“A real miracle materialized, why? … The restorers were able to reconstruct the whole cross,” she said.
She noted that the artwork is “one of a kind” and that few paintings by the artist Nicola di Ulisse da Siena remain today.
“Not having a work like the Cross of Sant’Eutizio would have been a dramatic loss,” she added.
She pointed out the imagery of the pelican depicted at the top of the crucifix: “Here is the living and present body of Christ, which is symbolized by this pelican.”
“Of course, the cross, among all the symbols, remains the symbol par excellence, the most important sign that characterizes our faith. It is not just something that hangs from our neck or we are used to seeing, it is the deepest sign of our faith,” she said.
Pizzamano helped curate the “Fragments of Hope” exhibit, which opened last month.
The Cross of Sant’Eutizio is a symbol of hope for the people of Umbria, who have experienced devastating earthquakes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and personal difficulties, she said. “The hope is that of Christ overcoming death going into Easter.”
The art historian said the Vatican Museums decided to ask the archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia to compose a prayer for the unveiling of the restored cross.
“It is a prayer which illustrates precisely the confidence, the hope, and the joy of not only having recovered a work of art of this hue but also a symbol of hope for all the people hard hit by the earthquake,” Pizzamano said.
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It is “all the more so in this important time of Lent, which sets us on the Easter journey,” she continued. “It is something that restores great peace, great consolation in people’s hearts, not only of those who have worked physically [on the cross’s restoration] but [also] of those who will soon be able to return to pray before this cross.”
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
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