Rome city of the Jubilee - Transformations and evolutions of a city during the Holy Years

The exhibition at Castel Sant’Angelo aims to illustrate the birth and evolution of the Jubilee as a great religious and social event over the centuries and to celebrate the city that hosts it.

The exhibition itinerary is organized by themes, in order to give a more complete vision possible of how the religious event has transformed, not only Rome, with architectural, artistic and urban planning projects, but also how it has marked over the centuries and in different historical moments and political perception of the sacred and of the relationship itself with God influencing society. The topics covered are therefore: The birth of the Jubilee and its evolution from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance; The Popes of the Jubilees; The city is transformed: projects and evolutions. The Jubilee today: new projects and new hopes.

Among the works on display there are thirteen papal portraits, starting with Boniface VIII Caetani, the Pope who started the first Jubilee in 1300. The works allow visitors to learn more about the different Popes who hosted the most important religious event in the Christianity and to observe how, unlike the years, the way of representing the figure of the Pope has changed from an iconographic point of view. Most of the portraits on display come from a private collection of Palazzo Jacobini in Genzano, while the others come from museums throughout Italy.

The exhibition also highlights how the urban interventions attributable to the Holy Years welcomed the large influx of pilgrims and at the same time wish to give an image of the grandeur and magnificence of Rome.

Photo credits: Cultural Heritage official site