longer able to appreciate. Often, not even visible, obscured as they are by neglect and decay. Yet, they speak of deep roots that are still present, they tell of a bond that has intertwined the ordinariness of life and the Christian faith over the centuries. Something happens in Bologna that goes against the trend and deserves to be highlighted as an exemplary fact. “P’arte la Run”, now in its fourth edition, it is a project that brings together religiosity, art and restoration and is connected to the “Run for Mary”, a non-competitive walk promoted by the Sports Office of the Church of Bologna which accompanies the annual descent of the Madonna of San Luca, the icon-symbol of the city, from the sanctuary on Colle della Guardia where it is kept to the cathedral of San Pietro where it will be exhibited from 4 to 12 May. This year the sporting event in honor of Mary is scheduled for Sunday 5 May, while today the restoration of a wall painting depicting the Madonna della Verecondia will be presented to the citizens.
The work is a typical example of devotional street art and is located in via Santo Stefano, in the historic centre, its dating dates back to 1890 and was probably part of an older, larger depiction. There are more than three hundred works linked to popular devotion that can be found while walking under the porticoes and in the corners of the ancient buildings that embellish the center of Bologna: frescoes, votive aedicules, niches, bas-reliefs, votive offerings from anonymous clients which testify to the affection of the people of Bologna towards the Madonna. Sacred images often made invisible because they are obscured by decades of abandonment, dirt, neglect, sometimes by acts of vandalism. “P’Arte la Run” aims to restore one every year, as part of an artistic, religious and civil project that aims to restore beauty and a sense of the sacred and to enhance fragments of the city that are as precious as they are forgotten.
«It is an opportunity to rediscover the numerous Marian effigies born over the centuries from a popular religiosity that looks to the mother of Jesus as a presence that accompanies everyday life – comments Archbishop Matteo Zuppi, who strongly supported the initiative -. From Mary we can learn to look at the city with the eyes of a mother, to consider it as a precious reality that concerns us and belongs to us, to rediscover Christianity as a fact that enters into life and history, and every day continues to be incarnated in world. Recognizing Mary’s presence helps us to recognize the presence of others, to take care of them in a time marked by indifference and closure. It is something that speaks to everyone, even non-believers, so that everyone can feel accompanied by that maternal gaze. Pausing in front of these works saved by a skilful restoration work, we learn that life itself is the art of restoration: we are invited to deal with fragility – a reality that we prefer to censor, chasing the myths of success and performance – and to discover the beauty present in us and in others, which too often remains hidden and obscured. Jesus and Mary are the great restorers who help us rediscover this beauty: it happens under the porticoes of Bologna with the recovery of these sacred images, but it can happen in the life of each of us.”
The “saved” work depicts the Madonna della Verecondia, a word that is now obsolete and refers to modesty, confidentiality, concealment, a rare commodity in the times we live in, almost a provocation for a company that focuses on the ability to appear and amaze. Carlotta Scardovi, restorer of the Sos Art Srl laboratory, which oversaw the project, explains that «despite being a wall painting, it is not a fresco but an oil painting. Upon visual analysis, it appeared to be in a very poor state of conservation: the pictorial surface was very blurred, oxidation, dark stains and superficial deposits of hydrocarbons and atmospheric particulates over the entire surface, thus penalizing the reading unit. There were also deformations, unstable lifting of the plaster, cracks and fissures with areas of evident gaps in the paint film. Over time, numerous evident maintenance interventions have taken place, due to previous restoration interventions recognizable by the stucco work made with various types of materials. In the lower part of the niche there is also a large gap, filled with incongruous cement plaster of a neutral colour”.
The recovery work took place in front of many curious passers-by, and they also became an opportunity to learn about restoration techniques for the students of the Institute including the Carducci, Rolandino and Fortuzzi schools. The children carried out some guided visits at the beginning and in the middle of the intervention, then continued together with the teachers with multidisciplinary classroom work, demonstrating a lot of enthusiasm: for them too it was an experience of “discovery”.
Don Massimo Vacchetti is the director of the diocesan Sports, Tourism and Leisure Office, and coordinates the “P’Arte la Run” project, which is supported by the contributions of many ordinary people and by the Carisbo Foundation, Emilbanca, the Petroniana Foundation, Assopetroni, Confcommercio Bologna, Foiatonda, Petroniana Viaggi. «It is an initiative that helps to rediscover the roots of our history, deeply marked by Marian devotion. There are frequent reports from Bolognese people who thus help us to enhance the treasures of popular religiosity present in the city, as happened with the Madonna della Verecondia “discovered” under the porticoes of Via Santo Stefano”. For Don Massimo it was an experience that generated amazement: «At the end the work appeared like an unexpected wonder. When the photographs arrived, I discovered something that I had not caught with the naked eye, even with the restored work. The Madonna’s face is covered by a veil. A veil properly, transparent, embroidered. The Mystery always presents itself to us through a veil. A blanket of dust, a glass, a veil. There is always something to lift to meet the truth. Perhaps – as Saint Paul writes in the First Letter to the Corinthians – “now we see as in a mirror, in a confused way, but then we will see face to face. Now I know imperfectly, but then I will know perfectly, just as I also am known.” At the moment, we can limit ourselves to removing the dirt that prevents us from grasping the lost beauty. Faith can help us to raise the glass and venerate the face of the Mother of God in the face of Mary. One day, if God wills, we will be able to lift the veil of the Bride and say to her eternally: “How beautiful you are!”.
Gioia Lanzi, who together with her husband Fernando directs the Study Center for Popular Culture founded in Bologna in 1986 and specialized in the study and research of expressions of the sacred at a European level, observes: «Men’s steps are always under silent gaze and often ignored. They are the looks of the “street images”, sacred images that dot the streets throughout Europe. It is a constant action to place sacred images along the streets, even before and outside of Christianity, as if it were impossible for men of every time and place to live without being in some way participants in divine life, without holding on to it, to protect every moment and every place. Thus in Bologna, as in all European cities, there are images of the Mother of Jesus, of Jesus himself, of his saints, friends of him, of the Eternal Father. Of extraordinary variety in shape, material, subject: in any case they are there, and they protect our steps, from the facades of houses as well as from the walls of porticos”. Can a Madonna who speaks to us of modesty help today’s disorientated humanity to rediscover a direction to existence and a hope capable of nourishing it?
