If you come to my hometown, Subiaco, which is not far from Rome, you can't miss visiting a very special place, St Benedict's Monastery both for its stunning beauty and for its historical relevance.
The Monastery
of Saint Benedict was built in the 11th century. It is also called Sacro Speco,
from the name of the holy cave when Saint Benedict lived for three years alone
around 500 A.D.
The oldest fresco of this monastery dates back
to 7th century: it is in the so-called Cave of the Shepherds and it was
realized by Byzantine School before the monastery existed, when it was only a
place of worship in the natural caves of Mount Taleo.
The other
frescoes, instead, were made after the construction of the monastery: in the
Lower Church and in the St. Gregory’s Chapel, there are the 1200 frescoes of by
the popular Roman School. Its main artist signed one of the frescoes with the
name Magister Conxolus, Master Conxolus. In St. Gregory’s Chapel, there is an important
portrait of St. Francis of Assisi, depicted without a halo and without the stigmata;
therefore, it must have been painted while the Saint was still living and they
say it depicts his real aspect.
The Upper Church, instead, is divided into two
spans and one transept. The frescoes of the first span, like the ones of the
Holy Stairs and of the Lady’s Chapel, date back to 14th century and
belong to the School of Siena.
The frescoes
of the second span and of the transept, instead, date back to 1400 by the School
of Umbria and the Marches. In the Old Chapter, finally, there are frescoes dating back to 1500 and these were realized by
the Perugino School; here there is a fresco of the evangelist Luke and behind
him, there is the depiction of the monastery in 1500.
The Holy
Stairs
The most
ancient part of monastery is the Holy Stairs. It was built thanks to Giovanni V, Abbot of Saint
Scholastica’ Monastery, the same one who wanted the construction of the first part
of the Fortress at the top of Subiaco. This Stairs were built to connect the
Cave of the Shepherds to the Sacro Speco. At that time, the entrance was below and therefore the Holy Stairs were
travelled upward. This orientation was maintained until 1500, when, to protect
the monastery, the entrance was moved in the upper part, where it is still
today.
The Triumph of
Death
On the sides
of the Stairs, there are two frescoes dating back to 1300 by the artists of the
School of Siena, the same who painted also the first section of the Upper
Church. These frescoes depict one of the five Triumphs of Death in Italy, all
made between 14th and 15th.
Going up the
Stairs, on the right side there is the fresco called the Ride of Death. Death is represented as a skeleton with long
brown hair and black eyeballs riding a horse. Death holds
the scythe in one hand, its traditional iconographic attribute, while in the
other hand there’s a sword, symbol of the plague of 1300. This painting was
made as a sort of comic strip with lines written in the vernacular language on a
side of the characters, which commented and explained the images.
Behind Death,
some old people implore to be caught.
“Tu piasse noi che
sempre te chiamemo desiderando che ne dea la morte”
(Catch us who
always invoke you, wishing that you will give death to us)
However,
Death ignores them and hits other people by chance, both old and young, heathen
people and religious ones.
“I so colei cocido onne persona
giovene e veccie ne verun ne lasso
de grande altura subito le basso”
(I am the one who kills every person,
young and old, I spare no one
Immediately, I cut out even high
people)
Death
is hitting a rich young man (you can understand he is rich from the hawk on his
arm) who becomes pale and half-closes
his eyes, while he and the character next to him are talking.
“Cangiato se’ nel viso tanto scolorito
borria sapere chita così ferito”
(You have turned pale in the face
I want to know who has wounded you)
“cho grande dolore e forti sospiri
sentia la morte che ferimme al core
de subito perse ogni valore”
(I have great pain and deep sighs
I have felt Death has struck at my
heart
and I have lost my energy)
The
dying boy is also represented under the legs of Death’s horse.
The
message of this work is that Death hits everybody without distinction and any
time.
The
peculiarity of this fresco is in the shoes of the dying boy, depicted in
detail: in fact, the sponsors of this work were cloth merchants of Siena who
wanted to show their products.
On
the left side of the Stairs, there is the Mediation of Death. The theme is the
meeting of the three living and the three dead, very popular in Europe.
In
this fresco, the Hermit St. Macarius shows three young men the human body after
death in three different stages of decomposition. Only one of the three young
people, however, is listening to the monk and, for this reason, the body of three
stages of decomposition belongs to this boy. The peculiarity of this fresco is
that the hands are crossed differently in the three stages: in the first one,
the right hand is on the left, while in the second and in the third stages,
like in the case of the young man, the left hand is on the right.
The
medal of Saint Benedict
The
Holy Stairs were climbed by pilgrims on their knees, then they reached the cave,
the Sacro Speco, and touched Saint Benedict’s medal.
This
medal has some acronyms on it
C.S.S.M.L =
Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux
(May the holy cross be my light)
N.D.S.M.D =
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux
(May the devil not be my guide)
V.R.S =
Vade Retro Satana
(Begone, Satan)
N.S.M.V =
Numquam Suade Mihi Vana
(Do not suggest to me vain things)
S.M.Q.L =
Sunt Mala Quae Libas
( The things that you offer are
evil )
I.V.B =
Ipse Venena Bibas
(Drink the poison yourself)
C.S.P.B =
Crux Sancti Patri Benedicti
(The
cross of Father Saint Benedict)
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