Giacomo Manzu
One might think that the days of great artistic Papal commissions are now over, gone with the rise of a secular age. The work of Giacomo Manzù proves this intuition wrong. Born in 1908 in Bergamo, Italy, Manzù was forced to abandon his studies before the age of ten so as to contribute to his family's sustenance. At the age of eleven, Manzù worked in the studio of local artist Dossena, which gave him with the opportunity to develop skills that would prove useful later in life. Starting in 1921, Manzù attended the Fantoni plastic arts night school in Bergamo, where he was encouraged in his work by his instructors. By 1928, he decided to devote himself to sculpture full-time. In 1931, he received his first commission: the decoration of a chapel at Milan's Catholic University. His reputation rapidly developed during the subsequent years, receiving the Savini Prize for the Arts in 1939. After the war, his career continued unimpeded, receiving the Prize for Sculpture jointly with Henry Moore at the XXIV Biennale di Venezia in 1948. Several important religious commissions followed: the "Door of Death" in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, and the central portal for the Salzburg Cathedral in Austria the "Door of Love". After consultation with Pope John XXIII, Manzù changed the theme of the Vatican City project from the original "Triumph of Saints and Martyrs of the Church" to a more universal reflection on the meaning of death in human life. He continued to work at a feverish pace for the rest of his days, with much of his work focusing on the theme of "the Cardinals," an exploration of the sculptural shape of cardinals in their robes; a particularly fine example of this work can be seen in Los Angeles' Getty Museum. Giacomo Manzù died in 1991, shortly after presenting his final masterpiece to the United Nations in New York: a twenty foot-tall statue, Hymn to Life Mother with Child.
