A New Show on Picasso's Religious Roots Opens in a Spanish Cathedral

"At first glance, this curatorial oversight is hardly surprising. After all, Picasso was an atheist and Communist supporter whose ever-shifting practice seemed to chafe against centuries of religious art. Indeed, in a well-known episode from the 1940s, Picasso personally confronted Henri Matisse for accepting the Vence chapel commission."

"Look a little close, however-as "Biblical Roots" does, courtesy of 44 works loaned from the likes of Madrid's Reina Sofia and Thyssen-Bornemisza -and the lingering influence of Christian imagery emerges. There are doves, pious families, devotional mothers, and even a sheet metal sculpture of a man lugging a lamb over his shoulder."

"Picasso's turn to atheism was, in one sense, a classic adolescent rejection of his upbringing. As a child, he had attended mass with his mother at the church near the family home in Malaga. In the mid-1890s, the Picassos moved to Barcelona, enrolling their son in the School of Arts and Crafts."

Picasso made his final visit to Spain in 1934, touring Burgos Cathedral with his family. Decades later, an exhibition titled "Picasso: Biblical Roots" at the same cathedral explores the overlooked influence of Christian values and imagery on the artist's work. Though Picasso was an atheist and Communist who famously criticized Matisse for accepting a chapel commission, the exhibition reveals persistent Christian symbolism throughout his practice. The show features 44 works from major museums including Madrid's Reina Sofia, displaying doves, devotional figures, and religious imagery. Picasso's rejection of Christianity stemmed from his childhood religious upbringing in Malaga and Barcelona, where his father, a painter and teacher, initially encouraged him toward religious art.

Read at Artnet News