From 1 March 2024, the Diocesan Museum of Brescia pays homage to Saint Paul VI, inaugurating a permanent section dedicated to the Brescian pope within the visit itinerary.

To celebrate this initiative, the exhibition Artists for the pontificate of Saint Paul VI is scheduled from 1 March to 1 April, which commemorates the figure of the pontiff through characteristic objects from his life, some of which are already preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Brescia.

The artefacts on display are representative of the figure and work of Saint Paul VI: the chasuble, the papal robe and the skullcap, the galero and the episcopal ring, the copy of the papal tiara, the portrait created by the artist Francesco Bencivenga and the preparatory drawing by Raffaele Scorzelli for the pontiff's monument in the New Cathedral of Brescia, together with four other sketches by the same artist.

The exhibition also offers a precious treasure, namely the 16 gold medals (annual), coming from the Vatican Apostolic Library, won in the sixteen years of his pontificate, a period characterized by significant cultural changes, in which contemporary art was experimenting with different expressions and gave rise to movements, such as conceptual, minimalism and environmental art.

During the Second Vatican Council, in 1965, Pope Paul VI had tried to open the Church to new forms of expression, promoting the involvement of artists in the liturgy and encouraging the use of new languages that could communicate the evangelical message to the new generations.

Even from a numismatic point of view, the pontificate of Pope Paul VI marked the transition from a still very traditionalist approach, such as that proposed by the Friulian engraver Pietro Giampaoli, to a more modern one which truly revolutionized the appearance of the medal, thanks to leading personalities of contemporary plastics, such as Giacomo Manzù, Floriano Bodini, Pericle Fazzini and others.

The exhibition is held on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the famous Speech to artists, held in the Sistine Chapel on 7 May 1964, in which the Pope, through the phrase “We need you. Our ministry needs your collaboration", he addressed the participants, tracing the essential lines to re-establish a friendship that involved collaboration on both sides, without hiding the problems and obstacles that have in some way slowed down or blocked the dialogue .

To make peace again and become friends again, he proposed two tracks on which to proceed: catechesis, in which the Christian community would involve artists in the experience of faith; and the laboratory, in which their skill and genius were confronted with the material and the purpose of the work to be created.

Pope Paul VI, born Giovanni Battista Montini on 26 September 1897 in Concesio (BS), was ordained a priest in 1920 and then undertook a diplomatic career at the Holy See. He served as archbishop of Milan from 1954 to 1963, before being elected pope following the death of Pope John XXIII.

Saint Paul VI is remembered for his crucial role in the Second Vatican Council: an event that brought significant reforms in the Catholic Church by promoting ecumenical dialogue, a renewed liturgy and a greater openness to modernity. It addressed social and ethical issues, while also playing a significant role in promoting world peace and solidarity. For the latter cause, he delivered important speeches at the United Nations.

Paul VI was also the first pope to make international apostolic journeys, meeting religious and political leaders, with the aim of spreading his message of peace and brotherhood.

Pope Paul VI was proclaimed a saint on 14 October 2018 by Pope Francis who, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Vatican Museums, met masters from all over the world, precisely in the wake of Saint Paul VI in 1964.

Pope Francis recalled the friendship between the Church and artists, defining it as natural because the latter "take seriously the inexhaustible depth of existence, of life and of the world, even in its contradictions and its tragic sides"; and special for the "many stretches of history traveled together".