“The Pope [Emeritus] understood that it was important to portray this historical moment of his pontificate, on canvas for history. He has chosen me, and it's a great responsibility for me,” said Natalia Tsarkova, the Portraitist of the Popes.

Natalia Tsarkova has painted Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in his mission as Pope Emeritus surrounded by those closest to him, his “Pontifical Family.”

Tsarkova noted, “Pope Benedict speaks to his environment, to the ‘Familia Pontificia,’ to his Pontifical Family, and to us. And each member of his Pontifical family reacts differently.”

For example, “Monsignor George is his private secretary, and he symbolically writes down everything Pope Benedict says for history.”

Four consecrated women are members of the “Memores Domini Association,” they dedicated themselves to the service of the Pope Emeritus to accompany and support him in his mission.

“Here in the foreground is sister Carmella, looking lovingly and attentively at the Pope,” noted Tsarkova. “And it's as if the pope is lighting up her face. And she's sewing a button to his cassock. And there is a folk saying: if you want to make a wish, you must sew on a button. And then Sister Carmella makes a wish that the Pope will always be healthy. Actually, you have to ask her [what she wishes for].”

Tsarkova continued to point out the figures in the portrait:

“And behind her is the cook. She holds the menu. The menu is a small little piece of paper, because the Pope doesn't eat much. Her name is Sister Loredana.”

“There's Rosella in the back, and she's doing a little bit of everything. She does the living room, she does the laundry, and she does the cleaning.”

“And the fourth one is Sister Christina. She tends and takes care of the church, the house chapel.”

The chapel is painted on the upper part. This is the place where Pope Benedict prays and draws spiritual strength.

“And Sister Christina, she is carrying roses. Roses are also a symbol of Mary, the Virgin Mary, a symbol of love. And roses are Pope Benedict's favorite flowers,” Tsarkova added.

Tsarkova tells us that Sister Cristina also took care of Pope Benedict's brother Georg Ratzinger. Pope Emeritus Benedict invited Natalia Tsarkova to work on the portrait while his brother Georg Ratzinger was still alive.

“And I put them together as if, here, they were one,” Tsarkova noted. “He leans in and listens to what Pope Benedict says, and you can see he's thinking about something beautiful. He is very inward focused, too, in his thoughts, and he's thinking about something that lights up his face from the inside.”

Natalia Tsarkova is a painter from Russia. She moved from Moscow to Rome in 1994, Since then, she has become the official "portraitist of the popes." Despite differences in culture and belief, as Tsarkova is Orthodox, she says that she doesn’t feel any division between her and the subjects of her paintings. After many visits to the Pope Emeritus during the past four years, she started to see herself as a part of the pontifical family as well.

She shared, “In fact, this angel is painted after me. It's kind of symbolic: it's not me, it's an angel, but it's painted after me, because that's how I feel in my heart. I'm there with them. And when I was painting this portrait, it was the hard times of Covid isolation that came, and I was alone with this painting, and it was good that there was this painting. I used to get up and say: ‘Good morning, Santo Padre!’ And when I went to bed, ‘Good night, Santo Padre!’”

Tsarkova uses light as an important theme in her paintings. She says that when Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI resigned, he did not retreat into the shadows, but instead began his new mission: the mission of the Pope Emeritus.

This article was originally published on 24 November 2022 and has been updated on 27 December 2024.

Adapted by Jacob Stein 

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