Jun 2, 2012 4:14pm

June 3, 1963: Requiescat in Pace, Blessed John XXIII

So, here we are. I came. You have seen me. I have looked into your eyes, I have put my heart close to yours.

These were the words John XXIII spoke to prisoners on his first visit to a jail in Rome after his election on October 28, 1958.  They are a telling example of how this holy man came to be known as having such a great heart.

Papal Artifacts has a biography  of Angelo Roncalli on page 1 of  Papal History.  It includes a you tube of his election, his burial site at St. Peter's and his coat of arms.  On pages 5 & 6 of Papal Artifacts there are seventeen items belonging to or connected to the  man who came to be known as The Good Pope John.

The item presented here  is an original charcoal sketch of Blessed John XXIII by Giacomo Manzu, a communist, atheist friend of the Pope’s. It is a dual-sided, framed photo: it is glass on both sides.

Manzu was commissioned by Blessed John XXIII to redo the bronze door, known as the Door of Death at St. Peter’s Basilica. While working on this project between 1961 – 1964, John XXIII died and Manzu chose to use a likeness of him in the lower right panel of the door. 

This door, located at the far-left side of the front of St. Peter’s, is called the Door of Death because from this location the bodies of popes are brought into St. Peter’s for their burials. 

Other panels on the bronze door include different saints, the death of Jesus Christ and Mary. 

The original sketch in this collection was created in the studio in 1963 just after his death. It is one of the original sketches used in the creation of the panel. The reverse side of the image, also in glass, has another signature of Manzu and an ink stamp of authenticity.

Father Kunst purchased this item from the widow of a friend of Manzu who found it in her late husband’s papers.  This is a very nice item closely connected to St. Peter’s Basilica.  

Pope John Paul II beatified him on September 3, 2000.

Papal Artifacts is honored to remember Blessed John XXIII on the 49th anniversary of his death.

Blessed John XXIII: An Original Charcoal Sketch by Giacomo Manzu From 1963, Signed 1958-1963

This is an original charcoal sketch of Blessed John XXIII by Giacomo Manzu, a communist, atheist friend of the Pope’s. It is a dual-sided, framed photo: it is glass on both sides. Manzu was commissioned by Blessed John ... read more »