VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Greater than 20 years in the past, Steen Heidemann stumbled into Westminster Cathedral in London, the place he was learning structure, and witnessed his first Mass. Born to an atheist household in Denmark, Heidemann had beforehand solely heard about Jesus in historical past books.
The non secular expertise was so sturdy he was struck to the bottom, launching his journey of conversion to Catholicism. He moved to Normandy, in France, the place he grew to become acquainted with the Jesuit order, which he credit with understanding the “energy of picture.” To seek out his religion, Heidemann mentioned, he needed to know the face of Christ.
So started Heidemann’s twin quest — his skilled one, touring and gathering artwork for reveals and museums from Helsinki to Zagreb. And his personal non secular one: over the subsequent 20 years, Heidemann looked for portraits of Jesus by dwelling artists, finally gathering 240 work by 40 artists.
In recent times, he has begun exhibiting this non-public assortment in a present known as “Faces of Christ,” and in Might, the exhibition will discover a semi-permanent residence on the Toledo Cathedral in Spain, within the former residences and cloister of Queen Isabela. The works by well-known up to date artists, together with Legrand, James Langley, Raúl Berzosa and Antonio Ciccone, will be a part of the cathedral’s present shows of masterpieces by El Greco, Raphael and Caravaggio.
“The Eucharist I” by Hélène Legrand. (France) (2012)
Heidemann believes that, if the church had been to attract nearer to the humanities, it could appeal to younger folks to the Catholic religion — simply because it had occurred to him. “It’s a bit, first attempt to hopefully encourage the church to have a renaissance in artwork,” mentioned Heidemann.
Steen Heidemann. (Courtesy photograph)
The daddy of 4 additionally sees artwork as bypassing prejudice or ideology and interesting to the era that has grown up amid a flood of images on-line. “For younger folks every part is cell, every part is picture,” he mentioned. In the event that they don’t like one thing, he provides, they only transfer on to the subsequent factor.
The Catholic Church’s patronage of the humanities gave beginning to lots of the spiritual masterpieces which are admired in the present day, however Heidemann mentioned that faith now not motivates artists. He desires the church to encourage “in every space of the world the perfect artists to try to signify what they assume of their tradition.”
Heidemann’s assortment consists of works from a spread of areas, from Tanzania (by Thobias Minzi) to Brazil (Sérgio Ferro), and he’s assured that it’ll sooner or later embody many extra. He would additionally like so as to add sculptures and structure to the gathering.
The exhibition shouldn’t be a survey, however, the collector readily admits, a mirrored image of his personal perspective as to what Catholic artwork ought to seem like. The portraits evoke the Outdated Masters and keep away from abstraction. “Christian artwork has at all times been figurative,” he mentioned, “and I remind those that Christ’s message is so wealthy and so diversified that you just want figurative artwork.”
Discovering such work was no straightforward activity, he mentioned. Spiritual art work is never present in galleries of the artwork capitals of London, Paris and New York. Heidemann commissioned items from artists he admired, working carefully with them to foster a brand new sensibility and perspective of spiritual themes. He requested some artists to recreate their interpretation of “The Disrobing of Christ,” a masterpiece by El Greco on the Toledo Cathedral, which resulted in progressive and hanging renditions.
He discovered the opposite works within the atelier of artists who had made them as a result of they had been impressed to take action, both due to spiritual perception or sudden instinct, he mentioned.
A few of the art work within the assortment will proceed to be lent to different exhibitions across the globe, Heidemann mentioned, to encourage curiosity in Catholic artwork and artists.
