Saint Francis of Assisi
The exhibition Eight Centuries Shorter commemorates the 800th anniversary of the death of this Italian ‘poor man’ and takes place almost a year after the death of the first Jesuit pope, who chose the name Francis in honour of the saint of Assisi.
The Ruusbroec Institute Library holds numerous relevant sources that make tangible the dialogue between Franciscan simplicity and Jesuit spirituality.
Exhibition 'Eight Centuries Less'
Through six thematic zones, we invite you to explore some of the most remarkable and unexpected traces of Francis and his companions, drawn from the collection of the Jesuit Heritage Foundation at the Ruusbroec Institute Library.
HUMAN
Who was Francis before he became Francis? In the HUMAN section, we get to know Giovanni di Pietro Bernardone, the young man from Assisi who turned his back on his worldly life in 1205 to devote himself to the poor and serve God.
MYSTICISM
ALSO
In the ALSO section, we get to know the Franciscan family and trace how the various orders are represented in the collections.
ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENT is one of the central themes of Francis’s thought. We draw a link with Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, which was inspired by the Canticle of the Sun written by Saint Francis of Assisi.
LESS
In the LESS section, we explore the ideal of poverty that the Franciscan orders continued to embrace long after the death of their founders, sometimes in its most radical forms.
MORE
Finally, in the MORE section, we see how the Franciscan “less” (detachment) and the Jesuit “more” (commitment) ultimately lead to the same goal. Francis’s detachment is necessary in order to make room for the Jesuits’ Magis.
Audio guide / Podcast
We will develop a podcast episode that can serve as an audio guide to the exhibition, while also functioning as a standalone production.
Lecture series
Alongside the exhibition, we are also developing a series of four in-depth lectures that connect Francis’s thought with contemporary challenges.
We aim to organize paired lectures that also give a voice to organizations and other actors who are putting these ideas into practice today. These in-depth lectures will take place at the UCSIA House. For each lecture, a selection of objects will be on display at the UCSIA House.
These lectures will take place at the UCSIA House. For each lecture, a selection of objects will be on display at the UCSIA House.
More information about the lecture series will be available soon!
The Jesuit Heritage Foundation
In 2020, the University Centre Saint Ignatius Antwerp (UCSIA) and the University of Antwerp established the Jesuit Heritage Foundation. This public-benefit foundation is dedicated to the academic and societal valorization of the Jesuits’ movable cultural heritage in Antwerp and beyond.
This can take many different forms: academic research, of course, but also bringing that research to a wider audience through lectures, exhibitions and other cultural activities, publications or the development of educational materials.
