Pensive Pope
Photograph

Erich Lessing

Maker
Austrian, 1923–2018

Pensive Pope

1962
Gelatin silver print
Image: 9 9/16 × 7 1/2 in. (24.3 × 19 cm)
Paper: 10 1/8 × 7 15/16 in. (25.7 × 20.2 cm)
Gift of Time-Life Books
1968.0184.0579
Inscriptions Typed in black ink on applied label on verso, BC: 10/62 18) PENSIVE POPE: Now that the pageantry of the opening of the \ Ecumenical Council in Rome has faded from the TV waves, Pope John and \ his 2500 ecclesiatical colleagues are settling down to their job of \ bringing "the Church in step with modern times." Their first debate: \ the controversy between the autonomist bloc favoring a more decentralized \ Church and the conservatives favoring a continuance of strong central \ authority. \ Credit: Erich Lessing © 1962 MAGNUM Photos
Related Media

Review and updating of the museum's collection data is ongoing.
Inclusion of an object in this database does not guarantee its availability for loan.
For permission to use images from the online collections, please contact Image Rights and Reproductions.