About Pope Innocent X, the face of the troppo vero portrait by Velázquez that obsessed Bacon, it is said that he had such a hateful character that at his death, the corpse remained rotting in complete abandonment for days because even his niece refused to pay for the coffin. History remembers him as the protector of Borromini and later of Bernini, who gratefully sculpted his softened features in a bust displayed by the Doria Pamphili gallery next to the Velazquez canvas. This way, posterity learns the difference between a psychiatrist and a therapist, both equally brilliant.
A product of his time and a slave to his professed austerity, the face of Francis faces today the third and final day of public exhibition in his cypress coffin with no other intervention than the pious makeup that disguises the skin's swelling every night. On Thursday afternoon, while tens of thousands of pilgrims endured five-hour queues to say goodbye to the Pope for five seconds, the design of his tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore was finally revealed. We did not like it, what can we do. We were expecting the simple tombstone that had been promised to us, resembling the bare step that covers Bernini, and instead, we found a side chapel dedicated to a minimalist exaltation of humility, oxymoron aside. We are informed that the material used is Ligurian marble. The Jesuits of yesteryears had no qualms about going to the quarries of Carrara, and every time I enter the Gesù, I fall to my knees celebrating their majestic choice.
Preaching humility from the heights of a global pulpit is always tricky. No matter how much good faith is treasured, in the society of image, there is no way to avoid the forms ending up contradicting the essence. On one hand, it has been decided that a representation of poor people, migrants, and refugees will receive Francis' body on the steps of Santa Maria. On the other hand, this reception will take place just hours after fifty heads of state, including ten monarchs, gather at the funeral. Something doesn't quite add up there, although none of this is the fault of the deceased. It was always said: nothing worse than someone more papist than the Pope.
In any case, the city is starting to fortify before our eyes, and soon it will be impossible to cross the invisible border of the Vatican without being stopped by four carabinieri, a group of soldiers, or a couple of Swiss guards with eyes as impassive as eternity itself. I confess I am eager to see the impact that the owner of the Trump Tower will make this Saturday in the realm of Buonarroti: it's a bit like comparing Kim Kardashian to the Mona Lisa.
But as Cardinal Cobo has reasoned, no one in their right mind desires the unbearable weight of the white zucchetto. Bergoglio was no exception. In that sense, any conclave is infinitely more democratic than a PSOE primary. The papal candidate never nominates themselves. It is the cardinals who forge alliances and decide on the leader in discreet congregations where the direction of the Church is debated. In 2013, they opted for the periphery. Without leaving Argentina, we will say with Borges that another - a God - is the one who strikes our dark work with sudden light: "centuries later, Scripture would say / that the Spirit blows where it wants."