San Miniato al Monte, Florence (2019)
As a child, Urs Burki frequently visited Florence with his art-loving parents. The city’s countless masterpieces – cradle of the Renaissance – remained throughout his life a rich source of cultural and artistic education. Visits to the Uffizi Gallery with its outstanding collection of ancient sculptures and paintings, and Donatello’s fifteenth-century bronze statue David, were among the experiences that repeatedly drew him back to this unique city on the Arno. From Pietrasanta (Province of Lucca), where Urs Burki maintained an artist’s studio for decades, he often cycled to Florence and up the steep hill to the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, which celebrated its thousandth anniversary in 2019.
In conversation with her friend Abbot Padre Bernardo, head of the adjoining Benedictine monastery, Rosmarie Burki-Weibel learned that following the jubilee celebrations, several donors had unexpectedly withdrawn their promised contributions, leaving the community — modest in financial means — with a considerable deficit. Following this discussion, Rosmarie Burki-Weibel covered the shortfall in her husband’s name. The abbot’s letter of thanks (he holds a university degree in literature) is, as Rosmarie Burki-Weibel described it, “pure poetry.”
Click here to read the letter of gratitude written by Abbot Padre Bernardo (in Italian).