Bergoglio Heraldic Shield

Bergoglio Heraldic Shield is the work presented for the final examination at the Vatican City School of Arts and Crafts. The work represents the culmination of the six-month training course held in Rome and, at the same time, celebrates the Pope's desire to revive the historic Vatican training school, which had been inactive since the death of Antonio Canova. The concept behind the work is consciously in line with the traditional logic that has always governed interventions within the Vatican Basilica, where every extension or enrichment of the building promoted by a Pope was symbolically sanctioned by the display of the papal family coat of arms. In honour of this tradition, which had been lost over the years, the coat of arms is a sign of recognition and remembrance, capable of intertwining historical, institutional and symbolic dimensions. On the occasion of the reopening of the School of Arts and Crafts after more than two centuries of inactivity, the artist chose to personally donate the work to Pope Francis, conceiving it as a tribute to his commitment to reviving artistic and craft training and as a gesture of gratitude for his attention to the younger generations.

Title	Medium	Dimensions	Year
Bergoglio Araldic Shield	Ordinary marble	57 x 20 x 20 cm	2020