Dante Alighieri.
Narcissus Quagliata' s Crystal Dome - a grand work that joins with distinguished naturalness
the cosmic vision of the artist and his most revolutionary techniques - will crown
Michaelangelo Buonarroti' s splendid architectural work,
the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, constructed on behalf
of Pope Pio IV upon the monumental ruins of a lavish thermae complex
originally built by Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century A.D.
Royal weddings and solemn funerals of high government officials
and conspicuous artistic personalities have been held within its walls.
An imposing symbolic space that encompasses seventeen centuries of political and artistic history,
it links us with the Renaissance and the origin of the first Christians' martyrdom.
In the same fashion, the Basilica was the incarnation of the Pontifical State's time,
an astronomical instrument because of the so-called "Meridian Line" that marked the exact
time of day with a light beam that traveled across the floor and that can be seen even today:
luminous instant that postulates the repeating eternity of the present..
the Ministry of Historical Monuments in Rome designated Narcissus Quagliata
as the artist responsible for the elaboration of the Basilica Dome.
A visionary of glass.
An obsessive scholar of the transformation of light recreated in the clear surfaces
of his raw material.
A revolutionary of shading and contrast techniques, the gradation and mixing of colors
in the polished or textured surfaces of his stained-glass windows and sculptures.
An artist of solid international prestige that has made light his "leitmotiv,"
transforming the immateriality of his subject into something palpable.
Light and lucidity united in a single vision materialized in the building's great cupola.
Of course, it was necessary to find a solution... a good solution.
Time when an intangible bridge between two abysses is built:
what is perceived within and what is perceived without;
the privileged creative solitude of the artist.
Quagliata studies every detail.
Over his head, the central nave's roof emanates the deep silence of the 3rd century,
unmoving witness of superhuman construction efforts and cruel slaughters whose plentiful,
now invisible, blood we can only imagine.
Little by little, his vision and breath become attuned to the atmosphere of the Renaissance:
columns, niches, capitols. His footsteps sound already like an historical echo
of Michaelangelo's, who walked this same hallway, no doubt thinking, intuiting,
pondering in the midst of the privileged creative solitude of the artist.
the perfect equivalent of Divine Creation's supreme instant,
reproducing the necessary conditions for that extraordinary moment
of creative light to be multiplied again and again, with the natural light of the sun,
every morning, every evening, in the Crystal Dome of the Basilica:
the sacred ritual of creation in the perpetual rebirth of the world.
In its upper part at the zenith, three blown-glass spheres that symbolize Divinity
are surrounded by a crystal spiral that opens the vision to an infinite cluster of galaxies
rotating around the luminous, vertical axis, built with extraordinarily pure lenses
of astronomical precision.
From the central sphere seven multicolored beams are projected, giving a body to the scale of creation of all possible worlds: Divinity in Light, the Absolute' s descent over His own creation.
A universal project conducted by Maestro Quagliata' s sensitivity
who also had the talent to bring together an extraordinarily gifted work team
made up of craftsmen, scientists and technicians from all over the world.
for the enjoyment of present and future generations,
the vault of the Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri Basilica in the city of Rome.
A very worthy celebration for the new millenium
1998
