Floriano Bodini Paul VI

The sculpture is evidence of the bond between Floriano Bodini and Giovanni Battista Montini, future Pope Paul VI, a pontiff often portrayed by the sculptor. Paul VI is here in full figure with the episcopal miter on his head. Large hands protrude forward from the front opening of the cope, an allusion to the identity and life of the character portrayed. The pontiff was in fact a promoter of the Church’s openness towards contemporary artists in a historical moment of particular importance for the rapprochement between the Church and the Arts, such as that inspired by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Bodini has created numerous versions of the portraits of the Pope: the bronze which entered the Museum’s collection in 2013 is a variant of the wooden one from 1968, now in the Vatican Museums, from the same year. The work comes from the Walter Fontana Collection.