When pope Paolo V Borghese commissioned his funerary chapel at Santa Maria Maggiore, destined to house the miraculous Marian icon not created by human hands, Ludovico Cardi called il Cigoli was appointed the prestigious painting decoration of the dome interior. But, defying censorship, the surface of the moon at the foot of the Immaculate appeared irregular and dotted with dark craters. Inspired by the astronomical observations of the Tuscan scientist Galileo Galilei later tried before the Roman Inquisition, this unconventional representation was silently accepted in a sumptuous chapel destined to reaffirm the Catholic superiority over heresies and schisms in full Counter-Reformation period. Was the Church ready to approve the new scientific acquisitions?
An icon of the Virgin not created by human hands
The basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is the most important church in Rome dedicated to the Marian worship and enshrines a very special icon. The depiction of the Virgin Mary visible on the high altar of the Pauline chapel is deemed in fact as one of the most ancient, important and miraculous Marian icon in the whole Rome (also very much venerated by pope Francesco). According to Catholic tradition, Saint Luca is actually said to be the author of this depiction of the Virgin, initially portrayed by him and then miraculously completed by the angels. This painting is also defined in fact as an “acheiropoieton” (ἀχειροποίητον): that is, not created by human hands. [1]
The icon represents the Virgin Mary tenderly embracing the Child, according to the particular typology called “Hodighitria” (Ὁδηγήτρια, literary “She who leads the way”), and it’s the visual expression of her divine maternity, as Theotokos, (Θεοτόκος) “the one who gives birth to God”. Therefore, the presence of this sacred icon in the basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is really meaningful: it is the symbol of the harmony between image and doctrine, the herald of the same message as this church, which was considered as “trophy dedicated to the Virgin”, in obedience to pope Sisto III’s whishes to commemorate the victory over the Nestorian heresy achieved on the occasion of the Council of Ephesus in 431. [1]
Furthermore, since the Late Antiquity, this icon has been generally believed to have miraculous powers that can protect the people of Rome against any disaster, hence the title of “Salus Populi Romani” (“salvation of the Roman People”), although given in the 19th century. [1] For example, the sacred image was taken in procession in 590 by Gregorio Magno when the pope and other participants attended the miraculous vision of Archangel Michael atop the Mausoleum of Hadrian as a sign that the pestilence troubling Rome was about to cease.
The building of a new chapel
Before pope Paolo V Borghese, some popes had probably already pondered over the building of a new chapel inside Santa Maria Maggiore to house the sacred icon and to constitute the ideal counterpoint compared to the Sistine chapel on the opposite side of the same church. [1] Odoardo Santarelli, canon of the basilica, suggested Clemente VIII, born Ippolito Aldobrandini (Fano, 1536 – Rome, 1605) to actually order the building of the new chapel as his funeral one, thus destined to be called Clementine chapel. One of the most zealous and reforming popes of the post-tridentine era, pope Clemente VIII dedicated himself to glorify the virtues of the sacred icon and to promote the Marian worship but he couldn’t accomplish his highest aspiration. The cardinal Domenico Pinelli possibly convinced the pope to patronize instead a fresco painting cycle on the walls of the nave and the tribune, as a commendable equivalent. [1]
On the 25th of June 1605, pope Paolo V, born Camillo Borghese (Rome, 1552 – Rome, 1621) announced his intention to finally build the Pauline chapel and he released the foundation bull “Immensae bonitatis” on the 28th October. He whished to reaffirm the redeeming power of the Virgin Mary and her image as protector of Rome and to remind the faithful the miraculous foundation of the basilica, arisen from the collaboration between the pope and the people of Rome. [1]
The architect responsible for the project was Flaminio Ponzio, while Cavalier d’Arpino was the chief painter, who assigned to himself, Guido Reni, Giovanni Baglione and Ludovico Cardi called il Cigoli the respective sections of the chapel to be decorated with a harmonious painting cycle characterized by a conceptual continuity, notwithstanding the choice of different artists, reflection of the varied tastes distinguishing the official artistic milieu in the late 16th century Rome. Most of the building works (for an expense of 299 thousands scudi!) were fulfilled in May 1615 and completely ended by 1618. [1]
Ludovico Cardi’s innovative painting
Ludovico Cardi called il Cigoli (Cigoli di San Miniato, 1559 – Roma, 1613) was a Tuscan prestigious painter, architect and sculptor, who trained in Florence and collaborated with Santi di Tito, acquiring mastery of perspective and arithmetic. [1] He was one of the most innovative and esteemed painters of his time, [2] he drew inspiration from the accurate study of nature combined with a classical idealism [1] and sensual warmth. [2]
Between September 1610 and 1612 he executed his last important masterpiece, which brought him to the heights of success [3]: the fresco painting cycle on the Pauline chapel dome interior represents the Heavenly kingdom with nine angelic orders and the Eternal Father on the lantern. These frescoes disclose his inclinations to realism and decorative painting values as well as his efforts to obtain an intense expression and grandeur of the figures, characterized by an emphasized dynamism and sculptural majesty. [1]
Both the frescoes on the dome and the lantern are characterized by a strong perspectival view from the bottom, and the refinement of this device is evident as it’s moreover possible to recognize two different views: the angels, clouds and God are depicted from a central point of view, while the Virgin and the twelve Apostles are foreshortened from a side point of view, so that especially the Virgin’s face is clearly visible already from the entrance to the chapel. The nine angelic orders are placed on the same amount of cloud layers and constitute the glorious frame of a majestic depiction of the Virgin Mary, whose radiant figure appears aligned with the underlying high altar. [1]
Two inscriptions are visible: the one at the base of the lantern reports pope Paolo V’s dedication to the Virgin Mary, the latter at the base of the dome explains the figure of the Virgin, depicted on the dome as woman of the Apocalypse: “a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head”. [1]
Surrounded by a soft mandorla of golden light and adorned with a red, gold and blue vest, the Virgin Mary appears holding a scepter as a “triumphant queen of heaven” (Regina Coeli). The realm inhabited by the Virgin is the Paradise and she symbolizes the Church. This is a depiction of the Virgin as “Immaculate Conception”, a pluri-symbolic image based on religious texts and artistic tradition: a fusion between the woman of the Apocalypse as explained before, the woman of the Genesis treading on the serpent, and the pure spouse of the Canticle of Canticles. She stands on a lunar globe hold up by a cloudbank, projecting the shadow on a coiled serpent as she overcame the devil giving birth to Jesus. Thanks to her divine maternity, she was relieved from the original sin, being “Immaculate”. [1]
And yet there’s a detail in Cigoli’s depiction that surprisingly reveal itself as unfitting: the moon at the foot of the Virgin isn’t even and pristine as her chastity or in its usual full or crescent phases, but it appears irregular and dotted with dark craters, [1] a risky contrast between light and shadow, good and evil. [4]
How Galileo’s moon ended up at the foot of the Immaculate defying censorship
This realistic depiction of the full moon even struck the attention of the eminent art historian and critic Erwin Panofsky. [5] He suggested that the reason of Cigoli’s daring choice had to be attributed to the friendship between the artist and Galileo. Cigoli probably intended to pay his last homage to Galileo, representing the moon as it appeared through his friend’s telescope, with cavities and imperfections on its surface, so much important for Galileo to prove that the shape and materials of celestial bodies don’t differ from the Earth. [6]
Galileo wasn’t the first or the only one to examine the moon in this way, but he realized that the mountains and craters were the responsible for the irregular lighting of the lunar surface, thanks to his artistic knowledge of chiaroscuro. [7] In his astronomical treatise, published in 1610 when Cigoli begun to paint at the Pauline chapel, Galileo wrote: [8]
the surface of the Moon [is] not smooth, even, and perfectly spherical..., but, on the contrary [is]uneven, rough, and crowded with depressions and bulges.... On the fourth or fifth day after conjunction [i.e., a new moon], when the Moon displays herself to us with brilliant horns, the boundary dividing the bright from the dark part [the terminator] does not form a uniformly oval line, as would happen in a perfectly spherical solid, but is marked by an uneven, rough . . . line.
Galileo could have shown Cigoli his drawings of the moon on the occasion of his stay in Rome between late March and June 1611. [5]
Miles Chappell drew on Panofsky’s observations, reaffirming that Cigoli published one of the most debated “discoveries” by Galileo in this artwork, despite the usual iconography. [9] Other scholars noted that Galileo’s moon gives the fresco a hint of modern realism, standing out as the peculiarity of the dome. [10] [11] [12] Edgerton however stated that Cigoli was actually inspired by Galileo’s drawings but he didn’t faithfully copy them. [13]
Besides the connection between art and science, the contrast arousing between these two and the Christian thought is maybe even more interesting. [5] Since the Late Antiquity in fact, the uncontaminated nature of the moon was firstly the symbol of the Virgin Mary; its eternity corresponded to her eternal predestination to the Church continuity and it reflected the rays of sunshine as she reflected God’s rays to illuminate the soul of the faithful. [1]
A doctor of theology as Vittorelli however didn’t disclose any contrast with the sacred texts, interpreting Cigoli’s imperfect lunar globe as an attempt to highlighting the triumph of the Virgin vanquishing the imperfection of the decay below her, linking the moon to the serpent, symbols of sin and evil respectively. [14]
Maybe at the time the fresco was unveiled, even pope Paolo V Borghese proudly accepted to be the patron of this meaningful encounter between Christian traditions and new science. [5]
In this way, the unconventional depiction of the moon, according to the proofs of a scientist tried before the Roman Inquisition later in 1633, was left in a sumptuous chapel destined to defeat the threats of heresies and schisms in full Counter-Reformation period by reaffirming Catholic values and saints.
Marian meaning of the painting cycle
The Virgin Mary is the emblem of the entire figurative program, the fil rouge connecting all the characters and the stories painted at the chapel. The whole space turns out to be conceived and decorated according to a visual sequence, which begins at the entrance of the chapel with the “Transit of the Virgin” (that is the separation of her soul from her body) painted on the arch. Then it continues with the central tabernacle where the seven angels raise the incorruptible body of the Virgin, represented by the sacred icon, the protagonist of this narrative action, which is moved up to the attic where an angel holds a golden crown, symbolizing the coronation of the Virgin. Above, the Regina Coeli stands out against a cloudy sky painted on the dome interior, welcomed by God the Father. [1]
As also revealed in the papal foundation bull, pope Paolo V intended to openly express his faith in the Virgin Mary, as intercessor on behalf of humanity and source of salvation. The whole iconology of the Virgin Mary at the Pauline chapel is conceived in fact to show her values as “mediatrix” (merciful mediator between humanity and Christ), according to a widespread conception in medieval and post-tridentine era, and “redemptrix” (redeemer), a power that is uniquely assigned to Christ in Catholic theology but that the popular devotion also wanted to attribute to his mother, symbol of the redeemed humanity after being assumed into heavenly glory. [1]
“Holy journey”: the translation of the sacred icon to the Pauline chapel
On the Sunday morning of 27 January 1613, the streets around Santa Maria Maggiore were crowded and decked out for the awaited translation of the Virgin Mary icon to the deserved place at the Pauline chapel inside the basilica. The celebrations were solemn and deeply felt by the Roman people. [1]
Already three days before that topical moment, the icon was removed from the medieval ciborium located on the left side of the central nave near the high altar, where it was displayed since the beginning of the 14th century. Accompanied by hymns, the canons had moved the icon to the sacristy, where the sacred depiction was inserted in a cypress wood frame. [1]
In the morning of the main ceremony day, the icon was taken in procession on an elaborated and adorned machine and then was placed at the center of the sumptuous tabernacle altar, the visual and symbolic fulcrum of the Pauline chapel. This could be considered as the highest event in the spiritual life of Paolo V, when the most sacred Marian icon of Rome was housed in his own funerary chapel. The pope guaranteed in fact that anyone who had participated in the procession or visited the newly inaugurated chapel during the eight days of celebrations (“ottava”) would have received the plenary indulgence. And it also seemed to the people of Rome that the Virgin Mary wanted to thank them assuring a wonderful weather for the whole period of celebrations actually occurring in the depths of winter. [1]
References
[1] Steven F. Ostrow, L'Arte dei papi: La politica delle immagini nella Roma della Controriforma. Roma: Carocci Editore, 2002.
[2] Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò, "Toscani a Roma," in Roma al tempo di Caravaggio, R. Vodret, Ed. Milano, 2012, pp. 317-329.
[3] Alessandro Zuccari, "I toscani a Roma. Committenza e "riforma" pittorica da Gregorio XIII a Clemente VIII," in Storia delle arti in Toscana. Il Cinquecento, R. P. Ciardi and A. Natali, Eds. Firenze: Edifir, 2000, pp. 137-166.
[4] Reeves Eileen, Painting the Heavens: Art and Science in the Age of Galileo. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.
[5] Steven F. Ostrow, "Cigoli's Immacolata and Galileo's Moon: astronomy and the Virgin in Early Seicento Rome," The Art Bullettin, vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 218-235, June 1996. Online [accessed August 2016].
[6] Erwin Panofsky, Galileo as a Critic of the Arts. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1954. Online [accessed August 2016].
[7] Samuel Y. Edgerton, The Mirror, the Window, and the Telescope: How Renaissance Linear Perspective Changed Our Vision of the Universe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009.
[8] Galileo Galilei, Sidereus Nuncius, or, the Sidereal Messenger, A. Van Helden, Ed. Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 1989. Online [accessed August 2016].
[9] Miles Chappell, "Cigoli, Galileo and "Invidia"," Art Bulletin, vol. 57, no. 93, 1975.
[10] F. Faranda, Ludovico Cardi detto il Cigoli. Roma: De Luca Editore, 1986.
[11] Anna Matteoli, Ludovico Cardi-Cigoli. Pittore e Architetto. Pisa: Giardini editori e stampatori, 1980.
[12] Liliana Barroero, "La Basilica dal Cinquecento all'Ottocento," in La Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore a Roma, C. Pietrangeli, Ed. Firenze: Nardini, 1987, pp. 214-259.
[13] Samuel Y. Edgerton, The Heritage of Giotto's Geometry: Art and Science on the Eve of the Scientific Revolution. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1991.
[14] Andrea Vittorelli, Gloriose memorie della B.ma Vergine Madre di Dio [.]. Roma: Appresso Guglielmo Facciotto, 1616.
