ET ECCE GAUDIUM. The Roman Jews and the Investiture of the Popes

Fotografie di: Araldo De Luca. Editore: Araldo De Luca, Roma.
Description: Roma: Araldo De Luca, 2010. 32cm., pbk., 86pp. Illus., most in color. Exhibition held at Museo Ebraico di Roma. Summary: Organized on the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI visit to the Great Synagogue of Rome, on January 17 2010, the exhibition shows paintings, items and documents that narrate the role of the Jewish Community of Rome in the Investiture Ceremony of the Popes in the ’700. During the ceremony the Pope used to ride a horse from the Vatican to the Lateran. Jews had the task of decorating the stretch of route that went from the Coliseum to the Arch of Titus, which they embellished with large panels carrying symbolical figures and quotes celebrating the Pope. It was thought that these panels, made of paper and intended as disposable, had been lost. Instead, fourteen of them tracing back to the pontificates of Clemente XII (1730), Clemente XIII (1758), Clemente XIV (1769) e Pius VI (1775) have been found in the Historical Archives of the Jewish Community of Rome and will be exhibited for the first time ever