Giovanni Manfredini: Stabat Mater Dolorosa

Born out of a story of human suffering, transfigured by art, Giovanni Manfredini‘s Stabat Mater Dolorosa consists of a suspended copper crown of rose branches coated in gold.

Music by the great composer Ennio Morricone, who wrote an original piece for the installation, represents and speaks of the sorrow of the Virgin Mary and every woman and every man, while two invisible threads hold the crown in place, making it seem to float in the air without support. Although this artistic project stems from personal experience, it becomes universal, just as the lines in Jacopone da Todi’s prayer (Eia, Mater, fons amoris, / me sentire vim doloris / fac ut tecum lugeam; “O, Mother, fountainhead of love / let me feel the same pain / so that I may weep with you”) offer redemption by glorifying the suffering of Christ, the Virgin Mary and humanity.

The journey of the crown (Ennio Morricone has entitled his piece of music “The Way of the Cross”) begins at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini during the 56th Veni- ce Biennale and will then move on to another six “stations”, from New York to Berlin, from Berlin to Istanbul, before finally arriving in Rome. This initiative is promoted by Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti.