HISTORY, CULTURE, ART

Through a donation made in the years immediately following World War II, the Sylvestrine Congregation of the Benedictine Order received a five-hectare plot of land in the town of Bassano Romano, atop a small hill where an abandoned church stood (its dome collapsed, beneath which a fig tree had grown) and two ruined cottages, one of them roofless, used for sheltering men and animals. The interior of the church had been overtaken by a forest of brambles and wild plants, making access impossible. The hill and its buildings were in such a state of neglect that locals carefully avoided approaching the site, which had come to be called ‘the thicket.’ It seemed, at first, a discouraging beginning. Yet we must not forget that the motto of the Order has always been ora et labora—‘pray and work.’ Thus, the Monks rolled up their sleeves, sustained only by labor and prayer, and led by the three principles that have always defined the work of the Sylvestrine Benedictines: History, Culture, Art.
The church, dedicated to Saint Vincent the Martyr and later renamed by the Sylvestrine Monks the Sanctuary of the Holy Face, was originally commissioned in the 17th century by Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani to serve as the family mausoleum (it is said that the architect Vignola may have contributed to its design). The church features a magnificent façade flanked by two bell towers, each housing four bells. The Marquis also commissioned renovations to the pre-existing Palazzo degli Anguillara in Bassano Romano, which became Palazzo Giustiniani. From the very construction of the church-mausoleum, as recorded in Giustiniani’s will, a fund was established to ensure that the ‘priests’ who cared for the church and performed its ceremonies also provided free education in reading and arithmetic to the local youth. Centuries later, the Sylvestrine Monks envisioned from the outset the creation of a student residence on the site. Today, within its walls, the Monastery of Saint Vincent welcomes approximately a thousand students from four secondary schools, together with teachers and administrative staff, who each day transform it into a small, vibrant community, oriented toward the future.
When the Monks began the restoration of the church, a marble statue of a nude Christ emerged from the bramble-covered interior and from the ‘mists of time,’ positioned on a small shrine above the main altar. What a remarkable jewel! The statue had been forgotten for centuries, concealed from view by the brambles. Initially, its nudity caused some embarrassment among the Monks, who covered it with a loincloth. Later, documents discovered in the archives of Palazzo Giustiniani in Rome—including the inventory of Vincenzo Giustiniani’s art collection—suggested the work might be by Michelangelo. This attribution was confirmed in the early 2000s, when a cleaning revealed a dark vein on the statue’s face, matching a description by Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1556. It was identified as the Risen Christ Carrying the Cross, sculpted by Michelangelo between 1514 and 1516, preceding the version still housed in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome.
A statue with an extraordinary, splendid history—an artwork that, at the time of its creation, was considered unacceptable by its own creator due to the ‘black hair’ that appeared while sculpting Christ’s face, and thus rejected; nearly a century later, it was purchased by Vincenzo Giustiniani, who likely entrusted its finishing touches to Bernini. Today, the Christ, permanently housed in the Chapel of the Christ Carrying the Cross at the Sanctuary of the Holy Face, is a ‘travelling’ masterpiece, a testament to beauty. It has been requested by numerous countries around the world, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Japan. Others did, and perhaps others will in the future…

Duverly Berckus Goma
Conventual Prior on the Monastery of Saint Vincent, Bassano Romano – October 2025