by Don Lorenzo Cappelletti

Cwith this last issue of 2024 of The Holy Crusade, we conclude the review of Silvio Consadori's frescoes in the Basilica of San Giuseppe al Trionfale by analyzing the last two panels of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, dedicated respectively to the "Miraculous Fishing" and the "Supper at Emmaus".

It must be said immediately that, if the “Supper at Emmaus” is clearly the iconographic subject of the last scene, the “Miraculous Catch of Fish”, even if we wanted to consider it as an evocation of Luke 5:4-11 and John 21:4-8, it does not have the same degree of evidence. In fact, the central character, Simon Peter, does not seem to be present, at least in the iconography that Consadori had adopted for him in the immediately preceding scene of the “Delivery of the Keys” and perhaps also in the “Sermon on the Mount”. But, on the other hand, who can evoke, if not Simon Peter, the character in the foreground who, holding the net, throws himself at Jesus' feet? And how can we understand Jesus' gesture if not as a gesture of mercy and encouragement ("Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men", Luke 5:10) in the face of the amazement and humble confession of Simon Peter: "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man" (Luke 5:8)? In the background, moreover, there is also "the other boat" (Luke 5:7), in accordance with the Gospel story. It is therefore the "Miraculous Fishing", yes, but depicted according to the sensitivity of Consadori, who does not like to be didactic and prefers to give only the essential features of the Gospel scenes, to then accompany them with anachronistic elements, to express the contemporaneity of the presence and action of Jesus Christ.

Having thus cleared the field of possible uncertainties on the iconographic level, we complete the description of the “Miraculous Fishing”. In the foreground, in the scene that is constructed on the shore of Lake Tiberias, within an extremely sparse landscape, there are three fishermen, of different ages, who all have part of the abundant catch in their hands and look full of amazement at Jesus. Like and more than the kneeling one, however (whose facial identity, we repeat, is not intentionally, however, that of Simon Peter), the other two also have anachronistic faces and clothing. We believe – and we do not think we are far from the truth – that the reason can be traced to the fact that Consadori, in representing the “Miraculous Fishing” in this way, wanted, on the one hand, to emphasize the miracle not so much of the fishing of fish as of that of men and, on the other, to underline the closeness of Jesus to the humblest workers throughout time. Let us remember how, in the years in which the frescoes were conceived and created, Paul VI had shown, with magisterial writings, attitudes and gestures, a very particular attention for workers.

: Moving on to the “Supper at Emmaus”, the final fresco of Consadori’s entire work, at the bottom left of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, we immediately notice that it bears not only the painter’s signature (as did the very first of his frescoes in logical order, namely the Annunciation in the opposite Chapel of the Mother of Divine Providence), but also his self-portrait in that of the two disciples at the table with Jesus placing his right hand on his heart. Consadori inserts himself at the centre of the scene in a way that is anything but banal or vain. In fact, by portraying himself as one of the disciples of Emmaus, he wants to indelibly attest that in his life he has recognised the risen Jesus Christ. Furthermore, from an interpretative point of view, this self-portrait at the end of the cycle confirms our idea that behind the face of the announced Mary, at the beginning of the cycle, there may have been that of the painter’s wife (see The Holy Crusade, 2/2024, p. 15).

As in the “Miraculous Draught of Fishes”, also in the “Supper at Emmaus”, with the exception of Jesus Christ – the only one who maintains the same face and clothing throughout the various episodes depicted, but who here looks upwards for the first time, because he is now about to ascend to the Father («they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight», Luke 24:31) and from him invokes the blessing on the bread – clothing, hairstyles, objects all have the flavour of contemporaneity; of a daily and stark contemporaneity, where Silvio Consadori also introduces two figures that the Gospel of Luke does not speak of: a woman who brings wine, to complete the Eucharistic symbolism, and a character who peeps out from behind the shutters, to represent the pure curiosity that accompanies Jesus Christ throughout the centuries. Figures that do not distract, however, as frequently happens in the history of art, from the crucial action of Jesus Christ among men, but rather make it even more central and communicative.

What an intense cycle of the twelve frescoes by Silvio Consadori in the Basilica of S. Giuseppe al Trionfale!