Tonino Maurizi’s Christmas. 110 paintings on show in Jerusalem.
The exhibition “A thousand times Christmas” will take place at the Sala Curiale of St Savior Monastery, Jerusalem from December 7th 2017 to February 2nd 2018.
110 paintings created by the Marches artist Tonino Maurizi will show the mystery of the Nativity. As a painter, sculptor, designer, and ebonist, Maurizi matches the experience of Futurist art brought to Macerata by Ivo Pannagi with his studies at Brera Academy. The result is a simple and geometrical style, matching neoclassical forms and industrial design. Bright colors make his Nativities unique. Forms and ideas melt into bright colors to recreate the Nativity scene, reinterpreted and painted every year as a gift for friends. An intimate light seems to shine from each painting. The omnipresent red chosen in every work seems to express the warmth of a light, which is the divine mystery of the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. “Today we rediscover Maurizi’s deeply emotional gaze, fixed in these works with the most vital colors and lively touches” says Father Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land. “His sight is that of child that can’t resist the appeal of Christmas and contemplates the Holy Family and humanity united on this occasion” says Father Armando Pierucci.
The works of art of this entrepreneur and suis generis example of aesthete have already been exhibited in Italy, Spain, China, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, and Lebanon. However it is in Jerusalem where the exhibition will gain a unique meaning.
“The Terra Sancta Museum is pleased to host this temporary exhibition, as for 800 years the Custody has preserved the tradition by practicing it in the current day and age,” says Father Stephane Milovitch, Director of Cultural Affairs of the Custody. “Our heritage of the 20th and 21st centuries must be promoted with events such as this one in order to modernize and bring life to our “new” Museum.
The exhibition, produced by Stefano Papetti and Francesca Maurizi, was granted patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in Jerusalem and the support of the Custody of the Holy Land. The importance of art, both sacred and profane, as an instrument of dialogue and peace is reinforced by the birth of the Savior and Prince of Peace.
