Rome, the day of the Arts at the Lateran Palace

Saturday 17 February, from 5pm to 8.30pm, an opportunity to visit the structure for free and attend performances by students of the “Silvio d’Amico” National Academy of Dramatic Arts, the National Dance Academy, the Conservatory of Santa Music Cecilia and the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome Doors open in the Lateran Palace, with the possibility of admiring frescoes and tapestries enlivened by the notes of a tango, stopping to watch dance and theater performances.

It will be possible thanks to the “Arts Day. The way of Beauty”, an initiative organized on the occasion of the feast of Beato Angelico by the Office for university pastoral care of the diocese of Rome, in collaboration with the National Academy of Dramatic Arts “Silvio d’Amico”, the National Academy of Dance, the Conservatory of Music Santa Cecilia and the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome.

At 5pm on Saturday, in the Conciliation Hall, the greeting of the cardinal vicar Angelo De Donatis will open the event. For the occasion, visitors will be able to access without reservation and free of charge – from 5pm to 8.30pm – the rooms of the Lateran Palace which, as mentioned, will host artistic performances. The students of the four academic institutions will in fact be engaged in various performances which will be repeated several times during the afternoon: in the Sala della Conciliazione the first year students of Silvio d’Amico will propose “There where our dwelling is”, dramaturgy by Francesco D’Alfonso which will be offered at 5.15pm, 6pm and 7pm; in the Sala degli Imperatori the students of the National Dance Academy will present a choreographic study on Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”, at 5.50pm, 6.30pm and 7.30pm; in the Sala degli Apostoli the young musicians of Santa Cecilia will perform pieces by Manuel De Falla, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Astor Piazzolla, at 6.20pm, 7pm and 8pm. Finally, the Sala di Daniele will host the artistic installation “… from the bonds of the world he untied”, with works created by students of the School of Art Graphics of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.

«The event was born from the desire to celebrate the memory of Fra Giovanni da Fiesole, who was nicknamed Beato Angelico because he already saw the world with the eyes of Paradise – explains Monsignor Andrea Lonardo, director of the diocesan office – In my opinion it is decisive recall the beauty of art in a world which, following the drifts of Marxism, psychoanalysis and nihilism, has become accustomed to thinking of it as a fake superstructure. Not only the revelation of dirt, but above all the indication of beauty is the great mission of art. Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium spoke again – in this regard – about the path of beauty. The event aims to be a sign of trust and esteem towards the students of the university academies of theatre, dance, music and fine arts and a meeting with them, who are training to become the artists of tomorrow”.

The students «are the true protagonists of this project, because the history of the arts is not only the history of works, it is also the history of men and women who “create” for the common good. It is the first time – underlines the artistic director of the event Francesco D’Alfonso – that the Church of Rome welcomes all aspiring artists into its home, which will be, for the occasion, the point of convergence of the various languages ​​of art. We hope it can become an annual event.”