About This Show
Winner of the Evening Standard Award, Pentecost offers a dazzling array of ideas, from cultural ownership to the meaning and value of art, all across a backdrop of political intrigue.
Set in an abandoned Eastern-European church, in the middle of a war zone, an ancient fresco is discovered behind a wall — a painting that could change the history of art. The circumstances of its origin and resemblance to Giotto’s Lamentation Over Jesus strongly suggest it may have actually been the inspiration for Giotto’s watershed painting and not merely its copy. The local curator believes this work could help foster recognition of her country as a civilized culture by the Western world and enlists the aid of a British art historian to restore and transport the work to the national museum. Other forces come into play, however, including the viewpoints of two priests with opposing religious beliefs, as well as the country’s Minister of Culture, an American art professor, and the local presiding magistrate, who attempts to mediate. All have some stake in the painting’s future.
