The art of the unfinished masterpiece

Daniel Rey | Prospect | 9th June 2026

During the recent papal visit to the forever-incomplete Sagrada Família, much attention was paid to the likely completion date (2034, maybe). Don’t rush, suggests this writer; the church is an example of the “unfinished masterpiece”. Some Michelangelo paintings, Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan, Mozart’s Requiem all belong in this category. The Pope himself seemed to perceive a spiritual quality in incompleteness, saying “it bears witness to a desire; it does not signify a shortcoming”.