The Vatican – An Artist’s View is an ambitious project dedicated to interpreting the unique architectural and spiritual character.
Through a substantial body of circa 300 new drawings and paintings, executed using classical techniques, the book is conceived as both an artistic pilgrimage and a work of cultural preservation, which will culminate in:
✠ A major illustrated publication in several specially conceived editions
✠ A curated exhibition of original works
✠ Educational programmes, lectures, and workshops
✠ A gift for times beyond our own
One of the most documented places on earth, the Vatican has inspired surprisingly few sustained studies by living artists.
From many years of research and preparation, artist and architectural reconstruction illustrator Peter Phillips has sought to engage with this most breathtaking spiritual centre in precisely this way.
In a momentous sequence of original drawings and paintings, the work as a whole reflects a deep respect for the great artists and sculptors, and for the highest level of craftsmanship fostered under the patronage of the Church.
Such artistic achievement and craftsmanship played a large part in shaping much of Western visual culture.
Rather than presenting a purely documentary account, the publication will offer Peter’s homage to perhaps humanity’s greatest seat of art and learning, and an exploration of the enduring relationship between creativity, devotion, and sacred space.
The book seeks to further a renewed interest in the mastery of craft and the value of direct observation.
As customary skills and methods become increasingly rare, The Vatican – An Artist’s View, through publication, exhibition and programmes of study, will strive to make this remarkable and hallowed realm more accessible.
The book will enlighten readers, students, artists and lovers of beautiful things, fostering a deeper appreciation and understanding of the Vatican’s unparalleled artistic, architectural and spiritual inheritance.
In doing so, it will help preserve and share something of its wonder for generations yet to come.
The ambition is not merely to document, but to inspire; not only to observe, but to renew a sense of wonder in a legacy that provides focus to the spiritual leanings of mankind.
