From 3-10 February 2025, students from the Antoni Kenar High School of Visual Arts in Zakopane participated in an event called Artistic Awakening: Inspirations from the Eternal City taking place in Rome. The group of 24 students was accompanied by five teachers, including Sr Grażyna Powierża, SAC and one parent. The programme involved sensitising the participants to the beauty hidden in the monuments of the Eternal City and Assisi, where they spent one day, as well as plein-air painting and photography.
After arriving at the Procura of the Pallottine Sisters, where we had excellent accommodation, we set off for an evening open-air photographic session in St Peter’s Square and Via Conciliazione, which ended with dinner at la Vittoria restaurant. On our return, one of the teachers led a meeting on the topic: the influence of external conditions on the development of personal talent.
We started the next day with a photographic session in St Peter’s Basilica, where there are very important artefacts (e.g. Michelangelo’s Pieta, Giotto’s fresco, the ciborium, Bernini’s baldachin and high altar, etc.). An important highlight was the passage through the Holy Door of the basilica. After visiting the interior, the students went to the square to sketch the façade, the portico, the fountains and the figures of saints. In the afternoon, we set off with a guide to the Vatican Museums. Three hours of interacting with great works of art caused great admiration and stimulated our imagination. From the museums we walked to the famous Gianicolo viewing park. There, the moments devoted to small sketches and panoramic photos were enriched by a concert by local artists.
Wednesday was the day of the audience with Pope Francis. For the occasion, the young people wore regional costumes and took with them a picture of the Queen of the Tatra Mountains painted by Maksymilian Siemaszko, a second-grade student, our gift to the Holy Father. We immortalised this emotional meeting with a group photo. The location of the open-air art session on this day was the area around the Capitol and Venice Square. We did not miss the monuments gathered in the Capitoline Museums (the famous Lupa Capitolina, the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius or the Spinario). The views from the museum windows of the Roman Forum and the Palatine were quite an attraction.
On Thursday, many Poles arriving in Rome meet for Mass at the tomb of St John Paul II at 7.10 a.m. We also attended, and after breakfast we went to the Colosseum for a guided tour, learning about its tragic history but also admiring the mastery of its architecture. An important point for future art historians was to learn about the history of the Roman Forum and the Palatine. A three-hour walk among the remains of ancient palaces and basilicas made it possible to feel the atmosphere of the disputes of Roman philosophers, the quarrels of brunches or the smell of incense from ancient temples. It was also an ideal place for an open-air workshop. Interesting sketches and small watercolour projects were created. Looking once again at the charming Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine, we set off for the Basilica of St John Lateran. We admired its interior, the work of Francesco Borromini, the façade designed by Domenico Fontana and the baptistery from the time of Constantine the Great.
On Friday, we set out to walk in the footsteps of the works of Rubens, Caravaggio and Bernini. We visited the Chiesa Nuova, the Piazza Navona with its beautiful fountains, the church of St Louis. In Piazza Navona, among the crowds of tourists, we had to find a place for our art work. After an hour’s intensive open-air session, we went to the Pantheon and had time to contemplate the atmosphere of the place. On the way to the next point, the Borghese Gallery, there was still a photo plein air, a glimpse of the Trevi Fountain and a symbolic throwing of a coin into it to return here next year. We took a guided tour of the Borghese Gallery and again it was two hours of experiencing art at its best! We admired works by Caravaggio, Raphael, Titian, Rubens, Bernini, Canova and many others. On the way back we stopped at Piazza del Popolo to see works by Caravaggio, Raphael and Bernini in the Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo.
Saturday was a day of sightseeing in Assisi, which we reached by train. We were given a guided tour of the Basilica of St Francis with its famous Giotto frescoes by Fr Tadeusz Światkowski, OFM. Here we also attended Mass for the intentions of all the school staff and students. After the tour, the young people went on a three-hour open-air tour. The charming backstreets flower-filled in February, were incredibly impressive. Not even the light rain falling in the afternoon hindered us. We returned to Rome at 10 p.m.
Sunday had a festive character. After breakfast, we went to Campo di Fiori to see a display case with a poem by Polish Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz. Amidst flower stalls and colourful bottles of olive oil, we walked to the Church of SS Salvatore in Onda for Mass, after which we visited the room and museum of St Vincent Pallotti and the crypt remembering ancient Rome. The homily by Fr Leszek Woroniecki SAC ‘did its job’. The queue for the confessional was long, for which we are very grateful to God. The next stage of our trip was the Basilica of Our Lady Major. We walked through the Holy Door, prayed at the relics of the manger and found Bernini’s tomb. We admired the ceiling by Giuliano da Sangallo, decorated with gold brought by Christopher Columbus from his expeditions. The final pilgrimage point of the day was the Basilica of St Paul behind the Walls.
On Monday at 11.00 a.m., full of impressions but also with a certain feeling of insufficiency, we left for Ciampino airport, from where we flew back to Krakow.
We would like to thank the Sisters of the Procura for their wonderful welcome and open hearts, the Sisters of the Generalate for their interest and support. We return the favour with our prayers.
Text and photos: Sr Grażyna Powierża SAC
