In honor of the 400th anniversary of its dedication, St. Peter’s Basilica has unveiled a new series of paintings of the Way of the Cross, offering the faithful a new way to contemplate Christ’s Passion through sacred art.
The Stations of the Cross, a traditional Lenten devotion, commemorates Christ’s journey to Calvary through 14 moments of His Passion.
The Fabric of St. Peter, the Vatican body responsible for maintaining St. Peter’s Basilica, presented the new Stations of the Cross on the first Friday of Lent, according to Vatican News. The 144-canvas display of oil paintings by 36-year-old Swiss artist Manuel Andreas Dürr line the central nave for the Lenten season.
Dürr’s work was selected from among more than 1,000 submissions through a 2023 international competition the Vatican body organized.
His proposal was unanimously chosen for its “compositional balance and expressive strength in interpreting the Paschal Mystery,” according to St. Peter’s Basilica website. The works are also described as engaging “in dialogue with the space, the light and the figurative memory of the Basilica.”
Aleteia News reported that Dürr worked on the oil paintings for nearly eight months, highlighting that depicting the Passion of the Lord was particularly challenging.
“Painting Jesus is really difficult because he's not someone I'm introducing to people; he's someone thousands of people know, and even have a personal relationship with,” Dürr said, according to the outlet.
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the basilica and the Vatican body’s president, said on the basilica’s website that the new installation offers the faithful an opportunity to journey with the Lord in His Passion.
“Through this work we can pray,” he said, according to the website, “following in the footsteps of Jesus, to walk with Him toward the Resurrection.”