Picasso's Biblical Roots Explored in Burgos Cathedral Exhibition

The Burgos Cathedral in Spain hosts 'Picasso. Radici Bibliche', a small but exceptional exhibition examining the complex relationship between Pablo Picasso and Christianity. Organized with the Almine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Foundation, the show features 44 works—paintings, drawings, and small sculptures—most from the foundation's collection, some never publicly displayed. Loans come from the Museo Picasso Barcelona, Musée Picasso Paris, Museo Reina Sofía Madrid, and Montserrat Monastery. Curated by Paloma Alarcó, a Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum conservator, the exhibition is divided into six thematic sections: Education, Maternity, Vanitas, Golgotha, Vera Icon, and Hope. The initiative was sparked by Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist's grandson, after discovering family photos from Picasso's 1934 trip to Burgos—likely his last visit to Spain. The exhibition occupies the newly restored Sala Beato Valentín Placencia in the UNESCO-listed Gothic cathedral's cloister. A highlight is the 1921 'Maternità' painted in Fontainebleau, blending Raphael and Murillo-like devotion with proto-Cubist forms. Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Culture and Education, spoke at the opening, noting that while Picasso was an atheist, he never abandoned the symbolic power of biblical and Christian imagery, using Christ's body as an archetype of human suffering. The show runs until June 29.