Holy Face of Lucca

Holy Face of Lucca

The Holy Face of Lucca ("Volto Santo di Lucca") is the venerated wooden "corpus" of a crucifix, located in the free-standing octagonal Carrara marble chapel (the "tempietto" or "little temple"), which was built by the famous Early Renaissance sculptor of Lucca, Matteo Civitali, in 1484 to contain it; the image in its "tempietto" stands in the right-hand nave of the Cathedral of San Martino, Lucca, Italy. Medieval legends stated that it had been sculpted by that Nicodemus who assisted Joseph of Arimathea in depositing Christ in the tomb and specifically dated its arrival in Lucca to AD 742.
Dante mentions the Volto Santo of Lucca in his work "Inferno", Canto XXI, where a demon cries::"Qui non ha luogo il Volto Santo!:"qui si nuota altrimenti che nel Serchio. ["Here the Volto Santo has no place! Here you swim otherwise than in the Serchio"— in boiling pitch, rather than in the Serchio, the river of Lucca.]

History

The year 742 marks the arrival of the Volto Santo in the Basilica di San Frediano; its transferral to the cathedral, justified by a miraculous translation in the Latin legend, "De inventione, revelatione ac translatione Sanctissimi Vultus" [The author, Leboino or Leobino appears to date from the late eleventh or early twelfth century. ( [http://www.paginecattoliche.it/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=788 "Il Volto Santo e la Sindone"] ).] may be connected with the episcopacy of Anselmo da Baggio (1060-70), who presented it at the consecration of the new Romanesque cathedral, 6 October 1070. Insistent details of the hagiographic legend ("see below") also suggest that the image had previously been at Luni in Liguria, the former see of a bishopric and the early commercial rival of Lucca. Luni was a Byzantine possession that had been sacked by Saracens, disputed between Byzantines and Lombards, and reduced to a village by the eighth century. The sculpture bears no stylistic relationship to Lombard sculpture of the tenth or eleventh century, however. The iconography of a completely robed crucified Christ wearing an ankle-length tunic is more familiar in the East than in the West, although a near life-size Crucifixion, carved in the round, is contrary to Byzantine norms. [David Talbot-Rice, Byzantine Art, 3rd edn 1968, Penguin Books Ltd, pp. 417-9. The Second Council of Nicaea in 787, while restoring the use of icons, condemned sculpture in the round as "sensual" - Schiller, Vol 2, p. 140] Life-size crucified Christs were more common in Germany from the late eleventh century, following the Gero Cross of Cologne Cathedral of about 970, which seems to have been the prototype. In Lucca, an annual candlelit procession, the "Luminara", is devoted to the Volto Santo on 13 September, the eve of religious celebrations on the following day. The procession, which today no longer includes the sculpture as in the past, walks to the cathedral from Basilica of San Frediano, where a fresco cycle commemorates the legend of Nicodemus' sculpting the image from cedar of Lebanon, during which, having completed all but the face, Nicodemus slept, awaking to find the Holy Face completed by an angel. In Eastern Christianity, similar legends accrue round icons said to be "acheiropoieta", "not made by human hands" ["sanctissimum Vultum non sua sed arte divina disculpsit", according to the Latin
] . Discovered in a cave in the Holy Land by "Bishop Gualfredo", who was guided by a revelatory dream, the image was carried first to the Tuscan port of Luni in a boat without sails or crew. [Compare the miraculous translation of Saint James to Hispania or the legend of the Three Maries.] But the men of Luni, when they tried to board the boat, found that it retreated miraculously from their grasp. Warned by an angel in a revelatory dream that the Volto Santo had arrived in Luni, Johannes, bishop of Lucca, with his clerics and a great crowd of Lucchesi, arrived at Luni, bid a stop to the attempts to retrieve the boat and, by calling upon God, found that the ship came miraculously to Johannes and opened to him its gangplank. When the people saw the Volto Santo they wept tears of joy and cried "Gloria in excelsis" [ [http://www.paginecattoliche.it/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=788 The Latin hagiography] .] Once ashore, the legend brings the image to Lucca in a cart pulled by oxen with no driver, in a further miraculous demonstration of the "rightness" of its possession by the city of Lucca, and having been deposited in the church of San Frediano, it is miraculously translated to the church of San Martino, which was interpreted as the rationale for choosing this church as the cathedral. Thus the possession of the image by Lucca rather than Luni, and its location in its rightful church, were both justified by legend.

Its popularity was expressed in copies as well as legends, to satisfy the pilgrims who made the cathedral of Lucca the goal of their voyages from all parts of Europe. "By the face of Lucca" was the 'customary oath' of William II of England. [Bosanquet, G. (tr.), "Eadmer's History of Recent Events in England", Cresset, 1964, p. 31. Eadmer was a well placed observer: see "ibid.", pp. ix-x. See also William of Malmesbury, in e.g. "A History of the Norman Kings (1066 - 1125)", Llanerch, 1989, p.63; and Schaff, Philip, "History of the Christian Church, Volume V: The Middle Ages" (for which see http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/5_ch03.htm).] The present Volto Santo itself is an early thirteenth-century copy of the original, that is ascribed to the circle of Benedetto Antelami. [R. Hausherr in Engelbert Kirschbaum (ed.) and others, "Lexikon der christliche Ikonographie" vol. 4.] It appears the original was chipped away beyond repair by relic-seeking pilgrims. The earliest copies date from the early twelfth century, which may suggest that the original in fact dates only from the 11th century. Its presence in Lucca can only be securely documented from about 1100. Copies of a similar size from the 12th century are found widely spread across Europe, from North Germany and Sweden to Catalonia. The long robe may be a Byzantine influence, although many Western examples also exist, in Ottonian illuminated manuscripts and other media. The belt of the Volto Santo is unprecedented in a Crucifixion from either East or West. [G Schiller, "Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II",1972 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, p. 144, figs 471-75, ISBN 853313245]

At the end of the fourteenth century, such a Holy Face inspired miracles and veneration in the Low Countries, Bavaria and the Tyrol [See Ilse E. Friesen , "The Female Crucifix: Images of St. Wilgefortis Since the Middle Ages". (Waterloo, Ontario:Laurier University Press) 2001] , though its connection with Lucca had been forgotten. The long robe appeared to signify a woman, and to account for the beard, a saint was supposed, who, in order to maintain her virginity against the wishes of her father that she marry a king of Sicily, was granted a miraculous beard, rendering her unmarriageable, upon which occasion her father had her crucified. This saint assumed various local names: Sankt Wilgefortis or Kümmernis in Germany or Sainte Débarras in France, [The martyr also bore the local names Ontkommer, Hülpe, Liberatrix. (Koraljka Kos, "St. Kümmernis and Her Fiddler (An Approach to Iconology of Pictorial Folk Art)" "Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae" 19.1 [1977, pp. 251-266] p 253).] and was duly entered in the Martyrologium Romanum in 1583, retaining a devoted following as late as the nineteenth century.

ee also

Holy Face of Jesus

Notes

References

*Baracchini, C. and A. Caleca, "Il Duomo di Lucca", Lucca 1973, pp 14-15.
*Guerra, Giulio Dante, "La 'leggenda' del Volto Santo di Lucca, "Cristianità" 10August-September 1982, pp 88-89.
*Pertusi, A, and F. Pertusi Pucci, "Il Crocifisso ligneo del Monastero di S. Croce e Nicodemo di Bocca di Magra" "Rivista dell’Istituto Nazionale d’Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte" (1979), pp 3-51.
*Schnürer, Gustav and Joseph M. Ritz, "St. Kümmernis und Volto Santo", Düsseldorf 1934.

External links

* [http://www.itclucca.lu.it/interessanti/luccacittadarte/2id/VOLSAN/IL%20%20VOLTO%20%20SANTO.html Il Volto Santo: leggenda, opera, analisi iconologica, tradizioni] (Italian)
* [http://www.waytuscany.net/rooten/tradizioni_religiose_630.htm Religious traditions in Tuscany: Volto Santo]
* [http://www.stgemma.com/gallery/eng_volto_sancto.html Volto Santo (Holy Face)] Illus. with summary of the legends (English).


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Holy Face of Jesus — While various Acheiropoieta (literally not handmade ) items relating to Christ have been reported throughout the centuries, the term Holy Face of Jesus as used today only relates to the specific devotions approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1895 and… …   Wikipedia

  • Lucca — For the Chrono Trigger character, see Lucca (Chrono Trigger). Lucca   Comune   Comune di Lucca …   Wikipedia

  • Art Collection of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca — The art collection of the Foundation of the Savings and Loan Bank of Lucca or La Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca , is a collection of art works, mostly representing artists from Lucca, acquired by this financial institution. The home of… …   Wikipedia

  • Maria Luisa of Spain, Duchess of Lucca — Maria Luisa of Spain Maria Luisa and her son Charles Louis, by Goya, 1800 Queen of Etruria Consort 21 March 1801 – 27 May 1803 …   Wikipedia

  • List of cultural references in The Divine Comedy — The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is a long allegorical poem in three parts or canticas (or cantiche ), Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise), and 100 cantos, with the Inferno having 34, Purgatorio 33, and Paradiso 33 …   Wikipedia

  • Matteo Civitali — Saint Sebastian by Civitali Matteo Civitali (1436–1502) was an Italian sculptor and architect, painter[1] and engineer from Lucca. He was a …   Wikipedia

  • Crucifix — For other uses, see Crucifix (disambiguation). The Crucifix, a cross with the corpus (Body of Christ), is an ancient symbol used within the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches, in contrast with some Protestant groups,… …   Wikipedia

  • Christianized myths and imagery — For general context, see Christianisation. The historicity of several saints has often been treated skeptically by most academics, either because there is a paucity of historical evidence for them, or due to striking resemblances that they have… …   Wikipedia

  • Nicodemus — For other uses, see Nicodemus (disambiguation). Nicodemus (left) talking to Jesus, by Alexander Ivanov, 1850. Saint Nicodemus (Greek: Νικόδημος) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, who, according to the Gospel of John, showed favour to… …   Wikipedia

  • Benedetto Antelami — (c. 1150 – c. 1230) was a leading Italian architect and sculptor of the Romanesque school, whose sculptural style sprang from local north Italian traditions that can be traced back to late antiquity [Florens Deuchler, Introducing Nicholas of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”