Isabel Celaá, head of the world’s oldest diplomatic envoy, relies on Pope’s visit on December 8
Three ephemeral tapestries with echoes of the Baroque have been on display since Tuesday on the facade of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of this diplomatic embassy, the oldest in the world with a permanent character. These large banners, created by the Italian artist Roberto Lucifero, are inspired by the 17th century and show three scenes: the purchase of the palace by Íñigo Vélez de Guevara, Count of Oñate; the moment when the painter Diego Velázquez, who spent two periods of his life in Rome, painted a portrait of Pope Innocent X; and a pyrotechnic machine used during the Plaza de España festivities in Rome.
“We asked the artist to look at the 17th century, when Spain flourished, he was the champion of the Catholic world and its protection against Lutheranism,” said our country’s ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá, whom he he expressed hopes that Pope Francis will visit the headquarters of the diplomatic legation on December 8 during the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, with the popes going to Plaza de España. “We invite you to everything, a chocolate or whatever,” said the socialist politician, for whom relations between Pedro Sánchez’s government and the Vatican are “great”.
The four centuries since the Monaldeschi family rented the palace where the embassy is located and bought it 25 years later will be commemorated with a series of conferences that review the history of the institution and an open day show its vast artistic and cultural heritage, including two busts of Bernini, the beautiful ‘Anima beata’ and ‘Anima dannata’. “This embassy was an innovation of Spain”, Celaá celebrated, because until its creation “all ambassadors were itinerant, but our country decided to have a permanent representation in Rome”.
For his part, Roberto Lucifero explained that his tapestries, made of micro-perforated PVC, combine technology and handicraft to show the thousands of Romans and tourists who pass through the Plaza de España every day, the history of this building, in particular its role in the Golden Age. “We wanted to evoke one of the most important phases in the relationship between the embassy, the city and the Holy See. This is a place that keeps a very old memory. We wanted to evoke the past, but always from the present, with instruments that use technology,” said the artist.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
