Thursday, 14 January 2021

SAINT BENEDICT'S MONASTERY AND THE SACRO SPECO

 

 


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)

 

 


Angelica, 3scB

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