Giacobbe Giusti, Salus Populi Romani
Icon of Salus Populi Romani in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome.
| Salus Populi Romani Protectress and Health of the Roman People Giacobbe Giusti, Salus Populi Romani |
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| Location | Basilica of Saint Mary Major |
| Date | 590 AD (first arrival in Rome) |
| Witness | Pope Gregory the Great |
| Holy See approval | Pope Gregory XVI Pope Pius XII |
| Shrine | Basilica of Saint Mary Major |
Salus Populi Romani (Protectress, or more literally health or salvation, of the Roman People) is a Roman Catholic title associated with the venerated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Rome. This Byzantineicon of the Madonna and Christ Child holding a Gospel book and is enshrined within the Borghese(Pauline) Chapel of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.[1][2]
The image arrived in Rome in the year 590 AD during the reign of Pope Gregory I. Pope Gregory XVIgranted the image a Canonical Coronation on 15 August 1838 through the Papal bull Cælestis Regina. The venerated image regained its longstanding devotion and status by being crowned again for the second time by Pope Pius XIIon the Feast of the Queenship of Mary on 11 October 1954 accompanied by his Papal bull Ad Reginam Caeli.[3]
The phrase Salus Populi Romanigoes back to the legal system and pagan rituals of the ancient Roman Republic.[4] After the legalisation of Christianity by Emperor Constantine the Great through the Edict of Milanin 313 AD, the phrase was sanctioned as a Marian title for the Blessed Virgin Mary.[5]
History
The image is held to have arrived from Crete in the year 590 AD during the Pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great, who welcomed the image in person on its arrival borne with a floral boat from the Tiber river. For centuries it was placed above the door to the basilica’s baptistery chapel, wherein the year 1240 it began to be called Regina Caeli (« Queen of Heaven ») in an official document. Later it was moved to the nave, and from the 13th century it was preserved in a marble tabernacle. Since 1613, it has been located in the altar tabernacle of the Cappella Paolina that was built specifically for it, later known to English-speaking pilgrims as the Lady Chapel. The church, Saint Maria Maggiore, is considered the third of the Roman patriarchal basilicas. The church and its Marian shrine are under the special patronage of the popes.[6]
From at least the 15th century, it was honored as a miraculous image, and it was later used by the Jesuit Order in particular to foster devotion to the Mother of God through the Sodality of Our Lady movement.[6]
The Roman Breviary states, « After the Council of Ephesus (431) in which the Mother of Jesus was acclaimed as Mother of God, Pope Sixtus III erected at Rome on the Esquiline Hill, a basilica dedicated to the honor of the Holy Mother of God. It was afterward called Saint Mary Major and it is the oldest church in the West dedicated to the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. »
The Roman Pontifical gives the following account:
« The Liberian basilica, today called Saint Mary Major, was founded by Pope Liberius (352-366) and was restored and enlarged by Sixtus III. … Pope Liberius selected a venerated picture that hung in the pontifical oratory. It had allegedly been brought to Rome by Saint Helena… »
Legend of Saint Luke
The second Canonical Coronationgranted by Pope Pius XII on 11 October 1954. Feast of the Queenship of Mary, accompanied by his Papal bullAd Reginam Caeli.
Salus Populi Romani is one of the so-called « Luke images » of which there are many throughout the world. These were believed to have been painted from life by Saint Lukehimself. According to the legend: « after the Crucifixion, when Our Lady moved to the home of St. John, she took with her a few personal belongings–among which was a table built by the Redeemer in the workshop of St. Joseph. When pious virgins of Jerusalem prevailed upon St. Luke to paint a portrait of the Mother of God, it was the top of this table that was used to memorialize her image. While applying his brush and paints, St. Luke listened carefully as the Mother of Jesus spoke of the life of her son, facts which the Evangelistlater recorded in his Gospel. Legend also tells us that the painting remained in and around Jerusalem until it was discovered by St. Helena in the 4th century. Together with other sacred relics, the painting was transported to Constantinople where her son, Emperor Constantine the Great, erected a church for its enthronement. » [7]
Description
The image is five feet high by three and a quarter feet wide (117 x 79 cm) – very large for an icon, especially one with an early date. It is painted on a thick cedar panel. Mary wears a gold-trimmed dark blue mantle over a purple/red tunic. The letters in Greek at the top identify Mary as « Mother of God » (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ in lower case and ΜHΤHΡ ΘΕΟΥ in upper case), as is usual in Byzantine art (Christ may originally have had an inscription under later re-painting). Christ is holding a book in his left hand, presumably a Gospel Book. His right hand is raised in a blessing,[6] and it is Mary not he who looks directly out at the viewer.
Giacobbe Giusti, Salus Populi Romani
The image with added metal crowns and jewellery, which has now been removed.
The folded together position of Mary’s hands distinguishes this image as a version of the earlier type from before the development of the iconography of the Hodegetriaimage in the 10th century, where she points to Christ with her right hand.[8] « Rather than offering the Child, she keeps his body closer to hers and seeks physical and tactile contact with him. »[8] However the few other examples of this type do not have the Virgin’s hands folded together – the right hand holds Christ’s knee.
Although neither wear crowns, the holding by Mary in her right hand of a mappa (or mappula, a sort of embroidered ceremonial handkerchief), originally a consularsymbol, later an imperial one, means this image is probably one of the type showing Mary as Regina coeli or « Queen of Heaven ».[9]
Dating by art historians
The image « has been confidently dated to almost every possible period between the fifth century and the thirteenth ».[10] The recent full-length study by Gerhard Wolf says, cautiously, that it is « probably Late Antique » in its original form.[5]
The icon in its current state of overpainting seems to be a work of the 13th century (as witnessed by the features of the faces), but other layers visible under the top one suggest it is a repainting of a much earlier piece; especially revealing is the modeling of Child’s right hand in the first layer, which can be compared to other early Christian icons that display ‘Pompeian’ illusionistic qualities [11] The areas of linear stylization, such as Christ’s garment which is rendered in golden hatching producing a flat effect, seem to go back to the 8th century, and can be compared with a very early icon of Elijah from Mount Sinai. A second restoration process started around 1100 and came to an end in the 13th century. The Virgin’s blue mantle which is wrapped over her purple dress was severely altered in the outline; the red halos are also not part of the original image.
Giacobbe Giusti, Salus Populi Romani
An Eastern Orthodoxexample of the later Hodegetriaicon type, the Theotokos of Tikhvin of c. 1300
The image type itself suggests it is not a medieval invention, but rather an Early Christian concept dating from antiquity: a majestic, half-length portrait showing a frank outward gaze of the rulerlike Virgin, with her upright, stately pose, and folded hands gently clasping the Child, unique among all icons. Lively turning of the maturely developed and attired Child also attests to the painting’s antiquity. The vivid contrapposto of the two bodies, which suggests direct observation, can be compared with a 5th-century Mount Sinai icon of the Virgin and Child in Kiev, and contrasted with the Pantheon Marian icon from 609, which already shows the Mother slightly subordinated to the Child by the imploring gesture and the turn of the head, and where the interaction of the bodies exists only in a flat plane.[12] These comparisons suggest a date of the 7th century for the icon.
The early fame of the icon can be gauged from the production of replicas (a fresco in Santa Maria Antiqua seems to have reproduced it already in the 8th century), and the role it played in the ritual on the feast of the Virgin’s Assumption, where the achiropiite (the panel painting of Christ from the Lateran Basilica) was moved in a procession to Santa Maria Maggiore to ‘meet’ with it. Monneret de Villard has shown that engravings of this icon brought by Jesuits to Ethiopiainfluenced the art of that country from the 17th century onwards, repeating « every detail of her own and the Child’s posture, the position of the hands being especially characteristic. »[13] More far flung apparent copies include a Moghul miniature, presumably based on a copy given to Akbar by the Jesuits, and copies in China, of which a 16th-century example is in the Field Museum in Chicago.
Papal patronage
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The Salus Populi Romani has been a favorite of several Popes and acted as a Roman Catholic Mariological symbol, especially in Rome itself.
The icon has been considered as miraculous and has been carried in processions around Rome many times. In 593 Pope Saint Gregoryhad the icon carried through Rome and prayed for an end to the Black Plague[14] as did Pope Pius V in 1571 to pray for victory at the Battle of Lepanto and as did Pope Gregory XVI in 1837 to pray for the end of the cholera epidemic.[2] The same Pontiff would crown the image a year later, on the Feast of the Assumption.
Roman-born Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli) celebrated his first Holy Mass in front of it on 1 April 1899.[14]In 1953, the icon was carried through Rome to initiate the first Marian year in Church history. In 1954, the icon was crowned by Pope Pius XII as he introduced a new Marian feast Queenship of Mary.[15]
Recent papal devotion includes Pope John Paul II who highlighted its iconography during the World Youth Day for the Jubilee Year of 2000. Pope Benedict XVI also venerated the image on various occasions with that specific Marian title.[16][17][18][19] Pope Francis also made this icon one of his first places of pilgrimage the day after his election to the Papacy.[2][20]
Mother Thrice Admirable
Salus Populi Romani is also said to be the source of the title Mater ter Admirabilis (Mother Thrice Admirable) used for the Blessed Virgin Mary within the Schoenstatt Marian Movement.
Salus Populi Romani was the centerpiece of the Colloquium Marianum in Ingolstadt, in 1604. According to the Schoenstatt, on 6 April 1604, Father Jakob Rem, SJ, desired to know which of the invocations from the litany of Loretowould please the Virgin Mary the most. He reported that after meditation and looking at the image of Salus Populi Romani, the title Mother Thrice Admirable was revealed to him.[21]
The title Mother Thrice Admirablehas since become part of the Schoenstatt Movement and is also associated with another well known Madonna, namely the 1898 Refugium Peccatorum Madonna by the Italian artist Luigi Crosio which was purchased by the Schoenstatt Sisters in Switzerland in 1964 and has since been called the Mother Thrice Admirable Madonna.
Notes
- Jump up^ Gerhard Wolf, « Icons and sites » in Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, Maria Vasilakē, ed.: « the dates proposed by various authors (often in an apodictic way) stretch from the fifth to the thirteenth century » ; Wolf gives a bibliography; his date, based on a close examination in 1987 of the icon, a « palimpsest » of restorations of a « Late Antique » icon, is « relatively early »: « I have no hesitation in seeing it as part of the group of icons extant by the late sixth or early seventh centuries » pp31-33.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Relics by Joan Carroll Cruz 1984 ISBN 0-87973-701-8page 96
- Jump up^ Time Magazine, Nov 8th, 1954
- Jump up^ Livy, Book 7: « Nobis deum benignitate, felicitate tua populique Romani, et res et gloria est integra… »
- ^ Jump up to:a b Gerhard Wolf, « Salus Populi Tomani » in Die Geschicte römische Kultbilder (Weinheim, 1991) pp161-70; J. Linderski, The Augural Law in Hildegard Temporini, Wolfgang Haase, eds. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren p 2256 (this paper in English)
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Frisk, M. Jean. « Salus Populi Romani », Marian Library, University of Dayton
- Jump up^ Cruz OCDS, Joan Carroll. Miraculous Images of Our Lady, 1993, p. 137f.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Vasilakē, Maria. Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium,p.196, Ashgate publishing Co, Burlington, Vermont, ISBN 0-7546-3603-8
- Jump up^ Topographies of Power in the Early Middle Ages By Mayke de Jong, F. (Frans) Theuws, Carine van Rhijn, p64
- Jump up^ de Jong op cit, p64, n.33
- Jump up^ Herbert Kessler, Rome 1300: on the path of the pilgrim, Yale University Press, 2000.
- Jump up^ Hans Belting, Likeness and Presence: a history of the image before the era of art, The University of Chicago Pres, 1996.
- Jump up^ David Buxton, The Abyssinians(New York: Praeger, 1970), p. 148
- ^ Jump up to:a b « Salus Populi Romani », The Tablet, December 9, 1939, p.8
- Jump up^ The Church at Prayer by Irénée Henri Dalmais, Aimé Georges Martimort, Pierre Jounel 1985 ISBN 0-8146-1366-7 page 135
- Jump up^ Vatican web Homage To The Immaculate At The Spanish Steps
- Jump up^ Vatican web Visit at the Capitoline Hill
- Jump up^ Zenit Benedict XVI on the Rosary Archived 2008-10-23 at the Wayback Machine.
- Jump up^ Univ of Dayton Benedict XVI’s Message to Rome Conference on Laity
- Jump up^ Wooden, Cindy. « Pope: Mary is a mother who helps Christians grow », Catholic News Service, May 6, 2013
- Jump up^ Peters, M. Danielle. « 400 Years ‘Mother Thrice Admirable' », Marian Library, University of Dayton
- K Noreen, R People, « The icon of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome: an image and its afterlife inRenaissance Studies, 2005.
- Wolf, Garhard. « Salus populi Romani », Die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter 1990, – VCH, Acta Humaniora
- Wolf, Gerhard. “Icons and Sites: Cult Images of the Virgin in mediaeval Rome.” In Images of the Mother of God: Perceptions of the Theotokos in Byzantium, ed. Maria Vassilaki, 23-49. Aldershot, England and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005.
Icône Salus Populi Romani
La Salus Populi Romani(en français : « Sauvegarde du peuple romain ») est une icône représentant la Vierge Marie et l’Enfant Jésus qui a fait l’objet d’une dévotion particulière au moins depuis le xiiie siècle. Elle se trouve dans la Chapelle Pauline (ou Borghese) de la basilique Sainte-Marie-Majeure à Rome.
Description
De larges dimensions pour une icône (117 x 79 cm), elle est peinte sur un support de cèdre. De style byzantin ou romain orientalisant, l’icône représente la Vierge tenant l’Enfant Jésus, qui tient lui-même un livre et, les yeux tournés vers sa mère, effectue de sa main droite le geste de bénédiction. C’est Marie et non l’Enfant Jésus qui regarde le spectateur.
L’image est enchâssée dans un cadre de bronze doré listé d’améthystes.
Localisation
Ce n’est pas un hasard si la basilique Saint Marie-Majeure abrite cette icône de la Vierge. La basilique est fondée en 356 à la suite de l’apparition de la Vierge en songe au pape Libère et à un riche Romain et au miracle de la neige tombée sur l’Esquilien. Moins d’un siècle plus tard, le Concile d’Ephèse et la proclamation du dogme de la maternité divine de Marie contre l’hérésie nestorienne (Marie Théotokos, accoucheuse de Dieu), est l’occasion pour le pape Sixte III de reconstruire l’édifice et de renforcer la dévotion à Marie.
Avant d’intégrer la Chapelle Pauline en 1613 (la chapelle est terminée deux ans plus tôt), l’icône était probablement placée au-dessus de la porte du baptistère de la basilique, puis dans la nef.
Histoire
Origine
Selon la légende, l’icône Salus populi romani aurait été rapportée de Jérusalem à Constantinople par Sainte Hélène, la mère de Constantin, au ive siècle. Elle aurait été peinte par Saint Luc sur une table construite par Jésus dans l’atelier de son père Joseph.
Dévotion
Depuis ses premières attestations à Rome, l’icône est associée au culte marial et estimée par de nombreux fidèles, pèlerins, papes et saints. Considérée comme miraculeuse, elle est portée à la vénération des fidèles à travers la ville par le pape Grégoire Ier en 593 au moment des épidémies causées par la Peste de Justinien. En 1571, le pape Pie V demande son intercession lors de la bataille de Lépante. En 1837 le pape Grégoire XVI la prie pour que cesse l’épidémie de choléra. Né à Rome, Eugenio Pacelli, futur Pie XII, célébra sa première messe devant l’icône. En 1953, elle fut transportée à travers la ville pour célébrer le début la première année mariale de l’histoire de l’Église. L’année suivante, Pie XII couronne l’icône en introduisant une nouvelle fête mariale. Depuis, Paul VI, Jean-Paul II, Benoît XVI et François ont honoré l’icône par des visites et des célébrations. À travers les siècles, des saints tels que saint Charles Borromée l’ont également tenue en grande dévotion. Après avoir été restaurée par les Musées du Vatican, l’icône a été installée de nouveau dans la basilique avec une messe présidée par le pape François, le 28 janvier 2018.
Datation
Les déclarations des historiens d’art sur la datation de l’œuvre sont multiples. Il faut distinguer la datation de l’icône elle-même et celle d’un éventuel original dont elle ne serait qu’une copie ou un re-travail en surcouche. La plupart des spécialistes datent l’icône d’une période allant du xiiie au xve siècle.
L’hypothèse la plus probante date le travail de surface du xiiie siècle, mais l’analyse révèle une couche inférieure datant probablement du viie siècle.
Salus Populi Romani
| Salus Populi Romani | |
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| Дата появления: | VI век |
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| Иконографический тип: | Одигитрия |
| Местонахождение: | Санта-Мария-Маджоре, Рим |
«Salus Populi Romani» («Спасение римского народа») — энкаустическая икона Богородицы, хранящаяся в римской базилике Санта-Мария-Маджоре. Икона особо почитается горожанами и является главным богородичным образом Рима. В 1954 году икона была коронована папой Пием XII.
Предание приписывает авторство иконы апостолу Луке. Искусствоведы традиционно датируют икону VI веком. Восточное происхождение иконы косвенно подтверждает кипарисовая доска, на которой она написана. Г. С. Колпакова отмечает, что образ представляет собой конгломерат разновременных частей, который сформировался не ранее VIII века. При этом она указывает, что, возможно, это впечатление создают прориси иконы 1100 года и XIII века.
Наименование «Спасение народа римского» (Santa Maria «Salus populi romani») присвоено этой иконе потому, что именно её святой Григорий Двоеслов носил в 590 году крестным ходом по Риму во время свирепствовавшей моровой язвы, которая тогда же прекратилась[1].
Главным богослужением, в котором вплоть до второй половины XVI века участвовала икона, было шествие по Риму в ночь с 14 на 15 августа, в честь Успения Девы Марии[2].
Размеры иконы — 117 на 79 см. Богородица изображена в ярко-красном мафории и с красным нимбом. На её правой руке изображено консульское кольцо, символизирующее её обручение с римским народом. В левую руку помещёна маппула, небольшой льняной плат, использовавшийся древнеримской знатью[2]. Руки Девы Марии скрещены в кольцо — она заключает в них младенца Иисуса, сидящего на её коленях. Лик Богомладенца обращён к Богородице, правая рука сложена в благословляющем жесте.
Фигуры Богородицы и Богомладенца на иконе монументально массивны. Складки одежд отличаются гранёностью и выглядят как рельеф, что усиливается использованием светотени. Все это является характерными признаками искусства XI века, когда икону подновляли. К этому же периоду относится и условная обводка мафория Богородицы золотой каймой и ассист на одеждах Иисуса.
Примечания
Литература
- Колпакова Г.С. Искусство Византии. Ранний и средний периоды. — М.: Азбука, 2010. — С. 253—254. — 528 с. — (Новая история искусства). — ISBN 978-5-9985-0447-1.
- Кондаков Н.П. Иконография Богоматери. — СПб., 1915. — Т. 2. — С. 170—172.
- Noreen K. The icon of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome: an image and its afterlife. — 2005.
- Wolf G. Salus populi Romani, Die Geschichte römischer Kultbilder im Mittelalter. — VCH, Acta Humaniora, 1990.
Giacobbe Giusti 