Title: “Mother Clelia, Mother and Teacher”
Technique: Oil painting
Dimension: 80×100 cm
Year: 2019
Author: Giuseppe Antonio Lomuscio
Description of the Painting
This painting, was commissioned as a celebratory work on Mother Clelia, Foundress of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is meant to be, above all, a point of reflection that draws us in, to help us to get to know Mother Clelia’s charism and to experience the value that education held as part of her evangelizing mission.
The depiction portrays a young Clelia, probably during the years of the founding of the Insitute. She has a soft, serene expression and a gaze that follows and accompanies the observer. Her youthfulness does not only reflect her age, but also the youthful appearance of one who knows Christ and always remains young because she carries in her heart a fervent love that is transformed into zeal to make the Sacred Heart of Jesus, her sole point of reference, known and loved.
She is “Mother and Teacher,” the one who as a disciple learned from the crucified Christ the way to love without holding anything back and then sharing it with others through self-giving.
With rich symbolic meaning, the Foundress’ hands represent the central point of the composition. With her right hand Mother holds the Crucifix, pressing it close to her heart as if to become one with it yet revealing it to others at the same time. With her left hand she takes up the Word of God making her a “voice” to teach and form her daughters and those who take part in her apostolate.
The position of the hands is also deliberately reminiscent of her hands as reproduced in the urn the Generalate of the Institute, whch contain her sacred remains. One, closed, “welcomes” Christ and the other, open, offers itself and “gives”.
Despite moments of darkness and obscurity (represented by the dark sky forming the background behind her), this conviction was the light that illuminated her path on this earth and which she has left us as her lived experience.
Giuseppe Antonio Lomuscio
