Today, December 17th, 2025, at Cittadellarte, on the anniversary of the birth of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, the ceremony is held to proclaim him the first Saint of Art. Pope Francis was a brother in art throughout his life and continues to be so beyond life thanks to his tomb, a sculptural architecture that houses the body and bears witness to the thought that runs through all of his work. The tomb is formed by a slab of lavagna slate, engraved with the name 'Franciscus' and by a silver symbol, fixed to the rear wall, the symbol he wore on his chest during his life.

The symbol depicts a shepherd with a lamb on his shoulders. Behind him, a landscape of sheep unfolds, forming the horizon, while a dove descends from above. Everything is enclosed within a sinuous frame, a temple symbol of the Christian faith, in which the horizontal of the crucifixion becomes a real horizon and the vertical is embodied in a vital human figure.

The arms are not spread wide and nailed, but instead support the lamb, forming an essential cross, not one of suffering. With this pectoral cross, Pope Francis chose to bear, both during and after his life, the gentleness of a spiritual landscape, rather than the harshness of the sacrificial cross.

Man is a shepherd, not a predator. He thinks, acts, and protects the flock. The sheep clothes man and, at the same time, clothes itself in a cycle of mutual care, a symbol of coexistence and harmony between nature and human artifice.

Man saves the animal from predators, and in doing so he also saves himself. Predators, lions, eagles, wolves, are symbols of imperial powers. On Pope Francis' pectoral cross, there is not a beast of prey, but a dove that inspires peace.

The cover of this book features the three circles of the third paradise. The central circle, which harmonizes the two opposites in the universal dynamic of creation, coincides with the dove that in the Trinity represents the Holy Spirit, and, as an image of harmony, becomes a symbol of universal peace. Beneath the silver symbol, the stone bears the inscription Franciscus, the name by which Bergoglio expresses his brotherhood in the poverty of St. Francis, a quality now recognizable in the essentiality of Arte Povera.

For all these reasons, today, December 17th, 2025, at the Cittadellarte Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, already a brother in art, is proclaimed the first Saint of Art.

Michelangelo Pistoletto