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"VATICAN STATUES", A UNIQUE & ORIGINAL NARRATIVE RECEIVED BY THE ITALIAN & INTERNATIONAL PATRONS OF THE ARTS FOR
WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY - APRIL 2, 2017
April 2017
Our Chapter has received an incredibile and moving story that we are glad to publish on our website and are honored to share with all our fellow Patrons on World Autism Awareness Day in favour of conservation, promotion of the Vatican collection for young people, in particular autistic children.
VATICAN STATUES
by Federico Rosselli
The moon sheds a pale of light all over the city and the night covers the streets of Rome with a silence full of emotions. The lights of the windows create a special atmosphere. The dome of Saint Peter seems to almost disapper behind the shining face of the moon. A light breeze scatters around the dry leaves of the trees. The noise of cars rarely break the silence.
In this enchanting evening, a spell takes place in the Vatican Museums: the rooms are immersed in a magical atmosphere. The statues rouse from their sleep and begin to wander around the halls and the galleries. While In the Sistine Chapel all seems to be still in prayer, in the other chambers it is possile to hear voices talk in Latin or Greek about politics or religion. Haughty matrons meet in the spiral staircase to show off and chatter about beauty and great gladiators. They are always very high and mighty!
In a corner of the Clementine Museum some statues of children start to play together under the stern gaze of the immense statue of Augustus. The emperor, with benevolent charm, teaches them about the correct behavior of good children. They run around the halls to play hide and seek: they seem very content and they laugh a lot. But not all of them are happy. In fact, one of them stands alone in a hallway.
He is a lonely boy. He is afraid of being reflected in the windows. He has no friends, he is very sad. He stands away from the other children, he plays alone in an imaginary world created by himself and populated by strange characters.
In the beginning, the other statues of children leave him alone, as he is different from them, but then they want to be his friends, and they want to help him, but they don't know how! At last one of them, a little flute player, has a great idea: he decides to organize, in the small room of the Segnatura, a musical concert for all of the Vatican statues. The little sad boy seems to like the music of his new friend, the flute player. All the children start to dance while the flute player performs a sweet song learned many a time ago from a little boy who lives far away, in England, called Peter Pan.
The atmosphere is so magical that some cherubs painted on the walls join the little flute player with their instruments, even the Popes of the frescoes are captured by the magic of that music and they start to move. Our little boy is surprised as he sees his friends dancing so nicely and he decides to join them and starts to dance. The children like the music so much they feel almost relieved: they have overcome their friend’s fear. Nevertheless he is still shy, he stills stays alone in a corner. It is the Emperor Augustus, thanks to the advice of of the cherub beside him, to have an idea, to make the little boy more comfortable: he proposes a treasure hunt! So, the children organize the teams and the treasure hunt begins. The treasure is hidden in the centre of the Sistine Chapel, it isn’t silver or gold but something more precious, the Angels painted in the Sistine Chapel know that well.
In one of the teams is the little sad boy who feels more comfortable with his friends, especially with the little girl Lucrezia. He starts to tell many stories and the other children are captured by his tales. He is finally very happy! His team, thanks to his intelligence and following all clues, reached the Sistine Chapel first and finds the treasure: friendship! They all win but the real winner is the sad little boy. He has won his little big battle thanks to his curiosity and creativity, he has found many friends and finally overcome his fears. He will never be sad or alone again!
After this magical night it seems that every night the little hero meets his new friend Lucrezia and they go around the Vatican Gardens together. They usually stop in front of the Fountain of Galley. The atmosphere is so romantic that this story can only end with an everlasting friendship between the little boy, who is not sad anymore, and Lucrezia.
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