Dalla predicazione francescana ai Monti di Pietà

On the occasion of the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Fondazione Roma presents the exhibition Dalla predicazione francescana ai Monti di Pietà (From Franciscan Preaching to the Monti di Pietà), curated by Professor Lorenzo Turchi, hosted at the Historical Archives of the Museo del Corso – Museum Centre, in Palazzo Sciarra Colonna.

The exhibition traces the origins and spread of the Franciscan movement, exploring its important contribution to the construction of a civilization founded on the values ​​of charity, solidarity, and human dignity. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between the preaching of the Friars Minor and the birth of the Monti di Pietà, institutions established in 15th-century Italy to combat usury and promote forms of solidarity credit. Indeed, the Monte di Pietà represents an institution dedicated to combining Christian solidarity and a credit service capable of transforming a religious and ethical message into concrete reality. Through documents and historical-cultural testimonies, the exhibition highlights the enduring spiritual and social legacy of Franciscanism and the role played by the friars in defining new models of economic justice.

The exhibition showcases the documentation held in the archives of the Monte di Pietà in Rome, managed by the Fondazione Roma, along with important loans from the Vatican Apostolic Library, the Historical-Franciscan and Piceno Library of Falconara Marittima, and other national cultural institutions. The celebratory initiative is further enhanced by the exhibition hosted in the spaces of the Permanent Collection, featuring iconographic contexts that recount the figure of Saint Francis, his main followers, and the spread of Franciscan spirituality between the Middle Ages and the modern age.