Art Takes Care: project kicks off that brings art to Order of Malta Hospitals and Outpatient Clinics

The project L’Arte si prende Cura (Art Takes Care), promoted by theEmbassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Holy See, has kicked off. The project aims to bring back to the Order of Malta’s Hospitals and Out patient Clinics the sign of that attention to beauty and art that for centuries has characterized the therapeutic and health activities of theOrder of St. John of Jerusalem. The project, aimed at endowing the Hospital of St. John the Baptist of Magliana in Rome, all of the Order’s Outpatient Clinics in Italy and some abroad with the works of Massimo Listri, a master of architectural and environmental photography, to help improve the wellbeing of the assisted through the beauty of ’art, as therapy for the soul, was presented yesterday in Rome at Casa Litta-Palazzo Orsini, in the presence of Undersecretary of State for Culture Vittorio Sgarbi, Don Fabrizio Colonna di Paliano, Receiver of the Common Treasure of the SMOM, the Ambassador of the H.M. Order of Malta to the Holy See Antonio Zanardi Landi, Don Alessio Geretti, Head of Art Events for Jubilee 2025, and photographer Massimo Listri.

From the Brazilian Embassy in Rome to the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, from the Reggia di Caserta to the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence to the Champ de Bataille Castle in Normandy, the Alcázar in Seville and the Royal Opera in Versailles: places of great charm at the center of the works of Massimo Listri, whom, Vittorio Sgarbi himself calls a “photographer who invents beauty,” emphasizing how his gaze educates the eye of the observer to capture all that he would risk not seeing behind the image of reality, such as the harmonious volumes of the environments he portrays.

An accompanying publication of the same name, Art Takes Care. Architectures and Perspectives by Massimo Listri in the Places of Care of the S.M. Order of Malta, published by Allemandi, which collects interior shots by Massimo Listri.

The initiative, supported by the Angelini Foundation and made possible thanks to the photographer’s donation of the copyrights of the images, was created at the initiative of the Ambassador of the S.M. Order of Malta to the Holy See, Antonio Zanardi Landi, and testifies to the closeness and welcome expressed through art and beauty as a comfort and support to the process of healing and rebirth. “The Art Takes Care project represents a source of pride for us,” said Antonio Zanardi Landi. “It is a return to the ancient and to our origins, of which we want to preserve strong and intact memories. Even in the Regulations of the Sacred Infirmary of Malta, dating back to 1725, we find the value attributed to decorating the Order’s hospital dormitories with works of art, thus recognizing a direct link between the state of mind and the health of patients. Thanks to the generosity of Massimo Listri, it has been possible to renew this commitment through a concrete project that makes hospitality and care its cornerstones and that finds in the Master a natural referent given the harmony, grace, elegance and balance characteristic of his magnificent photographs.”

“The collaboration with the Embassy of the Order of Malta to the Holy See has been an exceedingly happy opportunity,” Listri said. “I am delighted that my images can play a therapeutic role for the soul, bringing comfort to the Order’s places of care for those in inpatient or difficult situations. The grand interiors and architectural depictions at the center of my shots blend well with the environments of the Order’s clinics and hospitals, engaging the viewer in a vison of beauty and harmony.”

Image: Massimo Listri, Champ de Bataille Castle.

Art Takes Care: project kicks off that brings art to Order of Malta Hospitals and Outpatient Clinics

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