I knew Sermoneta for its grandiose past, the Caetani Castle, and for the Pontina International Music Festival (now in its 61st year), and now I've been struck by its relationship with modern art.
An ancient work is contemplated and observed; a modern work is an experience shared with the artist, who is alive and can immerse us in his work. Moreover, the very definition of the word "conceptual" implies the involvement of the intellect, which by its very nature exists in relation and comparison with other intellects.
In this spirit, I attended the opening of the exhibition "The Gardens of Contemplation", a journey through contemporary sacred art that unfolds between Palazzo Caetani (home of the ceramics museum) and the church of San Michele Arcangelo. This group exhibition features Edoardo Bernardi, whose life has been intertwined with ours ever since we met on the way to our Donna Vittori Borgo Agricolo winery .
The exhibition is divided into two very different spaces: Palazzo Caetani and the church of San Michele Arcangelo. The entire historic center of Sermoneta separates the two.
It practically skirts the famous castle, which you never see during the walk but whose presence is felt from the numerous art shops (sometimes purely touristy) and the many trattorias in the squares and alleyways of the center.
The exhibition is curated by Vincenzo Scozzarella, director of the museum and a passionate curator of contemporary art exhibitions. And it must have been no easy task coordinating over 40 artists with their paintings, sculptures, and installations, which reflect and explore the theme of the sacred.
Edoardo's work is in a room in Palazzo Caetani, occupying an entire wall with its undefined forms. His is not a finished work but a journey toward a dimension yet to be discovered. A journey represented by sinuous forms, never sharp-edged, always open and ready to expand until they fill the entire room.
But it is also a representation of a dualism that lives within each of us: a dark side, albeit with bright points of light, that contrasts with the light and joy of creation. It is a contemplation of life that expands and, even if sometimes smaller, exists in a yin-yang cycle of continuous subversion of the present.
Two works are dedicated to Gaza and Palestine: Lamberto Correggiari with Christs in Gaza, and Claudio Marini with his Bloody Flag. Both artists exhibited photographs or reproductions of dead children wrapped in pure white sheets, like Jesus figures, ideally contrasting with the strong colors of violence.
Art can be a sword that pierces you, and a picture is worth much more than a thousand words for its incisiveness. To be admired in silence, trying not to cry.
The exhibition on the main floor of Palazzo Caetani will be open to the public until January 18, 2026. Sermoneta, with its beauty, always awaits you.
The authors of the works on display: Paola Acciarino, Costantino Baldino, Edoardo Bernardi, Raimondo Bonamici, Mariangela Calabrese, Lamberto Correggiari, Fernando Falconi, Francesco Fardella, Venera Finocchiaro, Antonio Fiore, Giorgio Fiume, Giorgio Galli, Monica, Giovinazzi, Biagio Iadarola, Emilia Isabella, Rosy Losito, Venanzio Manciocchi, Carlo Marchetti, Claudio Marini, Francesco Martelli, Gabriele Maschio, Fagio Masotti, Luigi Menichelli, Enza Messini, Riccardo Parisi, Paolo Petrignani, Sandro Pisani, Felix Policastro, Massimo Pompeo, Renata Rampazzi, Paolo Romani, Alessandra Rovelli, Ersilia Sarrecchia, Marcello Scopelliti, Pasquale Simonetti, Maurizio Soscia, Normanno Soscia, Angelo Tozzi, Umberto Trani, Manfred Jacob Vogt.
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