La Maddalena e la Croce. Amore sublime

"Mary Magdalene and the Cross: Sublime Love," announced by the Culture Department of the Municipality of Treviso at the Santa Caterina Museum from April 5th to July 13th, curated by the Civic Museums, is an exhibition that tackles universal themes such as passion, suffering, devotion, redemption, and love. It does so by drawing on the interpretations that great artists have developed over the centuries around the figures of Christ and Mary Magdalene, exploring their extraordinary emotional potential.

The exhibition does not merely recount the sacred, but encompasses and transcends the Gospel story to become a universal experience, capable of touching the deepest chords of the human soul.
The figures of Christ and Magdalene become mirrors of the human condition, a crucible where pain and hope, emotion and reflection, are fused. Each of the over one hundred works gathered in this extraordinary exhibition – among them many masterpieces of art history – stimulates a deeper understanding of the mysteries of our feelings and being.

In the twelve rooms, each dedicated to a specific theme, visitors are guided on a twofold journey: firstly, through artistic creation and through time, to follow the evolution of art in depicting this Sublime Love. Alongside this, a second, parallel but more personal and intimate journey unfolds: Magdalene becomes the archetype of a universal spirituality that transcends belief. We are all invited to identify with the path taken by the saint, who becomes a model: from difficulty and fall, to conversion, and finally to redemption. An example of spirituality, certainly, but above all of hope, trust, and love.
The rich exhibition will showcase works spanning the centuries, from the thirteenth to the twentieth, confirming the enduring fascination that this theme has always held for the visual arts and demonstrating the universality of the subject, capable of constant renewal in the minds and spirits of artists throughout Europe.

Among the masterpieces are, for example, the Bolognese miniatures from the extraordinary "Bible of Saint Paul," alongside great Renaissance paintings by Bellini, Jan Polack, Titian, Paolo Veronese, Jacopo Bassano, Giampietrino, Palma the Younger, Guercino, leading to Bernardo Strozzi, Ludovico Carracci, Carlo Saraceni, Domenico Tintoretto, Sebastiano Ricci, Mattia Bortoloni, Rutilio Manetti, Antonio Canova, Gaetano Previati, Mosè Bianchi, culminating in a tribute to Alberto Martini on the centenary of his birth.
Contributing to the intensity of the salvific drama of the Crucifixion is a nucleus of wooden sculptures, vestments, and refined goldsmith's work from the early Renaissance. The wooden sculptures, in particular, come from the Civic Museums of Treviso. These masterpieces, now restored, are finally unveiled to the public, confirming the significance of the Civic Collections of Treviso among the most important in northern Italy for wooden sculpture. Alongside these, dozens of other works are on loan exceptionally from Italian and foreign museums.
The narrative surrounding Mary Magdalene offers an extraordinary panorama of the evolution of her iconography. This iconic figure, a symbol of sin and redemption, oscillating between profound spirituality and earthly sensuality, has been interpreted by generations of artists, who have captured her emotional and spiritual nuances in ever-new and fascinating ways, recounting her complexity and revealing how, over the centuries, Mary Magdalene has become the bridge between the sacred and the human, between the divine and the earthly.
Each work in the exhibition invites an intimate and contemplative journey, transcending the barriers of belief and becoming a voice for a universal spirituality, where the human dimension intertwines with the divine, revealing the deepest mysteries of our existence.

Mayor of Treviso, Mario Conte, states: "The exhibition 'Mary Magdalene and the Cross: Sublime Love,' which will be hosted by the Santa Caterina Museum, is a cultural event of extraordinary value that represents another high-level production of our Civic Museums, which, through innovative approaches, aim to disseminate beauty and inspire reflection. This exhibition is much more than a simple collection of artworks; it is an exciting and profound journey through universal themes and spirituality. Through the over one hundred works on display, we can admire interpretations of the figures of Christ and Mary Magdalene, eternal symbols of the human condition. This exhibition is an invitation to reflect on our relationship with spirituality, transcending the barriers of belief, and to embark on a personal journey. It is not only a tribute to the great artistic tradition, with works spanning from the thirteenth to the twentieth centuries, but also an acknowledgment of the central role that our civic collections play in the national cultural landscape. I thank the Culture Department, Director Fabrizio Malachin, and the entire staff of the Civic Museums. Once again, we will have a unique opportunity for citizens and visitors to discover or rediscover art as a mirror of our existence, an inexhaustible source of emotions, reflection, and beauty."

Info: www.museicivicitreviso.it tel. 0422 658954
Press Office:
Studio ESSECI, Sergio Campagnolo tel. 049.663499
Ref. Simone Raddi simone@studioesseci.net