Can Beauty Lead You To God? Elizabeth Lev On Rome's Greatest Masterpieces | EWTN Vatican

In the heart of summer, Rome welcomes countless pilgrims, students, and professionals who come to immerse themselves in the heart of the Church. Through its history, Roman architecture, and Christian art, the Eternal City continues to shape minds, hearts, and vocations, offering encounters with the beauty and living faith of the Church. For nearly 30 years, Dr. Elizabeth Lev has guided pilgrims through Rome and taught art history, sharing how the city's beauty can open the door to a deeper encounter with faith. For many visitors, Rome is synonymous with extraordinary art and architecture. How do these masterpieces tell the story of Christianity to all those who come to see them? So we talk about this Roman Empire, and we can see the vestiges of this Roman Empire that ruled everything in the Mediterranean. It seemed too big to fail. But this was the world that built the Pantheon, right? So the Pantheon, which is a building dedicated to all the gods. And so we look at those ruins, I mean, they are all ruins, except the Pantheon. And so why is the Pantheon still there? Because along came this little renegade religion, this tent maker and a fisherman who came to Rome talking about a god who became man. So instead of men becoming gods, a god who became man. And then along comes the Renaissance, and we have a man like Bramante, who looks at the Pantheon, and he looks at the remnants in the form, and he says, these are beautiful. But what if we took these things and we made them to a true god? And then the next thing you know, we have St. Peter's. So the story tells this incredible story of the way that that which is good, that which is beautiful, that which is noble, can be transformed into something that speaks to revelation, incarnation, and salvation. And what is it about beauty in particular that speaks to the human heart? And how can beauty be a pathway to God? You don't see an octopus in front of a painting. You don't see a dog mooning over a sunset. We are the only creatures, human beings, that are sensitive towards beauty. And so there is something about the glory of nature, or the glory of human creativity, applied to order, and to color, and to nobility, that really does move and excite us and draw us together. And so beauty has a power, same thing with music and beyond that. Beauty has a power, as once upon a time, Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI, he spoke about how beauty wounds, and it brings out a vulnerability in us. And because of that vulnerability, we become more open, but it opens up this little chink in our armor, and in that chink, all kinds of things can get in, including truth and goodness. And could you perhaps share an example of, I don't know, a church, a painting, a sculpture, something that you think moves the human being in a very strong way? I think about it particularly in the Pietà, where every day there are people from all over the world. These people have no common language, they have no common background, but they all gather around that image of Mary holding this beautiful son. And whether or not they can break down the ins and outs and how it was made, there's that image of something that is so tragic, I mean, this is a mother holding her lifeless son, but rendered with such elegance. It moves so many people from different places with different backgrounds. It never gets old. Every summer, Rome welcomes so many pilgrims, and it can be seminarians, scholars, journalists, all different kinds of professions, like you were mentioning, from all over the world. How is it that Rome still continues to inspire so many people from so different backgrounds? There is something about Rome that connects to the supernatural, whether it is in the gigantic monuments left by the Romans, who built these larger-than-life temples for their larger-than-life gods, or these extraordinary works of art that are built to proclaim the truth of Christianity. Whether or not they realize it, the pilgrims who are, the tourists and the pilgrims who are coming to Rome are looking for something. They may not know what it is, but Rome is a city where the expectation is high. Maybe something extraordinary will happen. The Caravaggio's painting of The Calling of St. Matthew, where you have Matthew, who thinks he's got everything, and he's looking around, and there's some coins on the table, and they've got the clothes, but Matthew is the one who looked up for one second and wondered, is there more? And at that moment, he looked up, Jesus passes, and his life is changed. And I think Rome gives that sense of expectation, that maybe if I look up at the right moment, I'll see something and my life will change. Thank you so much, Dr. Lislev. You are very welcome.