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As we get closer and closer to Holy Week, in the home stretch of the Lenten season, the Vatican is continuing to release weekly artworks on the theme: "Through the desert God leads us to freedom." The art releases by Italian street artist Maupal – real name Mauro Pallotta – have been organized by the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, which now features six of seven art pieces on its website.
The vignette released for the sixth week of Lent features Pope Francis leading a group of cyclists as they race down a road. In the scene, the group is just passing a sign that directs the road from “Profit” to the “Common Good.” The Pope is grinning as he leads the pack onward in the direction of the common good, while posed in an action shot that gives the appearance of biking at high speed.
Each of the six released vignettes has featured Pope Francis taking part in a different activity, from dancing in a field at a picnic to staging a prison escape to breaking the bonds of “hate” and “fear.” Maupal’s artistic style tends to focus on creating highly detailed -- especially in the clothing -- and emotive characters.
On the dicastery webpage, the announcement of the new artwork points toward a passage of Pope Francis’ Lenten message, in which he reminds that the “love of God and love of neighbor are one love.” The Pope invites the faithful “to pause in the presence of God beside the flesh of our neighbor.”
With Easter around the corner on March 31, the Vatican has just one more Maupal painting to release. Tune in to Aleteia next week to see the final Maupal artwork for 2024’s Lent.
