The Miracles of St Bernardine of Siena

During the Jubilee year of 1450, Pope Nicholas V canonized the Franciscan St Bernardine (Bernardino) of Siena (1380-1444), who had died six years earlier, and whose feast is kept today. This was an unusually quick process for the era, especially considering how varied the Saint’s career had been: he had preached all over Italy, performed countless miracles, produced a large body of writings, and served as the general of the reformed branch of his order, known as the Strict Observance, or “Osservanza” in Italian. The revised Butler’s Lives of the Saints tells a funny story regarding his process, in reference to one of his contemporaries, Thomas of Florence, a collaborator in the reform. Thomas died in 1447, and many within the order wished that his cause for canonization might be joined to Bernardine’s. But since this would certainly have delayed the latter, St John of Capistrano went to Thomas’ tomb (which was in the order’s church in Rieti) and ordered him in the name of holy obedience to stop performing miracles until Bernardine had been canonized. This did in fact happen, and Thomas remains a blessed.

St Bernardine of Siena, 1450-60, by the Sienese painter Sano di Pietro.

St Bernardine is especially well known for promoting devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. In his time, the upper two-thirds of Italy (basically everything north of the kingdom of Naples) was divided into many small states, which were very often at war with each other, and just as often rent by civil wars. Bernardine was extraordinarily successful in bringing peace to and between these states by preaching on the Holy Name, and would usually end his sermons by holding up a painted tablet with an IHS monogram on it, surrounded by the sun. (Monograms of this sort can still be seen to this day on the outside of public buildings all over Italy.) In many places, there was no church large enough to accommodate the crowds that gathered to hear him, and so he had to preach in the public squares, which is all the more remarkable when one considers that (as is often seen in paintings of him, including the one above) he had lost all his teeth.

The IHS monogram on the façade of the city hall of St Bernardine’s native city. Image from Wikimedia Commons, © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of the places that had benefitted very greatly from Bernardine’s services as a peacemaker, and which nourished a great devotion to him, was the little Umbrian city of Perugia, the long-time rival of St Francis’ native place, Assisi. (It was during one of the frequent little wars with Perugia that Francis was captured and imprisoned in 1202, leading to his conversion and embrace of holy poverty.) As the Jubilee of 1475 approached, the Franciscan friars of Perugia commissioned a set of paintings of his miracles, which were made to be mounted on two large doors that covered a statue of the Saint in a small but very beautiful oratory dedicated to him. These panels are now displayed in the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia, one of the best museums in all of Italy.

The oratory of St Bernardine in Perugia, built in 1452, only two years after his canonization. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by AliasXX00, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The group of painters who produced the panels is collectively referred to as “the workshop of 1473”, and includes two particularly famous names. One is Pietro Vannucci, by far the best known and most successful artist in the city, and therefore usually just called “Perugino – the man from Perugia.” (1448 ca. – 1523) The other is his assistant Bernardino di Betto Betti, who was generally known by the nickname “Pinturicchio – tiny little painter”, from his unusually small stature. (Born in Perugia ca. 1452; died in Siena, 1513.)

One of Piero della Francesca’s most famous paintings, The Flagellation of Christ, 1459-60. Notice how the composition is dominated by the architectural elements, as is also the case in the paintings shown below.

An interesting aspect of the project is how much it evidently owes to the style of Piero della Francesca (1415 ca. – 1492), their almost-fellow Umbrian. (Almost, because his native place is in the modern region of Tuscany, but borders on Umbria.) In six of the eight panels, the scene is either indoors or taking place in front of a building, and the architecture dominates the image; in the remaining two, roughly two-thirds of the scene is sky and countryside. The colors are bright, and the human figures cast shadows, but just barely. Pinturicchio had originally been trained as a miniaturist, doing very small images for the illustration of devotional books, and brought his training for finely drawn detail into the style of Perugino’s workshop; this is evident in the trees and the elaborate decorations on the buildings. (All images from Wikimedia Commons by Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, or public domain)

St Bernardine heals a young girl who suffers from an ulcer. (Perugino) The large structure that provides the backdrop is an idealized restoration of the arch of Titus in the Roman Forum, and partly reproduces the inscription on it.

St Bernardine raises up a young man whom he finds dead under a tree as he is traveling to Verona. (Perugino) The countryside shown in the background is very much like that of Umbria, but notice how the artist introduces the rather exotic looking and impossibly balanced cliff structure for contrast.

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A Medieval Fresco of the Holy Innocents

From the Servite church of the city of Siena, Santa Maria dei Servi (click image to enlarge.)

This was painted in the 1330s by Pietro Lorenzetti, along with the brothers Francesco and Niccolò di Segna. The scene is set in Siena itself, the famous cathedral of which is seen at the middle of the top. Below the border is a famous quotation from Macrobius, a writer of the early fifth century, from the second book of his Saturnalia, “Melius esse porcum Herodis quam filium. - It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”

The full citation is as follows: “Cum audisset inter pueros quos in Syria Herodes rex Iudaeorum intra bimatum iussit interfici, filium quoque eius occisum, ait: Melius est Herodis porcum esse quam filium. - When (Augustus) heard that among the children whom Herod, the king of the Jews, ordered to be killed in Syria, within the age of two years, his own son was killed, he said, ‘It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.’ ” As a Jew, King Herod would have no reason to kill a pig which he could not eat (a Jewish dietary custom which Roman writers often remarked upon,) but did not scruple to massacre the children in Bethlehem, and several of his own relatives. (The Wikipedia article about King Herod cites the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia to the effect that he was “prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition.”) In Greek, which Augustus knew well, these words would make a pun, since the word for “pig” is “hus (ὗς)”, while the word for “son” is “huios (υἱός).”

The Life of St Anthony the Abbot in a Sienese Altarpiece

One of the most beautiful depictions of episodes from the life of St Anthony the Abbot, whose feast is kept today, is a series of eight panels from an altarpiece painted in Siena sometime between 1425-50. The anonymous artist, to whom many other paintings are attributed, is referred to as the Master of the Osservanza, the name of a church on the outskirts of the city where he worked. (“Osservanza” was the common term for a group of Franciscans who sought to return to the observance of the most primitive and austere form of the Rule of St Francis.) Various theories have been proposed as to the altarpiece’s commission and destination; the depiction of St Anthony in a black habit may suggest that it was originally made for an Augustinian church, an hypothesis supported by the fact that the reading of St Athanasius’ Life of Anthony was a decisive moment in St Augustine’s conversion. The altarpiece was later broken up, and the different panels are now scattered through various museums, which will be noted in the individual explanations of each one. (All images are in the public domain in the United States; taken from this Wikimedia Commons page unless otherwise noted.)

The first panel is set inside the cathedral of Siena. On the right side, St Anthony is shown very young, kneeling in prayer at the high altar. (The artist gives us a glimpse of one of the crown jewels of Sienese art, the famous Maestà of Duccio di Buoninsegna.) On the left side, an older Anthony, richly dressed like a wealthy man of the 15th century, is attending Mass; as recounted by St Athanasius, his decision to become a monk was inspired by hearing at Mass the words of the Gospel (Matt. 19, 21), as if they were being spoken to himself, “If thou would be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and come, follow me.” (We cannot assume that every depiction of the liturgy in the art of this period is attempting to be strictly accurate, but note the blue chasuble and the single candle on the altar. – This panel is now in the Berlin Gemälde-Gallerie.)

St Anthony sells his possessions and distributes the money to the poor. The building which dominates the composition is typical of Sienese Gothic architecture; many similar structures can still be seen there to this day. Over the Saint’s head, in the tympanum of the building’s door, is the crest of a prominent family, the Martinozzi; a member of this family, a Franciscan named Giovanni, was martyred for the Faith in 1345 in Egypt, St Anthony’s native country. This would seem to suggest that it was commissioned by them, but there are strong arguments to the contrary. (See Painting in Renaissance Siena, by Christiansen, Kanter and Strehlke, the catalog of a show held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988, p. 105. – This panel and the following one are now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.)

After living in a monastery for several years, and overcoming many temptations, St Anthony decides to depart to a more isolated place in the desert, and live as a hermit; here, he is seen receiving the blessing of one of the monks. One of the responsories of his proper Office describes this first phase of his monastic life as follows: R. The most blessed man went to the cells of the monks, paying close attention of the lives of the fathers, and the virtues of each one, * and he bore great fruit, like the bees who bring forth honey after tasting (many) flowers. V. Eagerly did he follow the temperance of this fellow, the humility of that one, the patience of another. And he bore...

St Anthony is tempted by a devil, who appears to him in the guise of a woman. Note that the Saint is now considerably older than he was in the previous panel; the devil is identified as such by the bat wings on its back. (This panel and the following one are now in the Yale Univ. Art Gallery; the first image of these two was downloaded from their website.)

St Athanasius tells of the many times when St Anthony struggled against devils, not only by resisting temptations, but also suffering bodily harm that they were permitted to inflict upon him. On one such occasion, “a multitude of demons … so cut him with stripes that he lay on the ground speechless from the excessive pain.” He was discovered unconscious by the local villagers, who thought him dead, and brought him to their church, here depicted in the background. (Life of Anthony 8 and 9) 

On another occasion, St Anthony was tempted by a heap of gold which the devil left by the side of the road where he was passing. This was originally painted in real gold leaf that was later scraped off, leaving the Saint to confront a completely harmless-looking rabbit. (This panel is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.)

The seventh panel shows St Anthony’s dealings with St Paul the First Hermit, which I described two days ago in an article for the feast day of the latter. At the upper left, St Anthony sets out to find St Paul; on the right, slightly lower, he is guided on his way by a centaur; and at the bottom, the two Saints embrace. At the very top in the middle is depicted the same rose-colored church seen in the previous panel, to indicate that Anthony has journeyed far into the desert to find Paul. (This panel and the following are now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from which this image was downloaded.)

The final panel depicts St Anthony’s funeral, specifically, the Absolution at the catafalque, which is being done exactly as in the traditional Roman Rite. The catalog cited above notes that the arrangement of the scene, with one person kneeling on one side of the bier, and the rest gathered around in a semi-circle, is reminiscent of several Renaissance depictions of the funeral of St Francis. The pink and black stripes on the church’s walls are very typically Sienese.

The Life of St Anthony the Abbot in a Sienese Altarpiece

One of the most beautiful depictions of episodes from the life of St Anthony the Abbot, whose feast is kept today, is a series of eight panels from an altarpiece painted in Siena sometime between 1425-50. The anonymous artist, to whom many other paintings are attributed, is referred to as the Master of the Osservanza, the name of a church on the outskirts of the city where he worked. (“Osservanza” was the common term for a group of Franciscans who sought to return to the observance of the most primitive and austere form of the Rule of St Francis.) Various theories have been proposed as to the altarpiece’s commission and destination; the depiction of St Anthony in a black habit may suggest that it was originally made for an Augustinian church, an hypothesis supported by the fact that the reading of St Athanasius’ Life of Anthony was a decisive moment in St Augustine’s conversion. The altarpiece was later broken up, and the different panels are now scattered through various museums, which will be noted in the individual explanations of each one. (All images are in the public domain in the United States; taken from this Wikimedia Commons page unless otherwise noted.)

The first panel is set inside the cathedral of Siena. On the right side, St Anthony is shown very young, kneeling in prayer at the high altar. (The artist gives us a glimpse of one of the crown jewels of Sienese art, the famous Maestà of Duccio di Buoninsegna.) On the left side, an older Anthony, richly dressed like a wealthy man of the 15th century, is attending Mass; as recounted by St Athanasius, his decision to become a monk was inspired by hearing at Mass the words of the Gospel (Matt. 19, 21), as if they were being spoken to himself, “If thou would be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and come, follow me.” (We cannot assume that every depiction of the liturgy in the art of this period is attempting to be strictly accurate, but note the blue chasuble and the single candle on the altar. – This panel is now in the Berlin Gemälde-Gallerie.)

St Anthony sells his possessions and distributes the money to the poor. The building which dominates the composition is typical of Sienese Gothic architecture; many similar structures can still be seen there to this day. Over the Saint’s head, in the tympanum of the building’s door, is the crest of a prominent family, the Martinozzi; a member of this family, a Franciscan named Giovanni, was martyred for the Faith in 1345 in Egypt, St Anthony’s native country. This would seem to suggest that it was commissioned by them, but there are strong arguments to the contrary. (See Painting in Renaissance Siena, by Christiansen, Kanter and Strehlke, the catalog of a show held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988, p. 105. – This panel and the following one are now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.)

After living in a monastery for several years, and overcoming many temptations, St Anthony decides to depart to a more isolated place in the desert, and live as a hermit; here, he is seen receiving the blessing of one of the monks. One of the responsories of his proper Office describes this first phase of his monastic life as follows: R. The most blessed man went to the cells of the monks, paying close attention of the lives of the fathers, and the virtues of each one, * and he bore great fruit, like the bees who bring forth honey after tasting (many) flowers. V. Eagerly did he follow the temperance of this fellow, the humility of that one, the patience of another. And he bore...

St Anthony is tempted by a devil, who appears to him in the guise of a woman. Note that the Saint is now considerably older than he was in the previous panel; the devil is identified as such by the bat wings on its back. (This panel and the following one are now in the Yale Univ. Art Gallery; the first image of these two was downloaded from their website.)

St Athanasius tells of the many times when St Anthony struggled against devils, not only by resisting temptations, but also suffering bodily harm that they were permitted to inflict upon him. On one such occasion, “a multitude of demons … so cut him with stripes that he lay on the ground speechless from the excessive pain.” He was discovered unconscious by the local villagers, who thought him dead, and brought him to their church, here depicted in the background. (Life of Anthony 8 and 9) 

On another occasion, St Anthony was tempted by a heap of gold which the devil left by the side of the road where he was passing. This was originally painted in real gold leaf that was later scraped off, leaving the Saint to confront a completely harmless-looking rabbit. (This panel is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.)

The seventh panel shows St Anthony’s dealings with St Paul the First Hermit, which I described two days ago in an article for the feast day of the latter. At the upper left, St Anthony sets out to find St Paul; on the right, slightly lower, he is guided on his way by a centaur; and at the bottom, the two Saints embrace. At the very top in the middle is depicted the same rose-colored church seen in the previous panel, to indicate that Anthony has journeyed far into the desert to find Paul. (This panel and the following are now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from which this image was downloaded.)

The final panel depicts St Anthony’s funeral, specifically, the Absolution at the catafalque, which is being done exactly as in the traditional Roman Rite. The catalog cited above notes that the arrangement of the scene, with one person kneeling on one side of the bier, and the rest gathered around in a semi-circle, is reminiscent of several Renaissance depictions of the funeral of St Francis. The pink and black stripes on the church’s walls are very typically Sienese.

A Medieval Fresco of the Holy Innocents

From the Servite church of the city of Siena, Santa Maria dei Servi (click image to enlarge.)

This was painted in the 1330s by Pietro Lorenzetti, along with the brothers Francesco and Niccolò di Segna. The scene is set in Siena itself, the famous cathedral of which is seen at the middle of the top. Below the border is a famous quotation from Macrobius, a writer of the early fifth century, from the second book of his Saturnalia, “Melius esse porcum Herodis quam filium. - It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.”

The full citation is as follows: “Cum audisset inter pueros quos in Syria Herodes rex Iudaeorum intra bimatum iussit interfici, filium quoque eius occisum, ait: Melius est Herodis porcum esse quam filium. - When (Augustus) heard that among the children whom Herod, the king of the Jews, ordered to be killed in Syria, within the age of two years, his own son was killed, he said, ‘It is better to be Herod’s pig than his son.’ ” As a Jew, King Herod would have no reason to kill a pig which he could not eat (a Jewish dietary custom which Roman writers often remarked upon,) but did not scruple to massacre the children in Bethlehem, and several of his own relatives. (The Wikipedia article about King Herod cites the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia to the effect that he was “prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition.”) In Greek, which Augustus knew well, these words would make a pun, since the word for “pig” is “hus (ὗς)”, while the word for “son” is “huios (υἱός).”

More from the Lorenzetti Show in Siena

Following up on a post from yesterday, here is some more of the splendid work of the painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti (ca. 1290-1348), currently being shown at an exhibition in his native city of Siena.

Altarpiece with Madonna and Child, Angels, Saints and Prophets (often called in Italian a ‘Maestà - Majesty’), from the church of San Pietro in Orto, Massa Maritima; ca. 1335. Here the Sienese love for detail and decoration is particularly evident.

Detail of the Virgin Mary’s throne, the base of which is formed from the three Theological virtues (in ascending order), Faith, Hope and Charity.

Altarpiece of St Michael the Archangel, also known as the Rofena Abbey Polyptych, with the Madonna and Child above; on the left, St Bartholomew, with St John the Evangelist in the pinnacle; on the right, St Benedict, with St Louis of Toulouse in the pinnacle. ca 1337. 

Madonna and Child, from the parish of San Lorenzo alle Serre di Rapolano, ca. 1342-44 

Dismembered altarpiece with the Virgin and Child, Ss Martha and Mary Magdalene, Ss John the Evangelist and Baptist; below, the Lamentation over the Dead Christ, with Ss Augustine and Anthony Abbot.

Detail of St John the Evangelist

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Ambrogio Lorenzetti Exhibition in Siena

The Italian city of Siena is currently hosting a wonderful show of works by one of her great native sons, the painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti (ca. 1290-1348). The younger brother of another very talented painter, Pietro, we know fairly little about Ambrogio’s life. Active from around 1319 until his death, he spent a fair amount of time in Florence, then a bitter rival of Siena for prominence among the independent cities of Tuscany. His style blends the best of the Florentine interest in realism with the Sienese taste for extremely fine and beautiful decoration; in this sense, he develops what is best about the works of earlier Sienese painters like Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, and his brother. His most famous and important work by far is the fresco cycle in the Palazzo Pubblico (city hall) of Siena, known as the Allegory of Good and Bad Government. It is generally believed that he died in the great outbreak of the black plague which devastated the city in 1348.

The current show makes it possible to see several of his large body of work in various forms, gathered together from many different places and displayed in the large complex of Santa Maria della Scala, right across the street from the cathedral. Other works are included as part of the same show at the churches of St Francis and St Augustine.

Here is just a selection of some of the pieces included at Santa Maria della Scala; the exhibition continues until January 28th. A second part will be posted tomorrow.

A detached piece of a fresco showing a group of Poor Clares, from the chapter hall of the church of St Francis in Siena, 1320-25 ca.

King Solomon, detached fresco, same provenance as above.

Painted Crucifix, from the parish of St Lucy at Montenero d’Orcia. 1320-25 ca.

Painted crucifix, 1324-7.

A detail of the background; this is the kind of highly elaborate and elegant work for which Sienese painters were so much admired and sought after in the 14th century.

Altarpiece of the church of St Proculus in Florence, 1332, with the Madonna and Child, St Nicholas and St Proculus; in the pinnacles, Christ, St John the Evangelist (left) and St John the Baptist (right.)

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