MIMMO CHIANURA Pope GIOVANNI PAOLO II (1920-2005)
Lot 788
500600
Original colour photograph, S.Pietro, 24/12/1999.
Pope John Paul II, kneeling on the threshold of the Holy Door.
Stamped and signed by the photographer on the reverse.
Size 30 x 20 cm
Pope John Paul II opening of the Holy Door, St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican),
Christmas 1999 and beginning of the Millennium Jubilee.
Before the Jubilee of the Year 2000, it was customary for the Supreme Pontiff
to open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica and then delegate this power
to a cardinal for the opening of the doors in the other three basilicas. Pope
John Paul II broke with this tradition by opening and closing each of these
doors himself. The one in St. Peter’s Basilica was the fi rst to be opened and
the last to be closed.