Monsignor Franco Buzzi

I always approach every type of “layman’s” art given that I don’t engage with it in a professional sense, along with “amateur,” because I never miss out on the joy of continuing to learn.

My interest in figurative art began to grow due to daily contact with the artistic treasures of the Biblioteca e Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Ambrosian Library and Gallery), where I served as Prefect from 2007 to 2017. Standing in front of masterpieces, questions gush forth out of the complex history of western European culture, drenched in classicism and Christian zeal.

The study of Humanism alongside impassioned and extended research on Luther, his theological reflections, his stringent gaze back to the Middle Ages and forward to the Modern Age, have imbued me with a well-rounded appreciation of the Arts–rhetoric, music, the visual arts—an admiration of and desire to make known the value of the content that guides critique of Lutheran art.

I tiptoe towards every form of representation of the human and the sacred, reflect in silence, contemplate for a while, and hold my breath so as not to disturb the beauty or break the enchantment of the mystery.

Franco Buzzi