TheMadonna del Rosario is anicon ofMary commonly dated to the sixth century or earlier.[1] It is an early version of a type of icon known as theAgiosoritissa or theMaria Advocata, in which Mary is depicted without theChrist Child, with both hands raised. The work, which has been kept in theChurch of the Madonna del Rosario since 1931,[2] is thought to be the oldest extant image of Mary inRome, Italy.[3] Medieval tradition held that the icon was painted byLuke the Evangelist.[4]
The painting is known by various names, and is often simply calledMaria Advocata, since it was long the only example of the type in Rome.[1] It has also been named for the various churches where it has been enshrined, such asMadonna in Tempulo,Madonna diSan Sisto,Madonna diSanti Domenico e Sisto, or, as it is called presently,Madonna del Rosario.
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Since theGospel of Luke contains material about Mary not found in the othercanonical gospels, the tradition arose early in Christian history that Mary herself was among the eyewitnesses Luke claimed inhis prologue to have consulted in composing his narrative.[5] The close connection between Luke and Mary was reinforced by the tradition thatLuke was an artist, perhaps the first tocompose an icon of Mary.[6][7]
By 1100, theMadonna del Rosario was being referred to as Luke's handiwork.[1] By 1200, it was one of only two icons with claims to Lukan authorship, along withSalus Populi Romani, another early icon housed inSanta Maria Maggiore.[8]
The icon was painted using the ancientencaustic technique and had agold background from the start. The technique is Egyptian, and the Madonna closely resembles theFayum mummy portraits ofUpper Egypt.[2] However, the style of the painting, with its oval face and large eyes, has been called "distinctively Syrian".[9]
During the restoration and examination from 12 February to 28 June 1960, the result of the expert examination was recorded:
Location: Rome. Painter: unknown. Dimensions: 70.2 x 40.5 cm (27.6 x 25.9 in). Panel thickness: 0.5 cm (0.2 in). Type of wood: maybe linden, in any case so worn that it is difficult to determine its age. A copper plate holds the image together from behind, so X-rays are impossible.[2]
Thelinden wood on the painting ground is badly eaten away, but the portrait as a whole, especially the face, the goldnimbus and one hand, are still clearly visible.[2] In later times, Mary's interceding hands were covered with gold sheets to protect them from devotional kisses, and a gold cross was added to her shoulder.[3]
The icon belongs to the iconographic type ofHagiosoritissa (Greek: Ἁγιοσορίτισσα, fromhagios, "holy" andsoros, "shrine"), i.e. the "Icon at the Holy Shrine" in the formerChalkoprateia Church inConstantinople. The more common name isMaria Advocata ("Mary as intercessor", from GreekParaklesis). In the choice of motif for Marian icons, representations of Mary without the Child Jesus (Advocata) preceded the images of Mary with Him (e.g.Hodegetria).[10]
Here, Mary is depicted without Jesus in a sideways half-length figure, eyes directed at the viewer, both hands raised in supplication. Her head is covered by a shawl (maphorion) with a star on her brow; thisspica ("ear of corn") was seen a symbol of virginity, derived from the brighteststar of the same name in the constellationVirgo. The old jewellery on her dress and wrists can still be seen. The golden nimbus is set off from the rest of the gold background by slighthallmarking. How Mary intercedes is made clear by the artist painting the right hand raised to the shoulder beyond the edge of the picture to the border of the icon. With her hands raised and with a slight turn of her body, Mary turns to Jesus Christ, so to speak, out of the picture, in order to give Him suppliants’ requests.[11]
In this context, it is significant that the icon of theMadonna di San Sisto (=Maria Advocata) was carried in procession on the eve of theAssumption (15 August); this icon andan icon ofChrist Pantokrator from theLateran Palace, which was also carried along, are made to bow to each other.[12] The latter is said to have been one of the oldest images of Christ, and not created by human hands (Greek: ἀχειροποίητον,acheiropoieton), now in theSancta Sanctorum chapel of theLateran Palace. The route of this procession initially led from the Lateran via theVia Sacra andSant'Adriano at theRoman Forum toSanta Maria Maggiore, later also stopping in front ofSanta Francesca Romana andSan Sisto Vecchio. The model for this Roman procession were processions with icons of Christ and the Mother of God in Constantinople dating to the 6th century, where the icons assumed a quasi-personal character and acted as individuals.[13]
Until the 10th century, the primacy of the five oldest and most important Marian icons in Rome was disputed, although they sometimes belonged to different iconographic categories:Maria Advocata fromSan Sisto Vecchio (6th century),Regina Coeli (since the 19th centurySalus Populi Romani) fromSanta Maria Maggiore (6th/7th century),Madonna del Conforto fromSanta Maria Antiqua and thenSanta Francesca Romana (6th/7th century), the temple image of Mary fromSanta Maria ad Martyres (6th/7th century), andMadonna della Clemenza fromSanta Maria in Trastevere (7th century). According toHans Belting's research, it is likely that theMaria Advocata of San Sisto played the leading role during the August procession of the Assumption since the 10th century; she was also the first icon of Mary in Rome, and was expressly declared to be an image ofLuke around 1100.[14]
Among these early Roman Marian images,Maria Advocata was the oldest and most famous icon: she was the only one painted on a gold background, occupied a privileged position in the August processions and more early copies were made of her than of any other Marian icon in Rome. These copies of theAdvocata were particularly sought after because they also took part in the special veneration of the oldest icon of Mary and were also carried in processions in Rome andLatium. However, only the icons of the iconographic type of Mary as intercessor and not those of theHodegetria and other types count as such copies. The copies of theAdvocata that have survived to this day include, such as the icon inSanta Maria in Aracoeli (8th/9th and 12th centuries).[10]
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The icon has been dated variously to the 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th centuries.[4][9] The only thing that seems certain is that the image came from the Eastern Mediterranean, perhaps from Egypt or Syria.[2]
According to ancient tradition, the image was brought to Rome by a pilgrim from Jerusalem or Constantinople before thefirst iconoclastic period (8th century).[2] It was taken by a certain Tempulo, one of three brothers who came from Constantinople and lived in exile in Rome, and placed in the neighbouring small oratory of Sant'Agata in Turri on the oldVia Appia (opposite theBaths of Caracalla). This small church was built by the Greek community living there at the end of the 6th century, and was dedicated toSaint Agatha of Catania in about 800. Through the rich endowments ofPope Sergius III, the original church and related Benedictine convent were rebuilt and consecrated to the Virgin Mary in about 900 asSanta Maria in Tempulo (Monasterium Tempuli).[15] Apparently, Sergius tried to appropriate the icon for his cathedral on theLateran Hill, but the image somehow returned to the convent the day after it was removed.[9]
By 1221, the Benedictine nuns of Santa Maria in Tempulo had decided to become Dominicans and were ordered to join the newly founded Dominican convent ofSan Sisto Vecchio, which was located nearby, at the exit of the Via Appia.[2][8] The rights and property of the monastery were transferred to the new establishment,[15] and the famous icon was carried personally by Domingo de Guzmán (Saint Dominic), who led the sisters in a procession to their new home.[2][4][9]
On 8 February 1575, the Dominican sisters moved from San Sisto to their new convent,Santi Domenico e Sisto, in the Piazza Magnanapoli (now theAngelicum) on theQuirinal Hill.[16]
On 1641, the icon wasCanonically crowned.
In 1931 the Dominicans moved again, to the Monastero di Santa Maria del Rosario, a convent attached to the church of that name on Monte Mario.[4] The nuns brought the icon of Mary with them, and it remains in their care—in a small church atop Rome's steepest hill, in relative obscurity.[4]
The Madonna is now kept and venerated in the part of the monastery church belonging to the cloistered church.[4] From the part of the church which is open to the general public, through an iron grating or grille, viewers can initially only see a copy of the icon decorated with votive offerings (on the back of the original). After registration, there is the possibility to see the original before or after the weekday Mass.[4]
Pope Benedict XVI visited the monastery on 24 June 2010 and prayed before theAdvocata, as did his predecessorJohn Paul II on 16 November 1986.[17][4]
From 13 November to 15 December 2012, theAdvocata was shown for the first time outside the monastery, in the exhibition "Tavole miracolose – Le Icone medioevali di Roma e del Lazio del Fondo Edifici di Culto" in thePalazzo Venezia.[3]
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