When Michelangelo's Pietà flew to New York: between criticism and acclaim

It is historically considered the most followed and most discussed journey of a work of art. It is the transportation – which began on April 4, 1964, exactly 60 years ago – by land and sea in the United States of America of Michelangelo’s Pietaone of the most well-known masterpieces of all time, devoutly admired and kept in the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican since 1499, the year in which it saw the light at the hands of a very young Buonarroti, just 23 years old.

The sculpture which 465 years later, amidst criticism, applause and controversy, was brought to the USA to be exhibited in the stand of the Holy See at the New York Universal Exposition becoming its undisputed star, capable of attracting over 27 million visitors – a hitherto unbeaten record – to return to the Vatican basilica on 13 November 1965, welcomed with open arms by Paul VI.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the trip, I dedicated the book to the entire affair Traveling with the Pietà – subtitle Michelangelo’s masterpiece at the 1964 New York Universal Exhibition – published by San Paolo. The volume – awarded, among other things, the International Grand Prix Golden Lion of Venice 2024 – makes use of the “presence” of three exceptional guardian angels, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Fabbrica di San Pietro and archpriest of the Vatican basilica, maximum custodian of the Pietà itself, who signs the presentation; Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, author of the preface; and Massimiliano Fuksas, one of the greatest architects in the world, who wrote the afterword. Three names of the highest level, three different personal stories, for roles, skills, cultural interests, but united by a single common denominator in maintaining that it was a “unique and unrepeatable affair”.

A sort of unprecedented “comedy” staged by multiple “performers”. The first, without his knowledge, was the father of the Pietà, Michelangelo; followed by John XXIII and Paul VI, the two popes who authorize the trip; by the head of the Catholic Church in the States, the cardinal of New York Francis Joseph Spellman; by Vatican and American technicians armed against each other due to disagreements that broke out due to different identities of technical views on how to protect the sculpture during the journey; and, in an elegantly secluded manner, John Fitgzerald Kennedy, first US Catholic president, the main, albeit secretive, sponsor of the Pietà operation.

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Well-known and lesser-known figures made international headlines in the Spring of 1964, when the masterpiece left the Vatican for the first time to be transported to the New York Expo, where for the entire duration of the event in the pavilion of the Holy See ” captures the attention of millions of visitors, captivated by its artistic beauty and the surprising human and theological value set in the features of its white marble. A not unexpected success, given that it is one of the most important sculptures in the history of art. In its genre, a very particular unicum as it is a marble group that has “something” more, being able to express itself through its two protagonists – the Christ of the Passion and his mother, the Madonna – with an original theological language, capable of breaking down any barrier semantic, accessible to all, with human traits that invite reflection and at the same time attract art lovers of believers and non-believers, Christians and non-Christians, despite being figures born from a cold block of white Carrara marble.

It is inevitable, therefore, that the unique and unrepeatable journey of the Pietà, which crosses the Mediterranean and the Atlantic twice between the outward and return journeys, even after 60 years continues to question, ask questions and provoke discussion among experts (historians of art, technicians, critics…), institutions and ordinary citizens, on the risks to which the masterpiece was exposed. And if in the future it will be better not to repeat them. But also on the opportunity to uproot, albeit temporarily, for the first time the marble group from its original natural setting. symbolically placed to “guard” the Vatican basilica, a few meters from the tomb of St. Peter.

The journey began on 4 April 1964, a Saturday wet with insistent rain, accompanied by a long trail of disputes and positions taken between those in favor and against the loan, due to the potential risks it would face. Risks or no risks, the Americans continue on their way, determined to make the Pietà the flagship of the 19 months of exhibition. And in the end they hit the target, thanks to the approval of John XXIII, forcibly confirmed by his successor Paul VI. An undoubted gamble. But precisely for this reason, the pontifical authorities leave no stone unturned in organizing the delicate trip, forced at times even to clash with the US technicians who arrived at the Vatican to ensure that the sculpture would arrive in time for the inauguration of the Expo of 21 April 1964, but without adequate preparation regarding packaging, movements and transport of works of art, even less for sculptures from the Renaissance or from the Greco-Roman eras which are structurally very at risk, such as the Good Shepherd of the 3rd century AD, the other traveling “companion” of the Pietà.

The first operations to move the marble group from the altar of the Chapel of the Crucifix began on 2 April 1964 under the direction of the engineer Francesco Vacchini, the Factor (chief technician) of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, responsible for the entire operation on behalf of Paul VI. The sculpture, slowly, millimeter by millimetre, by a team of specialized technicians, made up of the Fratelli Minguzzi company and pontifical personnel expert in moving works of art, is slid from the eighteenth-century pedestal onto the floor in front across benches soaked in liquid soap, with the Chapel – closed to the public – transformed into a construction site equipped with stairs, bridges with galleries and tubulars, wood, raised floors.

And in two days of work it is “packaged” in a wooden crate filled with polystyrene, placed inside another metal crate marked on the external walls with the writing “Pietà” in large letters. Thus arranged and set in such a way as to be able to withstand any stress, she is then loaded in front of the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica onto a truck from the Gondrand transport company driven by a very excited driver, Enrico Lattanzi, and under an insistent spring rain sent towards Naples where it will arrive after more than ten hours of travel in reduced gears, at a speed of around 30 kilometers per hour, across the Autostrada del Sole.

Waiting for the precious cargo along the quay of the Neapolitan port is the flagship of the Italian civil fleet, the Cristoforo Colombo, on whose deck the crate will be placed in the open air lifted by a gigantic crane, fixed in such a way as to be able to withstand any movement possibly caused by the rolling and pitching of the ocean liner, and visibly observed throughout the crossing of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. After approximately 8 days of sailing, the arrival in New York, where the Pietà was placed in the Holy See Pavilion of the Exposition furnished in Hollywood style, remaining there until October of the following year.

The over 27 million people who visit the stand will have their eyes only for Michelangelo’s work. Similar attention is not paid to the other sculpture that arrived from the Vatican, the very ancient Good Shepherd in white marble, among the first images venerated by Christians found in the Roman catacombs of San Callisto, symbol of Christ the Savior of the souls carried on his shoulders. Icon of nascent Christianity forced to remain in the second row, almost obscured by the Renaissance beauty of the Pietà for the entire duration of the American Expo.