Plečnik e il Sacro

 was not just a master of monumental architecture; he was also an exceptional designer of sacred objects. The exhibition at the Vatican Museums is dedicated to the latter, as it presents 33 of Plečnik’s liturgical vessels. The theme of designing sacred objects is exceptional within the oeuvres of contemporary architects and designers. It is also where Plečnik created something unique on a global scale, both by the sheer number of products as well as their quality and originality.

The extraordinary sacred oeuvre of Plečnik – his chalices, monstrances, ciboria and sacramentaries – is presented to the global public at the exhibition 'Plečnik e il Sacro / Plečnik and the Sacred' in the Vatican Museums. The exhibition places Plečnik’s work in the heart of the Vatican Museums – it will be on view in the hall at the entrance to the Pinacoteca Vaticana (Art Gallery), which is home to the works of world-famous artists, from Giotto to Raphael, Leonardo, Titian and others.
The central and certainly the most attractive part of the exhibition is the presentation of the 33 original sacred objects, the most beautiful examples of Plečnik’s work. With the support from the Archdiocese of Ljubljana, numerous custodians of heritage in churches, monasteries, and private owners loaned these artefacts out. The exhibition is also accompanied by a video recording on Plečnik’s religious architecture, prepared by Tone Stojko. The video helps to shine light on the importance of the maestro’s full body of work in connection with the sacred. Visitors will be able to admire Plečnik’s sacred architecture: the churches of St. Michael and St. Francis of Assisi and the funerary complex Žale in Ljubljana, as well as the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord in Prague.

The exhibition 'Plečnik e il Sacro / Plečnik and the Sacred' was conceived in the mind of the great expert on Plečnik, Dr.Peter Krečič, in collaboration with Ana Porok, the curator of the Plečnik House. The introduction to the exhibition is a text that presents visitors with the wider scope of Plečnik’s design of sacred objects, supplemented by reproductions of the designs of the objects presented at the exhibition.

The exhibition was prepared by the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana (MGML) in close collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Holly See, and with the support of the Ministry of Culture RS, Archdiocese of Ljubljana, and the Vatican Museums.

Jože Plečnik will thus become the first Slovenian artist to be honoured with an exhibition at the Vatican Museums. The exhibition also represents one of the most important projects for the promotion of Slovenian culture in 2019.

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