THE ART NEWSPAPER
By Anna Somers Cocks
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| The icon known as Mary, Salvation of the Roman People |
On 27 March, in a scene of great dramatic power, at dusk, under driving rain, and facing the vast emptiness of St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis blessed Rome and the world and prayed for an end to the pandemic. It was then that he said the words which have been much quoted since, “Our planet is gravely ill. Without hesitation, we have carried on, believing that we will remain healthy for ever in a world that is sick”. Against the columns behind him were two works of art, which for the purposes of this event were not works of art as we understand them, but images believed to have strong protective power. The pope paused to pray in front of both of them. Thus, what the pope is doing is praying to Christ, and to God through the intercession of Mary, as represented by the two works of art. [
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| The plague crucifix in the church of San Marcello, Rome |
- On the right there was the large icon known as Maria Salus Populi Romani (Mary salvation of the Roman people), believed for centuries to have been painted by St Luke the Evangelist and brought from Jerusalem. It normally hangs in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in its own sumptuous baroque chapel surrounded by a triumph of angels.
- The crucifix on the left-hand column of St Peter’s was from the church of San Marcello in the Via del Corso, and in art-historical term it is rather ordinary, one of hundreds of workmanlike crucifixes, sculptor unknowable, dated tentatively to the late 14th century. The only interesting thing about it is that it is very like another, slightly older crucifix in San Lorenzo in Damaso, which may have been brought to Rome from northern Europe.
