Saint Dominic in Soriano explained

Saint Dominic in Soriano (Italian: San Domenico in Soriano; Spanish; Castilian: Santo Domingo en Soriano) was a portrait of Saint Dominic painted in 1530. It is an important artefact in the Dominican friary at Soriano Calabro in southern Italy. It was believed to be of miraculous origin, and to inspire miracles. It was the subject of a Roman Catholic feast day celebrated on 15 September from 1644 to 1913. Its miraculous origin was the subject of several 17th-century paintings. Several ecclesiastical buildings have been named after it.[1]

History

There seems to be no record that Dominic himself ventured further south in Italy than Rome. In 1510, members of the Dominican Order founded a friary at Soriano Calabro,[2] Calabria, in the arch of the foot of the boot of Italy. A town grew up around it. In 1530, the friars began to display for public veneration a portrait of the founder of their Order.

In the early 17th century, Silvestro Frangipane, a Dominican, investigated the painting and wrote a book about it. Several senior members of his Order gave it their imprimaturs, and it was published in 1634.

Fra Frangipane wrote (in an English translation):

That narrative is largely the one accepted by the Dominican Order today.[3]

The portrait soon acquired a reputation for having marvellous properties. According to Fra Frangipane, if it was ever hung in a place other than the one specified by the Virgin Mary, the following morning it would be back in its proper place. He described numerous other miracles attributed to its presence. No fewer than 1,600 miracles were reliably attributed to its presence within a space of 78 years. In 1644, Pope Innocent XII ordained a feast day on 15 September to commemorate its origin and properties.[4] The feast may have been suppressed in 1913, when Pope Pius X moved what had until then been the movable feast of Our Lady of Sorrows to the fixed date of 15 September.[5] [6]

The more recent history of the portrait seems to be unknown. Soriano Friary was badly damaged by an of 6.6 magnitude.[7] It was rebuilt; but in 1783, Calabria was struck by a series of five earthquakes within two months. The first, on 5 February, was of 7.0 magnitude, and levelled Soriano to the ground.[8] The third, on 7 February, was of 6.6 magnitude, and its epicentre was 3 km from Soriano.[9] [10] In Soriano itself, 171 people had died, and damage estimated at 80,000 ducats had been caused.[11] The friary was rebuilt for a second time, but seems never to have regained its earlier reputation; it seems to disappear from the records. The portrait may have failed to survive one of those events.[12]

A description of the painting

In 1634, Fra Frangipane wrote:

An English translation:

Artistic representations

The miraculous origin of the portrait seems to have been a significant topic for religious art in 17th-century Italy and Spain, as evidenced by the number of paintings described later in this section. It is uncertain which, if any, of the painters had seen the original. Those paintings are consistent in showing Dominic slightly less than life-size, full length, wearing his habit, with book and lily, thus generally conforming to Fra Frangipane's 1634 description; but differ in detail. They are also consistent in another way: all show the three saints exhibiting the open painting to one or more friars.

Examples (with provenance, where known) include (arranged approximately by date):

Ecclesiastical buildings

Ecclesiastical buildings named after, and so perhaps dedicated to, Saint Dominic in Soriano include (arranged by date):

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: San Domenico in Soriano . 2022-08-20 . Santiebeati.it.
  2. Book: Frangipane, Silvestro . Raccolta de'miracoli e gratie oprate dall'imagine del patriarca S. Domenico di Soriano . 1634 . Italian . . 4 April 2018.
  3. Web site: Pillars of the Dominican Order: St. Dominic de Guzman & St. Thomas Aquinas . . 17 April 2017.
  4. The years from when the portrait began to gain its reputation until its official recognition fall squarely within the Counter-Reformation, which is dated 1545–1648.
  5. Book: Calendarium Romanum: ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vaticani II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatam . . 1969 . 103 . 493727522.
  6. Saint Dominic has always been held in the highest regard. The feast may have been removed from the church calendar simply because its subject, the portrait, no longer existed. If there is any mention of either the portrait or the feast in Catholic Encyclopedia (1907–1912), it is not easy to find.
  7. Web site: 5 novembre 1659, un forte terremoto colpisce la Calabria centrale: duramente colpita l'area fra Vibo Valentia e Catanzaro . Lorenzo . Pasqualini . 8 November 2016 . meteoweb.eu . Italian . 10 April 2018.
  8. Book: Lyell, Charles . Charles Lyell

    . Principles of Geology . Charles Lyell . 425 . 1830 . . 10 April 2018.

  9. Web site: La piu' grande catastrope del 18° secolo, it terremoto del 1783 in Calabria e Messina . ascenzairiggiu.com . Italian . 15 August 2016 . 10 April 2018.
  10. Web site: 5 febbraio 1783. Ricordando il terribile sisma che 231 anni fa colpì Calabria e Sicilia. La premonizione di Goethe . 5 February 2014 . Italian . famedisud.it . 10 April 2018.
  11. Web site: Il grande terremoto In Calabria: 5 Febbraio 1783 . 5 February 2017 . Giovanni . Durante . mediterraneinews.it . Italian . 10 April 2018.
  12. Most of the paintings by notable artists were made before 1659. The friary continued to be a destination for pilgrimage until 1783 (see Soriano Calabro in Italian Wikipedia for a narrative). Arguments for loss of the portrait on either, or any other, date are inconclusive.
  13. Web site: Image of Saint Dominic Being Carried to Soriano by the Madonna and the Saints Mary Magdalene and Catherine . Piccoli Grandi Musei . 17 April 2017. (Under the 'Collection' tab.)
  14. Web site: Carlo Bononi e i colori "di cuore liquefatto" . MuseoinVita . Giovanni . Sassu . 1 February 2015 . Italian . 19 April 2017.
  15. Web site: Santo Domingo en Soriano . artehistoria.com . Spanish . 18 April 2017.
  16. Web site: Santo Domingo en Soriano . Carlos Varona . M. C. de . 2009 . . Spanish . 18 April 2017.
  17. Book: Bartolozzi, Sebastiano Benedetto . Vita di Jacopo Vignali pittor fiorentino . xx . 1753 . Eredi Paperini . Florence . Italian . 10 April 2018.
  18. Web site: Alonso Cano . . 17 April 2017.
  19. Web site: Milagro de Santo Domingo en Soriano . Revista de arte . Andrés . Merino Thomas . Spanish . 18 April 2017.
  20. Web site: P. Cavalcoli rincara la dose sulla misericordia del cardinale Kasper . Scuola Ecclesia Mater . Italian . Giovanni . Cavalcoli . 25 September 2015 . 19 April 2017.
  21. Book: Viera y Clavijo, José. Noticias de la historia general de las Islas de Canaria. 11 March 2014. 2004. MAXTOR. 406 . 9788497611336. Spanish.
  22. Web site: Churches in Soriano . Diocese of Mercedes . 21 May 2013 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Saint Dominic in Soriano".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.