At Vatican evening event, historic St. Peter’s bell ‘speaks’ through new sound installation

Rome Newsroom, Feb 17, 2025 / 10:30 am (CNA).

For the Jubilee of Hope, an American artist has created an installation mapping the “soundscape” of one of the historic bells of St. Peter’s Basilica, premiering the work on the night of Feb. 16.

“The Silent Echoes of a Great Sound Sculpture” by Bill Fontana made the bell’s live soundscape audible as artists and other pilgrims walked through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica after dark on Sunday.

The after-hours opening of the basilica, one of several events in Rome organized for the Feb. 15-18 Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture, was called the “Notte Bianca” — “white night” in English. During the extraordinary opening, artists and others walked around a basilica bathed in blue light and accompanied by live cello music. 

The contemporary art installation, which can be heard in a video recording here, was audible via speakers in the portico, or entrance, of St. Peter’s Basilica. It is expected to continue to play from 9:30 a.m. through 7 p.m. daily throughout the 2025 Jubilee of Hope.

The soundscape was made using the largest of St. Peter’s Basilica’s six bells — called “Campanone,” Italian for “Great Bell.” The over eight-feet tall bell was cast in 1786 by the silversmith Luigi Valadier and weighs around 9 tons.

Fontana explained how the installation works in a statement on his website: “Latent in the physical structure of everything, are resonant frequencies. … I began to explore this phenomenon using high resolution vibration sensors called accelerometers. These may be placed onto and inside of a wide range of structures and situations that then map, render and reveal the silent echoes latent in a structure or an object that is echoing a live soundscape.”

Fontana did a similar recording of the Emmanuel bell of Notre Dame Basilica in Paris in 2022.

According to a press release: “Using state-of-the-art sensors and a sophisticated audio system, the internal vibrations — normally in no way audible since [the bell] weighs over nine tons — have been captured, amplified, and transformed into a deeply immersive auditory experience.”

The soundscape, also called a “sound sculpture,” the note continued, “will accompany [pilgrims and visitors] on their spiritual journey” at St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Education and Culture also organized several initiatives for the weekend’s Jubilee of Artists, but two of the events — a papal audience and a gathering with the pope at the film studios of Cinecittà — had to be canceled after Francis was hospitalized for a respiratory infection on Feb. 14.

At a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the dicastery prefect, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, read Pope Francis’ message to artists, calling them to participate in the “revolutionary vision of the Beatitudes” and transform suffering into hope.

“Your mission is not only to create beauty but to reveal the truth, goodness, and beauty hidden within the folds of history, to give voice to the voiceless, to transform pain into hope,” the pope’s message stated.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/262259/amid-blue-lights-for-artists-event-sound-installation-in-st-peter-s-basilica-brings-silent-echoes-to-life