Amor Causa, 20 years of mystical photography
The ‘Amor Causa’ exhibition in the church of São Jorge Castle
Amor Causa is 20 years old. And to celebrate this anniversary, François Rousseau’s photographs have been installed in the church of Château São Jorge.
The photographs on display were taken in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
French photographer François Rousseau was commissioned by the Portuguese paper company Renova to depict the Beatitudes.
Telling the story of Jesus’ teaching to the Apostles (Matthew 5) was quite a challenge.
The artistic research took a year. François Rousseau managed to find credible models to represent Jesus and his apostles.
The images are strikingly realistic and beautiful.
Sponsorship to help restore the church
The Santa Cruz church at São Jorge Castle is currently in the hands of Father Edgar Pera. This priest is renowned for his talent in raising funds to restore religious buildings in poor condition.
Amor Causa- The Beatitudes is an exhibition in keeping with this philosophy. The public can visit the church – for a small fee – and gain access to the tower, where photos and a video of the “making off” are on display.
The funds raised will go towards restoring the altars and paintings.
The tower also offers a beautiful, little-known view of Lisbon.
We suggest you read our article on the church.
The patronage of Paulo Pereira da Silva (CEO Renova) worked 20 years ago with the commission to François Rousseau. And the support is working again with the republication of the book ‘Amor Causa’.
A story of encounters and humanism
The photographies and the book that contains them exert a fascination. The construction of the scenes and the characters.
The central character, called The Impersonator, with long chestnut hair, evokes the image of Jesus, developed over the centuries by the Catholic Church.
His beauty and the mysticism that emanates from him are fascinating.
The scenes evoking the Beatitudes took a year to complete. And it was possible to allocate funds to the anonymous participants.
As for the Imitator, Gregorio, when François Rousseau returned to Rio to show the results of his work to the participants, he had disappeared.
No one ever heard from the Impersonator again.
Amor Causa informed
The Amor causa exhibition will be on view until 31 December 2025.
The book of photos illustrates the Beatitudes in different languages. The commentaries are in Arabic and Hebrew, among other languages.
The book is published by RAC – Renova Art Commissions.
Entrance to the church tower is through a side door.
Price: €6 for a single visit. 4 for children.
Admission + a Santa Cruz beer: 10 euros.
Amor Causa, Love a good cause
At www.lisbonne-affinités.com we liked this exhibition, which serves a good cause.
The “Amor Causa” exhibition is multi-layered, with a provocative aesthetic.
The exhibition is thought-provoking.
And to visit the church and its tower, which offers a lovely view over Lisbon. We recommend that you read the article devoted to the building-
https://www.lisbonne-affinités.com/clocher-de-santa-cruz-du-chateau-sao-jorge/