Valtorta and Ferri

Description

The artistic production of painter and sculptor Lorenzo Ferri, inspired by the Work of Maria Valtorta and, at least in part, created in her presence and under her guidance in the early 1950s, begins with reproductions of portraits of Jesus and His Mother, Joseph, Anne and Joachim, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Hillel and Gamaliel, John the Baptist, and the twelve Apostles. Then follow: Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Chuza and Joanna, Lazarus, the shepherd Isaac, Stephen, Saul, Doras… Along with sketches and studies, there are numerous scenes from the Gospel of the Infancy and the Public Life. Among these are more portraits: Anna of Phanuel, Simeon, the Magi, the Samaritan woman, Mary of Magdala, Martha of Bethany.

The final cycle depicts episodes from the Passion of Jesus to the Assumption of Mary and concludes with a portrait of an elderly Peter. The captions of the reproductions are available in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Lorenzo Ferri (1902–1975), a painter and sculptor with a studio in Rome, primarily produced works of sacred art and was a specialist on the Holy Shroud. Maria Valtorta and Lorenzo Ferri met in 1949 through the mediation of Fr. Corrado M. Berti of the Servite Order, and together they decided to create illustrations for her Work. Some were executed in Viareggio while the artist was at the writer’s bedside, following her instructions. Others were created in Rome, based on their correspondence.
It is not certain that Maria Valtorta saw and approved all of Lorenzo Ferri’s sketches that illustrate the Work. For this reason, they are published here independently, after several attempts to include them within the main body of the Work.

Additional information