 |
| St. Peter and His Successors from Fleur des histoires by Jean Mansel France, 1475-1500 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 56, fol. 159v |
On this day we experienced an amazing and historic event, the canonization
of two Popes, John XXIII and John Paul II, by the currently
reigning Pope Francis, in the presence of Benedict XVI, his own still-living predecessor, a man who
was a close collaborator of one of the new saints. The new saints are men both of whom we of the older baby boomers cohort have known through television and may even have seen with our own eyes. Nothing exactly like this has ever happened
in the nearly 2,000 year history of the Church.
Thinking about this convergence
of four Popes, two living and two newly proclaimed saints, I found myself
pondering the question of papal iconography.
Is there such a thing?
Certainly our new saints, Pope St. John XXIII and Pope St.
John Paul II, will not have anything approaching an iconography. No modern saint does, with the possible
exception of St. Therese of Lisieux. Following
the advent of the photograph in the late 19th century, the actual
face of a saint is generally available and it is this that forms what
iconography there is for the majority of modern saints. But has there ever been a distinctive papal iconography? So, I set out to take a look at what did
exist. What I found was surprising.
Apart from the papal keys, the symbolic “triple tiara” and
the distinctive papal apparel of white and red that has prevailed since the
middle ages there is almost no specifically “papal” iconography, i.e., an
iconography that is applicable to all popes across time. Most images of popes from the middle ages up
to the advent of the photograph fall into a few specific categories, none of which can really be considered to be an iconography.
The Portrait
 |
| Popes Innocent and Callixtus with St. Lawrence from Apse Mosaic Italian, 1140-1143 Rome, Santa Maria in Trastevere |
The portrait is at once both the most ubiquitous and the least interesting image of the popes. Medieval images are nearly identical whether they attempt to present an idealized image of a long dead pope or an attempt at actual portraiture in the case of a contemporary pope .
No one actually expected a portrait that looked exactly like an actual human being. All the “portraits” were idealized in large measure. So we cannot say for certain what any early or medieval pope really looked like.
 |
| Master of the Morgan Infancy Cycle St. Gregory the Great from Book of Hours Netherlands (Delft), 1415-1420 New York, Morgan Library MS M866, fol. 146v |
 |
| Sandro Botticelli, St. Sixtus II Italian, 1481 Vatican, Sistine Chapel |
The situation changes with the Renaissance. Actual resemblance to the living person was
expected for portraits of living popes, as for any other person. Consequently, from about the middle of the
fifteenth century we have a pretty good idea of what a then living pope looked
like.
 |
| Melozzo da Forli, Foundation of the Vatican Library Italian, 1477 Vatican, Pinacoteca
This fresco, commemorating the foundation of the Vatican Library, actually includes the portraits of two popes, one of them current, the other a young man who became pope. We see Pope Sixtus IV seated as he appoints the humanist Bartolomeo Platina as the first Librarian of the newly founded Library. Standing between them is the Pope's nephew, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the future Pope Julius II, famous as the patron of Michelangelo.
|
 |
| Raphael, Pope Julius II Italian, 1512 Florence, Uffizi Gallery |
 |
| Gianlorenzo Bernini, Pope Urban VIII Italian, 1632 Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica |
 |
| Diego Velazquez, Pope Innocent X Spanish, ca. 1650 Rome, Galleria Doria-Pamphili |
 |
| Carlo Maratti, Pope Clement IX Italian, 1669 St. Petersburg, Hermitage Museum |
 |
| Anton Raphael Mengs, Pope Clement XIII German, 1758 Venice, Museo del Settecento Veneziano |
 |
| Jacques-Louis David, Pope Pius VII French, 1805 Paris, Louvre |
But, apart from the distinctive
papal clothing, there is virtually no difference between these portraits and
those of contemporary secular persons.
A subcategory of portraiture is tomb and monument sculpture. The same general observations apply here as
in painting.
 |
| Antonio Pollaiuolo, Tomb of Sixtus IV Italian, 1384-1493 Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica |
 |
| Antonio Canova, Tomb of Clement XIII Italian, 1792 Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica |
 |
| Ignazio Jacometti, Pope Pius IX in Prayer Italian, 1880 Rome, Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore |
Historical scenes
Probably the largest number of images of popes fall into a category
that we might call the historical.
 |
| Giotto, Confirmation of the Franciscan Rule Italian, 1297-1300 Assisi, San Francesco, Upper Church |
Given the importance of the papacy for the Church and, subsequently, for post-Roman Imperial European history, this is not surprising.
 |
| Jean Fouquet, Coronation of Charlemagne from Grandes Chroniques de France French, 1344-1460 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de Paris MS Francais 6465, fol. 89v |
Since the first century popes have borne the burden of representing Christ in the world. Some have been martyred, some have crowned emperors, others have had important roles to play in the approval of new religious orders, some have founded famous monuments, others have been peacemakers in conflicts, and some have preached the need for Crusades.
 |
| Master Francois, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England, Before Clement III French (Paris), ca. 1475 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS MMW 10A11, fol. 181v |
 |
| Pope Benedict XII Preaching the Crusade from Chronicles of Froissart French (Paris), 1425-50 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 2675, fol. 37v |
 |
| Jacopo Zucchi, Founding of St. Mary Major Italian, 1580 Vatican, Pinacoteca |
 |
| Raphael and assistants, Meeting Between Leo the Great and Attila Italian, 1514 Vatican, Apostolic Palace, Stanza di Eliodoro |
Since the fourth century all the popes have been
important statesmen. The interaction of various popes with the
world, both the secular and religious spheres, has offered artists plenty of
opportunities to present many stories.
 |
| Spinello Aretino, Pope Alexander III Receiving an Ambassador Italian, 1407 Siena, Palazzo Publico |
 |
| Master of the Mazarine and assistants Benedict XII Receiving Messangers from China French (Paris), 1410-1412 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 2810, 134v |
 |
| Giovanni di Paolo, St. Catherine of Siena Before the Pope at Avignon Italian, ca. 1460 Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza |
Legendary Events
In addition to real, historical, events in which the popes have participated, there are legendary ones that also offered opportunities for an iconography to develop.
 |
| Carpaccio, St. Ursula and Pilgrims Meet the Pope Italian, ca. 1482 Venice, Galleria dell'Accademia |
Such are images from the legend of St. Ursula (which never happened),
 |
Simon Marmion, Mass of St. Gregory
from Book of Hours
Belgian,1475-1485
New York, Morgan Library
MS M6, fol. 154r
|
the Mass of St. Gregory (which may have happened)
and the apparition of the Archangel Michael on top of the tomb of Hadrian (thereafter known as the Castel Sant’Angelo).
 |
| Jacopo Zucchi, Procession of St. Gregory Italian, 1580 Vatican, Pinacoteca |
Allegories
Allegorical images form yet another category.
 |
| Anonymous, Pope Nicholas III Presented to Christ by Saints Peter and Paul Italian, 1278-1279 Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano Sancta Sanctorum |
 |
| Raphael and Assistants, Pope Urban I Between Justice and Charity Italian, 1520-1524 Vatican, Sala di Constantino |
 |
| Giorgio Vasari, Tribute of Nations to Paul III Italian, 1546 Rome, Palazzo della Cancellaria |
These allegorical images may be either positive or
negative. The negative ones remind us
that everyone, even popes, can be either saints or sinners.
 |
| Jan van Eyck, Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Ghent Altarpiece (detail) Flemish, 1425-1429 Ghent, Cathedral of St. Bavo
In this image three popes are counted among the saints in adoration of the Lamb of God in the heavenly Jerusalem.
|
 |
| Triumph of Death from Danse macabre French (Paris), 1500-1510 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 95, fol. 23
This image, dating from the period in which the
plague was a frequent event, reminds the viewer
that death comes for popes, kings and cardinals
as well as for others.
|
 |
Master of Coetivy, Scene from Inferno
from Divine Comedy of Dante
French (Paris), 1450-1466
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 72, fol. 1
This pope is in Hell, paying the penalty for a bad life.
|
And some negative images, dating from the time of the Reformation, are actual attacks on the Catholic Church.
 |
| Albrecht Duerer, Passional Christ and Antichrist German, 1521 London, British Library
Duerer's picture echoes one of the original complaints of the early "Reformers". In the image Jesus chasing the money-
changers from the Temple is contrasted with a pope overseeing the counting of money while signing what are probably to be understood as indulgences.
|
The Bridge
A final category is one that I call the Bridge. After all, one of the titles of the popes is “Pontifex Maximus” (Greatest Bridgebuilder), a title borrowed directly from ancient Roman religion when it was borne primarily by the Roman Emperor in his role as a high priest of the pagan cult.
 |
| Guercino, Pope St. Gregory the Great with Saint Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier Italian, ca. 1626 London, National Gallery |
 |
Master of the Duke of Bedford
St. Gregory the Great Inspired by the Holy Spirit
from Grandes Heures of Jean de Berri
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
Latin 919, fol. 100
|
The popes as a bridge connect the earth and heaven. These are the images of popes shown among other saints, or as an adorer of the Lord, as an inspired writer or as a supporter for a presentation of a donor figure to a divine one.
 |
| Titian, Alexander VI Presenting Jacopo Pesare to St. Peter Italian, 1506-1511 Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten |
 |
| Albrecht Duerer, Adoration of the Holy Trinity German, 1511 Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Pope St. Clement Adoring the Trinity Italian, 1737-1738 Munich, Alte Pinakotek |
 |
| Raphael, Disputa Italian, 1510-1511 Vatican, Apostolic Palace, Stanza della Segnatura |
We do not expect to see one of our new papal saints
presented as part of a legend or in an allegory, but perhaps we may see them in
their papal role in historical events and most definitely as bridges between
our own earthly reality and their current heavenly reality.
Saints John XXIII and John Paul II pray for us.
© M. Duffy, 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment