Jubileum
is an artistic reportage of the 2015–16 Jubilee of Mercy, the celebration of the Catholic Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Francis and centered around St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Jubilee, held every 25 to 50 years since first instigated by Boniface VIII in 1300, is a time of universal pardon, where pilgrims head to Rome to renew their faith.
Alessandra d’Urso and Alessandra Borghese gained privileged access to the Vatican to document the Jubilee, as a result of Borghese’s respected experience as a writer and journalist in the field. D’Urso’s photos depict the little-seen rituals and grand settings of the Church. Perhaps more importantly, she captures the details that convey the experience of pilgrimage: the Pope’s shadow cast on a marble floor, rosary beads hanging from fingertips, shafts of sunlight in St. Peter’s.