On August 7, 1745, the monumental statue of San Giovanni di Dio, created by the Florentine artist Filippo Della Valle (1698-1768), was placed in one of the thirty-nine niches of St. Peter’s Basilica, specifically dedicated to housing sculptures of the founding saints of religious Orders and Congregations.

Entering St. Peter’s, right at the beginning of the left transept, in the pillar of Saint Andrew, there is a niche that houses the marble group depicting the Saint of Granada holding a sick poor person firmly. The effigy of St. John of God stands out with solidity within the niche, but the slight bend in his legs and the arm, which extends from the marble housing, almost seem to want to make the Saint emerge from his static pose, as if to communicate a sense of movement and empathy. The artist sculpted a beautiful face, marked by an intense and regal gaze beneath the crown of thorns, a symbol of Giovanni di Dio’s resemblance to Christ. His bare feet, as Castro narrates, because he always went barefoot, and his loving eyes directed at all the sick, with a desire to care for every need, invite a deep reflection: a call to spread a message of compassion and solidarity in the world, an invitation to live with an open heart, to reach out to those who suffer, and to expand hospitality worldwide.

Image “courtesy of the Fabbrica di San Pietro in Vaticano”