The floral emblem of Pope Leo XIV has been completed in the Vatican Gardens
A masterwork of art and craftsmanship
The floral emblem of Pope Leo XIV has been completed in the Vatican Gardens, located on the upward slope from the apse of St. Peter's Basilica, right in front of the Governorate building.
Hundreds of colored plants, like so many mosaic pieces, have made a beautiful work of floral art possible. Like the previous emblems, it will be admired every year by thousands of people from an exceptional observation point: the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
To create the emblem, the gardeners of the Vatican Gardens and Environmental Service of the department of Infrastructure and Services employed approximately two weeks to develop the new arrangement and then reproduce it on site. On average, two people worked on it per day, who, with experience and artistic talent, made the permanent floral composition possible.
The structure of the "frame", in which the details of the emblem are inserted, has remained the same as that of Pope Francis. It is formed by the papal mitre, placed between gold and silver crossed keys, tied with a red cord. The mitre was recreated with Buxus sempervirens, pumila variety.
The gold key was reproduced with Euonymus Aureus, i.e. variegated spindle tree which is often pruned so that it remains dwarfed and offers a yellowish color. The silver key was recreated with the seasonal plant Helichrysum italicum, which must be changed at least once a year to maintain its silvery color.
The red cords that tie the keys were made with the Iresine brillassima plant, in summer, and Viola cornuta, always red, in winter.
Various plants were used for the papal shield, divided diagonally into two sectors. At the top left, on the light blue background, a white lily is depicted. It symbolizes purity and virginity and recalls the figure of the Virgin Mary.
To reproduce the blue color, 400 seedlings of Ageratum blue Star from the emblem of Pope Francis were recovered. The image of the lily was made with 50 seedlings of Helichrysum italicum cultivated from cuttings by the greenhouse workers.
On the other part of the shield, at the bottom, on a light background there is an image that recalls the emblem of the Order of Saint Augustine: a heart pierced by an arrow placed on top of a book. It refers to the conversion of Saint Augustine, as it symbolizes how the Word of God pierced his heart, as the Saintly Doctor of the Church explained: Vulnerasti cor meum Verbo tuo (“You have pierced my heart with your Word”).
For the lighter half of the emblem, 400 plants of Begonia semperflorens night life, bronze leaf, white flower were used. The heart was created with Iresine lindenii seedlings, reproduced from cuttings cultivated in the greenhouse.
To recreate the book, the collaboration of the blacksmith laboratory of the Infrastructure and Services department was required to produce sheet metal for the book’s shape. Red lapilli was placed inside and gravel was used for the color white.
Combined with the skill of the Vatican gardeners, it is nature, with its splendor and vivid colors that gives beauty and life to this floral work of art.
