DOORWAYS TO THE DEMONIC AND DIVINE:

VISIONS OF SANTA FRANCESCA ROMANA AND THE FRESCOES OF TOR DE’SPECCHI

BY SUZANNE M. SCANLAN

B.A., STONEHILL COLLEGE, 2002

M.A., BROWN UNIVERSITY, 2006

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

AT BROWN UNIVERSITY

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

MAY, 2010

© Copyright 2010 by Suzanne M. Scanlan

ii

This dissertation by Suzanne M. Scanlan is accepted in its present form

by the Department of History of Art and Architecture as satisfying the

dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Date______Evelyn Lincoln, Advisor

Recommended to the Graduate Council

Date______Sheila Bonde, Reader

Date______Caroline Castiglione, Reader

Approved by the Graduate Council

Date______Sheila Bonde, Dean of the Graduate School

iii VITA

Suzanne Scanlan was born in 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts and moved to North

Kingstown, Rhode Island in 1999. She attended Stonehill College, in North Easton,

Massachusetts, where she received her B.A. in humanities, magna cum laude, in 2002.

Suzanne entered the graduate program in the Department of History of Art and

Architecture at Brown University in 2004, studying under Professor Evelyn Lincoln. She received her M.A. in art history in 2006. The title of her masters’ thesis was Images of

Salvation and Reform in Poccetti’s Innocenti Fresco.

In the spring of 2006, Suzanne received the Kermit Champa Memorial Fund pre- dissertation research grant in art history at Brown. This grant, along with a research assistantship in Italian studies with Professor Caroline Castiglione, enabled Suzanne to travel to to begin work on her thesis. Her interest in the visual culture of female monasticism led her to the monastery of the Oblates of Santa Francesca Romana at Tor de’Specchi in . Under the gracious auspices of Madre Maria Camilla Rea and the oblate community at Tor de’Specchi, Suzanne studied the fifteenth-century paintings, frescoes and architecture of the convent over the course of four years.

Suzanne presented a paper entitled, “The Devil in the Refectory: Bodies Imagined and the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi in Rome,” at an international conference on the Devil in Society in the Pre-modern World at the University of Toronto in October,

2008. Her paper was selected for publication in a volume of proceedings from the conference by the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, University of

Toronto Press, 2010. In May, 2009, her paper entitled, “Una Vita Visibile: Visions of

iv Heaven and Earth for the Quattrocento Oblates of Santa Francesca Romana” was presented at the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

While studying at Brown, Suzanne held a Mellon curatorial proctorship at the

Rhode Island School of Design Museum, working with Maureen O’Brien, curator of painting and sculpture. She assisted with the design, plan and re-installation of the medieval and early modern galleries at the museum. She held several teaching assistantships in art history at Brown, and was a guest lecturer at both Brown and the

Rhode Island School of Design. From 2005-2008, Suzanne was a coordinator of the

Graduate Student Colloquium Series in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at Brown.

She participated in a Mellon Graduate Workshop on Visual Representations of Group

Identity, and presented her work at the Department of Italian Studies Colloquia Series at

Brown.

Generous support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the program in

Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at Brown, the Graduate School at Brown and the

Department of History of Art and Architecture enabled Suzanne to travel to Rome, Siena,

Orvieto and Padua to complete her dissertation research.

v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I have benefited from the guidance, expertise and advice of many people during the course of this dissertation. First, I thank my advisor, Evie Lincoln, who taught me that excellent scholarship and collegiality go hand in hand. She encouraged me to ask interesting and meaningful questions about the images made for the oblates at Tor de’Specchi, and about the complexities of . From her, I learned that the best teachers are those with the wisdom, confidence and grace to give each student the opportunity to develop in his or her own time.

I am grateful to Sheila Bonde for productive discussions that helped me to situate the Tor de’Specchi community and convent within monastic and architectural traditions.

Her insightful suggestions, particularly with regard to the statutes, gave me a deeper understanding of the frescoes and of this project as a whole. I thank Caroline Castiglione for asking important questions about women in early modern Rome, and for asking me to think about them with her. Her course on microhistory changed the shape of this dissertation and my writing, and her advice and good humor have been mainstays for me at Brown.

This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of the Oblates of Santa Francesca Romana. Suor Maria Camilla Rea, Madre Presidente of Tor de’Specchi, has been gracious and hospitable in giving me access to the frescoes and treasures of the convent. I am particularly grateful to her, and to Madre Paola Vecchi and

Suor Roberta Vido. I also thank Federica Moretti for sharing her expertise about the restoration of the quattrocento frescoes.

vi I am indebted to Maureen O’Brien for two years of collaboration and

conversation as her curatorial proctor at the RISD Museum. She has taught me about

professionalism, ingenuity and elegance. I am grateful to Moshe Sluhovsky who spent

hours discussing demonic possession with me, over coffee, and who has been more than

generous with his time and resources. And, I thank Dedda De Angelis for her assistance

with the translation of the Tor de’Specchi statutes.

I have benefited from my discussions with faculty, staff and colleagues in the

departments of History of Art and Architecture, Italian Studies, REMS and MEMHS at

Brown. In particular, I would like to thank Dian Kriz, Jeffrey Muller, Tara Nummedal,

Ron Martinez, Virginia Krause, Blossom Kirschenbaum, Pascale Rihouet, Mario Pereira,

Joseph Silva, Lisa Tom, Melissa Katz, Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, Alice Klima, Amanda

Lahikainen, Caitlin Bass, Anne Lange, Nori Duncan and Oded Rabinovitch. I am also grateful for the conversation and support of friends and colleagues outside of Brown:

Allyson Sheckler, Eileen Pavese, Nancy Laders, Carolyn Testa, and Carla Keyvanian.

I appreciate the help of the professionals at the Archivio Segreto Vaticano,

Archivio di Stato di Roma and Biblioteca Angelica in Rome; the Metropolitan Museum

of Art in New York; the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore; the John Hay Library at

Brown and, in particular, the staff and Interlibrary Loan department at the Rockefeller

Library at Brown. Generous funding from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the

department of Renaissance and Early Modern Studies at Brown, the Brown Graduate

School and the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Brown made research

travel for this dissertation possible.

vii My parents, Ann and Don Cederholm, and my sister, Melanie Jansky, have kept me and this dissertation going with their unwavering love and hearty laughter on numerous occasions. Thank you. I am truly grateful to and for all of my family, both

Cederholm and Scanlan.

Most of all, my husband, Jim Scanlan, has been by my side for this project and in all other things for thirty years. Our children, Emily, Molly and Jim, have only increased our joy in living every day together. I dedicate this work to the four of them.

viii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Vita…………………………………………………………………………………. iv

Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………….. vi

List of Illustrations…………………………………………………………………. xi

Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 1

Francesca Bussa dei Ponziani: Biography and Hagiography………………. 8

Visions Demonic and Divine ……………………………………………… 13

Chapter

1: Una Vita Visibile: Images for Memory and Devotion and the First Oblates of Francesca Romana as Patrons of Art……………. 17

Material Beginnings……………………………………………………….. 25

Private Devotions and Heavenly Bodies………………………………….. 30

The ’s Crown and the Papal Tiara………………………………….. 52

2: If These Walls Could Talk: How the Oblates Imagined the Tor de’Specchi Oratory……………………………………………….. 62

A Community on the Threshold…………………………………………... 68

Transition and Vestition…………………………………………………... 78

From the Papal Chapel to the Tor de’Specchi Oratory…………………… 87

The Death and Funeral of Santa Francesca Romana……………………… 97

Open Monasteries and Semi-Religious Women………………………….. 101

ix 3: The Devil in the Refectory: Bodies Imagined by the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi………………………………………….. 109

[Im]permeable Spaces…………………………………………………. 111

Inviolable Bodies……………………………………………………….. 115

The Devil in the Refectory……………………………………………... 134

4: Continuity and Innovation at Tor de’Specchi………………………………. 140

Temptation and Discernment……………………………...………….. 143

Silent Contemplation and Corporeal Mortification……………………. 153

The Tor de’Specchi Refectory as a Ritual Space……………………… 168

Terra Verde and the Night…………………………………………….. 171

Appendix A: Statutes of ordination for the Beata Francesca………………… 176

Illustrations……………………………………………………………………. 184

Bibliography…………………………………………………………………… 274

x

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS1

Figure Page

1. , Lawrence Distributing Alms, c. 1448, Chapel of Nicholas V, Vatican Museum, Rome. 184

2. Patrizia Marchetti, Axonometric reconstruction of fifteenth- century complex of Tor de’Specchi. 185

3. Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the elder, Santa Francesca Romana Holding the Christ Child, c. 1445, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (1975.1.101). 186

4. Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the elder, Santa Francesca Romana Embraced by the Virgin, c, 1445, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1975.1.100). 187

5. Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the elder, The Communion and Consecration of the Blessed Francesca Romana, c. 1445, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (37.742). 188

6. Pietro Lorenzetti, Altarpiece of the Beata Umiltà, c. 1315, Galleria degli , . 189

7. Francesca and the infant , detail of Figure 3. 190

8. Meditations on the Life of Christ, The Nativity: The Virgin embracing the child (detail), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (MS. Ital. 115). 191

9. Meditations on the Life of Christ, The child comforting the Virgin after the circumcision (detail), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris MS. ITAL. 115. 192

10. , della Misericordia, 1460-62, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro. 193

11. The Virgin embracing Francesca Romana, detail of Figure 4. 194

1 Note: All images of the quattrocento frescoes and architecture of Tor de’Specchi are photographs by the author, with permission from Suor Maria Camilla Rea, Madre Presidente of the Oblates of Santa Francesca Romana.

xi

Figure Page

12. and Saint Benedict envelop oblates, detail of Figure 4. 195

13. Angel, cats and dogs, detail of Figure 4. 196

14. Guardian angel spinning on loom, detail of Figure 4. 197

15. Giovanni di Paolo, The Miraculous Communion of , Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (32.100.95). 198

16. Communion wafer stamped with Name of Jesus, detail of Figure 5. 199

17. The Virgin’s tri-layered crown, details of Figure 3. 200

18. Coronation of the Virgin, thirteenth-century apse mosaic, Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome. 201

19. wearing the papal tiara, detail of Figure 5. 202

20. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Four walls of Tor de’Specchi oratory, c. 1468. 203

21. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca and her followers make their formal oblation at Santa Maria Nova, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 204

22. Giotto, Innocent approves the Rule of the Franciscan Order, c. 1300, Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi. 205

23. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Altar wall (north wall), c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 206

24. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, The Virgin nursing the infant Christ, c. 1468, detail, altarpiece, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 207

25. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana displays Psalm 72, c. 1468, detail, altarpiece, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 208

26. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana heals the man with a severed arm, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 209

27. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana heals the foot of a man chopping wood, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 210

xii

Figure Page

28. Bandages with dried blood, detail of Figure 27. 211

29. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana cures man who had lost the use of one leg, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 212

30. Bandages and apothecary jar, detail of Figure 29 213

31. Fra Angelico, The Healing of Palladia by Cosmas and Damian, c. 1440, predella panel from the San Marco Altarpiece, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1952.5.3). 214

32. Figure of Saint Benedict, detail, altarpiece, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 215

33. Madonna and Child with Saint Benedict and Francesca Romana, fifteenth-century fresco, Tor de’Specchi entryway. 216

34. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana’s Vision of , c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 217

35. Grate at the base of fresco of Hell, detail of Figure 34. 218

36. Woodcut from the title page of the plays of Terence, Lyons, 1493. 219

37. Left, Fra Angelico, Saint Lawrence Distributing Alms, detail of Figure 1; Right, Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Tor de’Specchi altarpiece, detail of Figure 23. 220

38. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, The Communion and Consecration of Francesca Romana, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 221

39. Francesca’s guardian angel, detail of Figure 38. 222

40. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana distributes grain to the poor, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 223

41. Fra Angelico, Distributes Alms to the Poor, c. 1448, Chapel of Nicholas V, Vatican Museum, Rome. 224

42. Piety as a Lady Distributing Alms, The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, c. 1440, Morgan Library, New York, MS M.945. 225

xiii Figure Page

43. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana miraculously multiplies bread, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 226

44. View of south wall, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 227

45. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana holds the infant Christ, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 228

46. Memory image from Vienna Cod. 5393, fol. 33r, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek. 229

47. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, The Death of Francesca Romana, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 230

48. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca’s Obsequies in Santa Maria Nova, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 231

49. Francesca recites her final prayers, detail of Figure 47. 232

50. Christ takes hold of Francesca’s risen soul, detail of Figure 47. 233

51. Lame, blind and crippled, detail of Figure 48. 234

52. Left: Francesca Romana in the Chapel of Nicholas V, detail of Figure 1; Right: Figure of oblate at the funeral of Francesca Romana, detail of Figure 48. 235

53. Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca revives suffocated infant, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. 236

54. Man expelling demons, detail of Figure 48. 237

55. Artist unknown, Demons tear up Francesca Romana’s prayer books, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 238

56. Unknown artist, Francesca pushed onto a rotting corpse, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 239

57. Terra verde fresco cycle, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 240

58. Artist unknown, The devil appears in the guise of sant’Onofrio, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 241

xiv Figure Page

59. Unknown artist, Francesca beaten with animal tendons, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 242

60. Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Apollo and Daphne, c. 1460. National Gallery, London. 243

61. Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. 244

62. Sandro Botticelli, Nastagio in the Pinewoods of Ravenna, c. 1483, Museo del Prado, Madrid. 245

63. After Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Lamentation over a dead hero, The Wallace Collection, London. 246

64. Unknown artist, Francesca beaten with dead snakes, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 247

65. Antonio del Pollaiuolo, dancers, c. 1465, Villa La Gallina, Florence. 248

66. , Flagellation, c. 1482-85, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. 249

67. Body of a Roman Maiden, from the sylloge of Bartholomeus Fontius. Oxford, The Bodleian Library, MS Lat. Misc. d. 85, f. 161v. 250

68. Sandro Botticelli, The Three Temptations of Christ, detail, 1481-82, , Vatican City. 251

69. Antonio del Pollaiuolo, The Battle of the Nudes, detail, c. 1470-75(?), Cleveland Museum of Art. 252

70. Luca Signorelli, Nude man seen from behind. Bayonne, Musée Bonnat, 148. 253

71. Florentine, Saint Catherine of Siena and Four Scenes from her Life, c. 1465, British Museum, Print Room, Hind A.I.66. 254

72. Unknown artist: First two scenes of terra verde cycle, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 255

xv Figure Page

73. Unknown artist, Francesca confronts the beast of the apocalypse, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 256

74. Left: Saint Paul thrusts his sword into the beast of the apocalypse, detail of Figure 73; Right: Hell-mouth, detail of Figure 34. 257

75. Sinners with toads and snakes, detail of Figure 34. 258

76. Artist Unknown, Francesca assaulted by demons disguised as sheep, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 259

77. Demonic sheep, detail of Figure 76. 260

78. Top: Apse mosaic, Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, detail of sheep; Bottom: Apse mosaic, Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, detail of sheep. 261

79. Mountain in background, detail of Figure 76. 262

80. Top: Fra Angelico, Saint Peter Martyr Enjoining Silence, Florence, San Marco, cloister; Bottom: and workshop, Urging Silence, c. 1490, Convent of San Domenico, , refectory. 263

81. Doorway with SILENTIO inscription, Tor de’Specchi refectory. 264

82. Two details from a Thebaid fresco, crypt, Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, Siena. 265

83. Sant’Onofrio points to his hermitage, detail of Figure 58. 266

84. Rosary beads, detail of Figure 58. 267

85. Unknown artist, Man of Sorrows in passageway from oratory to refectory, c. 1475, Tor de’Specchi. 268

86. Unknown artist, Man of Sorrows (), c. 1475, Tor de’Specchi. 269

87. Hand of Man of Sorrows, detail of Figure 86. 270

88. Column from original cortile at Tor de’Specchi. 271

xvi Figure Page

89. Master of the Johnson Nativity, Madonna del Soccorso, c. 1475-85, 272 Church of Santo Spirito, Florence.

90. Marble lavabo in south wall of Tor de’Specchi refectory. 273

91. Giovanni Fontana, Magic lantern projecting the image of a she-devil, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Cod. Icon. 242. 274

xvii Introduction

In 1448, as part of the ambitious papal expansion and decoration of the Vatican,

Pope Nicholas V commissioned the celebrated painter and Dominican monk, Fra

Angelico, to decorate his private chapel with images extolling the virtue of Christian charity.2 Hailed as exceedingly beautiful by Vasari and restored to its original brilliance in 1999, the resulting fresco cycle is comprised of scenes from the lives of saints Stephen and Lawrence and is a masterwork of Renaissance pictorial hagiography.3 In one of the most famous panels of the series, Saint Lawrence stands before the massive portal of St.

Peter’s basilica and ceremoniously drops gold coins into the hands of the lame, blind and crippled of the city [Figure 1].4 A pious widow stands at his side in the doorway; she gently holds the wrist of a small child and gazes tenderly at her neighbors as they beg for alms. She is Francesca Ponziani (1384-1440), the charismatic Roman noblewoman who later became Santa Francesca Romana, and was lauded during her lifetime as a pious mystic, miraculous healer and matrona of the city’s most impoverished inhabitants.

Toward the end of her life, Francesca Ponziani founded a community of pinzochere, or women who chose to live together as a monastic community without

2 Antonella Greco, La cappella di Niccolò V del Beato Angelico, Istituto poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1980; Innocenzo Venchi, et al, Fra Angelico and the Chapel of Nicholas V: Recent Restorations of the , Volume III, Edizioni Musei Vaticani, 1999; John -Hennessy, Fra Angelico, Cornell University Press, 1974, pp. 29-33; Carl Brandon Strehlke, “Fra Angelico: A Florentine Painter in ‘Roma Felix’” in Fra Angelico, Laurence Kanter and Pia Palladino, eds., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005, pp. 202-213’ and Loren Partridge, The Art of Renaissance Rome, 1400-1600, Harry N. Abrams, 1996, pp. 112- 114. 3Giorgio Vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori scultori e architettori nelle redazione del 1550 e 1568, Rosanna Bettarini and Paola Barocchi, eds., Sansoni, 1971, pp. 268-281. In the 1568 edition of the Lives, Vasari refers to the frescoes in the Nicoline chapel as, “istorie bellissime di San Lorenzo” and adds a comment about the pope’s portrait depicted within the cycle, “…dove ritrasse papa Niccola di naturale (p. 277). For the Vatican restoration of the cycle, see Venchi, et al as noted above. 4 Livio Pestilli, “Disabled Bodies: The (Mis)representation of the Lame in Antiquity and their Reappearance in Early Christian and Medieval Art,” in Roman Bodies: Antiquity to Eighteenth Century, Andrew Hopkins and Maria Wyke, eds., British School at Rome, 2005, pp. 91-97.

2

making irrevocable vows or observing strict enclosure.5 Her earliest followers were united by their commitment to emulate Francesca’s fervent religious devotion as well as their desire to serve Rome’s poor. After her death, they called themselves the Oblates of

Francesca Romana and lived according to a set of statutes conveyed and modeled by

Francesca Ponziani [Appendix A].6 As noblewomen who were either widowed or

unmarried, they chose a vocation that allowed them collectively to acquire property in

urban Rome and to furnish and decorate it according to the standards of the most

prominent ecclesiastic and monastic institutions of the period.

The media-saturated viewer of today would attach little significance to the storied

figures venerated in Fra Angelico’s resplendent cycle. However, in the religious and

political milieu of quattrocento Italy following the devastating papal schism, the

representations of the early Christian martyrs Saints Lawrence and Stephen were

powerful symbols for renewing the primacy and legitimacy of the Roman papacy, and for

re-establishing the city of Rome as a New . Saint Stephen was the first deacon

and who was stoned to death outside of Jerusalem for having upheld the

superiority of the Christian over the Jewish faith in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish legislative

body. Saint Lawrence was a Roman deacon and martyr and is one of the patron saints of

Rome. He was ordained deacon by Sixtus II, and before the pope’s death in 258 was

5 For a definition and discussion of pinzochere and their status in fifteenth-century Rome, see Katherine Gill, “Open Monasteries for Women in Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy: Two Roman Examples,” in The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion and the Arts in Early Modern Europe, Craig A. Monson, ed., University of Michigan Press, 1992, pp. 15-47; and Joyce Pennings, “Semi-religious Women in 15th Century Rome,” Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome, XLVII, 1987, pp. 115-145. 6 For my English translation of the Tor de’Specchi statutes, see Appendix A of this study. The ordinationi, were recorded in a fifteenth-century document (12ff) located in the Archivio di Tor de’Specchi, Mazzo I, n. 52, lettera B and were transcribed by Giovanni Lunardi in 1984. Giovanni Lunardi, “L’istituzione di Tor de’Specchi,” in Una santa tutta romana: Saggi e ricerche nel vi centenario della nascita di Francesca Bussa dei Ponziani (1383-1984). Giorgio Picasso, ed., Monte Oliveto Maggiore, 1984, pp. 71-94. See also Pennings, “Semi-religious Women,” p. 127.

3

instructed to distribute the Church treasures among the poor. When he refused to surrender the treasures to the imperial authorities, he was martyred by burning on a

gridiron.

In the Chapel of Nicholas V, the primitive Church of Saint Stephen in Jerusalem

is represented in the upper register of the fresco cycle, and the early Christian Church of

Saint Lawrence, led by the in Rome, in the lower. 7 The appearance of Francesca

Ponziani alongside her strongly Roman-identified predecessors within the cycle gave

Nicholas the opportunity to ground the claims for papal authority in his lifetime. When

the frescoes were painted, an ecclesiastical tribunal was already in the process of

gathering testimony for Francesca’s , and the citizens of Rome celebrated

her as “la santa tutta romana.” The representation of Francesca Romana among the

worthies taking part in these scenes of important church history gave early recognition to the role played by a local holy woman and her community in the re-installation of the papacy, and the legitimization of the Roman church, during the fifteenth century.

Across the Tiber, the Oblates of Francesca Romana were working to establish

themselves as a viable charitable and monastic institution during the same years that the

Nicoline chapel was decorated. They had already acquired a house on the Capitoline

Hill, called the Tor de’Specchi, and were adapting and decorating it for communal life

and devotion. 8 At this time, their convent complex consisted of a stalla or stable located

7 Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, Volume II. William Granger Ryan, trans., Princeton University Press, 1993, pp. 40-44 and 63-74. De Voragine specifically mentions St. Lawrence’s charity toward the poor, blind and lame and was most likely the source for Fra Angelico’s rendering. See also Pestilli, Ibid, p. 92; and Partridge, The Art of Renaissance Rome, pp. 112-114. 8For the founding of the community of oblates at Tor de’Specchi, see Lunardi, “L’istituzione,” pp. 71-94; Paola Vecchi, “La congregazione delle Oblate di Tor de’ Specchi nella sua origine e nella sua storia” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 457-472; Patrizia Marchetti, La casa delle Oblate di Santa Francesca Romana a Tor de’Specchi, BetaGamma editrice, 1996, pp. 7-12; and Placido Lugano, La nobil casa delle Oblate di Santa Francesca Romana in Tor de’Specchi, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana, 1933.

4 on the ground floor, with a paved entryway at the base of a stairway leading up to an oratory and a refectory. The original tower (Tor de’Specchi) housed a kitchen with brick oven on the ground level, and also accommodated Francesca’s cell directly off the refectory on the second floor, and dormitory space for the remaining oblates on the third level [Figure 2].9

By end of the quattrocento the community had commissioned a series of small panel paintings and two fresco cycles that were comparable in scale and scope to Fra

Angelico’s work in the pope’s private chapel.10 In 1468, an extensive series of fully colored and highly detailed images portraying Francesca’s mystical visions and mapping her miraculous thaumaturgic, spiritual and charitable work throughout Rome was frescoed on the four walls of the community’s private oratory.11 Two decades later, in

1485, the oblates directed that an entire wall of their refectory, adjacent to the oratory, be

9The best representation of the fifteenth-century complex at this time is an axonometric drawing by Patrizia Marchetti on p. 10 of La Casa delle Oblate. Marchetti’s drawing is deceptive in terms of the differential between the floor levels of the oratory and refectory. 10For the panel paintings, see George Kaftal., “Three Scenes from the Legend of Santa Francesca Romana,” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, Vol. XI, 1948, pp. 51-61, 86; John Pope-Hennessy, Italian Paintings of the Robert Lehman Collection, Volume 1, pp. 204-209; Federico Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Volume I, pp. 154-158. 11 The oratory frescoes are currently attributed to the Roman painter Antoniazzo Romano (Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili c. 1430 – c. 1510). For scholarship on the oratory frescoes , see Emma Amadei, “Gli affreschi quattrocenteschi del convento del Oblate di S. Francesca Romana a Tor de’Specchi”, Capitolium, 28, 1953, pp. 253-56; Roberto Longhi, “In favore di Antoniazzo Romano,” in Roberto Longhi: Saggi e ricerche 1925-1928, 2 vols, Sansoni, 1967, pp. 245-56; Antonio Paolucci, “Prodigy Mother: The Frescoes of Tor de’Specchi,” Franco Maria Ricci, No. 75, Volume XV, August , 1995, pp. 78-102; Attilio Rossi, “Le opera d’arte del monstero di Tor de’Specchi in Roma,” Bollettino d’arte del Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, 1.8, 1907, pp. 4-22 and 1.9, 1907, pp. 1-12 and “Gli affreschi di Tor de’Specchi relative alla vita di santa Francesca Romana,” Rivista storica benedettina: Pubblicazione illustrate di storia e letteratura monastica, 3, 1908, pp. 19-39; Cynthia Troup, “Art History and the Resistant Presence of a Saint – the chiesa vecchia Frescoes at Rome’s Tor de’Specchi,” in Rituals, Images and Words: Varieties of Cultural Expression in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, F.W. Kent and Charles Zika, eds., Brepols, 2005, pp. 119-145; Giovanni Brizzi, “Contributo all’iconografia di Francesca Romana,” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 265-362. For analysis of the vernacular captions that accompany the frescoes, see Paolo D’Achille, “Le didascalie degli affreschi di Santa Francesca Romana”, in Il volgare nelle chiese di Roma: Messaggi graffiti, dipinti e incise dal IX al XVI secolo, Francesco Savatini, et al, eds., Bonacci, 1987. pp. 109-183.

5 painted with jarring and violent images of their founder’s battles with the devil. 12

Rendered in green monochrome (terra verde), the ten panels that make up the series are life-sized depictions of Francesca’s ongoing nocturnal temptations and corporeal torture inflicted by demons. They are innovative and provocative representations of a woman’s mystical visions and, in some cases, show the devil and his cohorts represented in recognizably human form. It is significant that the terra verde cycle was commissioned at a time when Christian beliefs in the power and omnipresence of the devil and demonic forces were pervasive, and when accusations of witchcraft and diabolical magic were increasingly hurled against women and mystics.13 Further, the rise in vernacular preaching as well as the invention of printing in the mid-fifteenth century contributed to the spread of demonological literature, and the distrubution of images of women consorting with the devil.14

12 At this point, no critical or scholarly analysis of the refectory frescoes has been published. For a brief article describing the restoration of the refectory frescoes in 1989, see Gabriella Filippi “Un esempio di pittura ‘mistica’ romana: Gli affreschi di Tor de’Specchi”, in Per Carla Guglielmi: Scritti di allievi. Rome: Amici del Tasso, 1989, pp. 69-76. 13 This literature on this subject is vast. See, for example, Norman Cohn, Europe’s Inner Demons: The Demonization of Christians in Medieval Christendom, Chicago University Press, 2000; Franco Mormando, The Preacher’s Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy, University of Chicago Press, 1999; Lyndal Roper, Oedipus and the Devil: Witchcraft, Sexuality and Religion in Early Modern Europe, Routledge, 1994; Grace M. Jantzen, Power, Gender and Christian Mysticism, Cambridge University Press, 1995; Stuart Clark, Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe, Oxford University Press, 1997; Richard Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth- Century Saints and Their Religious Milieu, University of Chicago Press, 1984; Alan Charles Kors and Edward Peters, eds., Witchcraft in Europe, 400-1700, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001; Armando Maggi, In the company of demons: unnatural beings, love and identity in the Italian Renaissance, University of Chicago Press, 2006 and Satan’s Rhetoric: a study of Renaissance demonology, University of Chicago Press, 2001; Anne Jacobson Schutte, “‘Saints’ and ‘Witches’ in Early Modern Italy: Stepsisters or Strangers?,” in Time, Space and Women’s Lives in Early Modern Europe, Anne Jacobson Schutte, et al, eds.,Truman State University Press, 2001; Nancy Caciola, Discerning Spirits: Divine and Demonic Possession in the Middle Ages, Cornell University Press, 2003; Moshe Sluhovsky, Believe Not Every Spirit: Possession, Discernment and Female Mysticism in Early Modern Catholicism, Chicago University Press, 2007. 14 Lina Bolzoni, The Web of Images: Vernacular Preaching from its Origins to St. Bernardino da Siena, Ashgate, 2004, pp. 2-5. (Originally published as La rete delle immagini. Predicazione in volgare dalle origini a Bernadino da Siena, Einaudi, 2001); Mormando, The Preacher’s Demons.

6

To date, there has been little contextual and interpretive analysis of the often innovative, hagiographic imagery commissioned by the women of the quattrocento community at Tor de’Specchi. This study will show that Francesca’s oblates were sophisticated and discerning patrons of art from the outset. While they acquired and adapted their permanent monastic quarters, they documented Francesca’s mystical visions and miraculous works in visual form in an effort to further the cause for her canonization. At the same time, these same images were meticulously crafted to shape and define the oblates’ private devotional practices as handed down to them in the statutes and as recorded in a spiritual biography, or Vita, written by her confessor,

Giovanni Mattiotti.15 In the context of art made for monastic spaces, the refectory images of Francesca’s demonic temptations are particularly unusual, though in some ways demonstrably canonical.

Much of the scholarship on convent art and refectory decoration in Italy has focused on monastic spaces in Florence and Tuscany.16 The practice of painting in

15A transcription of what is now believed to be Mattiotti’s original manuscript was recently published: Giorgio Carpaneto, Il dialetto romanesco del quattrocento: Il manoscritto quattrocentesco di G. Mattiotti narra il tempi, i personaggi, le “visioni” di Santa Francesca Romana, compatrona di Roma, Nuova Editrice Spada, 1995. Unless otherwise noted, I turn to Carpaneto for all references to Mattiotti’s Trattati. Carpaneto’s text is a transcription of a codex located in the archive of Tor de’Specchi, canc. IV, n. 4. For identification of Mattiotti’s manuscript in the archives of Tor de’Specchi, see Gabriele Maria Brasó, “Identificazione delle fonte autografe della biografia di Santa Francesca Romana,” Benedictina, Volume 21, 1974, pp. 165-187. A second early manuscript version of Mattiotti’s Trattati in the vernacular is located in the Archivio Segreto Vaticano: Vita di Santa Francesca Romana del suo P. Confessore Giovanni Mattiotti, 1469. ASV, A.A., Arm. I-XVIII, 3350. See also Mariano Armellini, Vita di S. Francesca Romana scritta nel’idioma volgare di Roma del secolo XV, Tipografia Monaldi E Comp., 1882. Armellini based his text on the Vatican manuscript and his translation was widely consulted by scholars before the publication of Carpaneto’s transcription of the Tor de’Specchi codex. A recent critical edition by Alessandra Romagnoli sorts through both and vernacular editions of Mattiotti’s Trattati: Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli, Santa Francesca Romana: Edizione critica dei trattati latini di Giovanni Mattiotti, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994. See especially the Introduction and pp. 4-58 for the evolution of scholarship regarding the Trattati. 16 For a summary on the state of research concerning refectory decoration in quattrocento Italy and interpretation of Castagno’s Last Supper at S. Apollonia in Florence, see Andrée Hayum, “A Renaissance Audience Considered: The Nuns at S. Apollonia and Castagno’s Last Supper,” The Art Bulletin, Volume LXXXVII, Number 2, June, 2006, pp. 243-266. See also Anabel Thomas, Art and Piety in the Female

7 refectories had as much to do with corporeal control as with spiritual edification.

Refectory decoration was designed to limit bodily pleasure and gustatory excess for the monastic viewer by redirecting the senses toward spiritual and corporeal temperance.

Research on images made for Roman refectories, and indeed for Roman monastic communities in general, is scant and fragmented at this point, often embedded within larger surveys or monographs.17 Path-breaking studies of women as patrons and founders of convents in Rome center on the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and provide important methodological models for looking at earlier communities.18 This study seeks to expand the temporal boundaries of the literature on patronage and art made for women and monastic spaces in Rome, and the geographic boundaries of the scholarship on the visual culture of religious communities in Italy, while providing a

Religious Communities of Renaissance Italy, Cambridge University Press, 2003, especially pp. 140-149; William Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, Yale University Press, 1993; Creighton Gilbert, “Last Suppers and Their Refectories,” in The Pursuit of Holiness in Late Medieval and Renaissance Religion, Charles Trinkhaus and Heiko A. Oberman, eds., Brill, 1974, pp. 371-402; Luisa Vertova, I cenacoli fiorentini, Edizione Radio-Televisione Itaniana, 1965; Sandra Lynn Weddle, Enclosing Le Murate: The Ideology of Enclosure and the Architecture of a Florentine Convent, 1390-1597, UMI Dissertation Services, 1997; and R. Scott Walker, Florentine Painted Refectories, UMI Dissertation Services, 1979a. 17 For recent surveys, see Marcia Hall, ed., Artistic Centers of the Italian Renaissance: Rome, Cambridge University Press, 2005; Sergio Rossi and Stefano Valeri, eds., Le due Rome del quattrocento: Melozzo, Antoniazzo e la cultura artistica del ‘400 romano, Lithos Editrice, 1997; Cavallaro, Anna, Antoniazzo Romano e gli antoniazzeschi, una generazione di pittori nella Roma del quattrocento, Campanotto, 1992; Vincenzo Golzio and Giuseppe Zander, eds., L’arte in Roma nel secolo XV, Licinio Cappelli, 1968. 18 See Marilyn Dunn, “Piety and Patronage in Seicento Rome: Two Noblewomen and Their Convents,” Art Bulletin, Volume LXXVI, no. 4, 1994, pp. 644-663, see esp. n. 2 for extensive bibliography on noblewomen who founded Roman convents in late 16th-17th centuries; Carolyn Valone is the pioneer for studies on Roman matrons as patrons. See Carolyn Valone, “Elena Orsini, Daniele da Volterra and the Orsini Chapel,” Artibus et Historiae, 22, 1990, pp. 79-87; “Roman Matrons and Patrons: Varies Views of the Cloister Wall,” in The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion and the Arts in Early Modern Europe, Craig Monson, ed., University of Michigan Press, 1992, pp. 49-72; “Women on the Quirinal Hill: Patronage in Rome, 1560-1630,” Art Bulletin, LXXVI, no. 1, 1994, pp. 129-46; “Piety and Patronage: Women and the Early Jesuits,” in Creative Women in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, E. Ann Matter and John Coakley, eds., University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994, pp. 156-184; “Mothers and Sons: Two Paintings for San Bonaventura in Early Modern Rome,” Renaissance Quarterly, 53.1, 2000, pp. 108-132; “The Art of Hearing: Sermons and Images in the Chapel of Lucrezia della Rovere,” Sixteenth Century Journal, 31.3, 2000, pp. 753-777; “Matrons and Motives: Why Women Built in Early Modern Rome,” in Beyond Isabella: Secular Women Patrons of Art in Renaissance Italy, Sheryl E. Reiss and G. Wikins, eds., Truman State University Press, 2001, pp. 317-335.

8 micro-historical reading of the images made for the quattrocento community at Tor de’Specchi.

Francesca Bussa dei Ponziani: Biography and Hagiography

Francesca Bussa dei Ponziani was a Roman noblewoman who came to prominence as an exemplar of charity and piety during a period of political and ecclesiastical instability in Rome when the papacy fought to regain a local foothold after the Great Schism of the church, and parochial barons engaged in bloody conflict for territory and power.19 She was born in 1384 in the Parione region of the city, the daughter of the nobleman Paolo di Giovanni Bussa and his wife Jacobella de’

Roffredeschis. Fifteenth-century biographers of the would-be saint, most notably her confessor, Giovanni Mattiotti, characterized her as a woman who exhibited a sincere religious vocation even as a child, expressing a fervent wish to become a nun. Witnesses at the three processi or canonization trials held after her death in 1440, 1443 and 1451

20 also testified to Francesca’s lifelong vocation. By all accounts she was married against her will at the age of eleven to Lorenzo Ponziani, whose family from Trastevere was

19 For a concise biographical sketch of Francesca Romana with ample bibliography, see Arnold Esch’s entry in the Dizionario biografico degli italiani, V. 49, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1997, pp. 594- 599. See also Arnold Esch, “Santa Francesca Romana e il suo ambiente sociale a Roma” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 33-56; Roma medievale, André Vauchez, ed., GLF Editori Laterza, 2006; Economia e società a Roma tra medioevo e rinascimento, Anna Esposito and Luciano Palermo, eds., Viella, 2005; Charles Stinger, The Renaissance in Rome, Indiana University Press, 1998; Ludwig von Pastor, The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages, Volumes I-V. F. I. Antrobus, Ed., B. Herder, 1902. 20 Placido Tommaso Lugano, I processi inediti per Francesca Bussa dei Ponziani (Santa Francesca Romana), 1440-1453, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1945. Two new critical editions of the canonization proceedings are currently being prepared: A. Bartolomei Romagnoli, I processi medioevali per la canonizzazione di santa Francesvca Romana (1440-1451) and D. Zardin, Il processo apostolico (1602- 1608) both to be published by SISMEL,Edizioni del Galluzzo, forthcoming. See also Giulia Barone, “L’immagine di Santa Francesca Romana nei processi di canonizzazione e nella ‘Vita” in volgare” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 57-70.

9

allied politically and socially with hers. She was so unhappy in the bonds of marriage

that conjugal relations with her husband made her ill, and it was known that she vomited

after intercourse throughout her married life.21 Yet, the Ponziani-Bussa marriage

produced three children, two of whom died of the plague, and Francesca found a way to

simultaneously fulfill the duties befitting her social station while privately nourishing her

religious devotion.22

Francesca Ponziani’s public role as noble wife, mother and spiritual founder has

been amply documented but not sufficiently analyzed as to its continued importance in

binding the community of oblates, or within the context of the imagery commissioned to

commemorate her status as miraculous healer, mystic and eventual saint. By cultivating

networks of women whose political, economic, filial and spiritual circumstances mirrored

her own, and through charitable works in important hospitals and impoverished

neighborhoods across Rome, Francesca inspired a local following that quickly acquired

cult status.23 In 1425, after she and Lorenzo had agreed to a chaste marriage, Francesca

and nine of her followers made a formal oblation before the Olivetan abbot at the Basilica

of Santa Maria Nova (now the Church of Santa Francesca Romana) in the Roman

forum.24 The term “oblate” means, “one offered” or “made over to God”. Although the term has had various nuances in the history of the Church, a class known as secular

21 Lugano, Processi, pp. 39; Guy Boanas and Lyndal Roper, “Feminine piety in fifteenth-century Rome: Santa Francesca Romana,” in Disciplines of Faith: Studies in Religion, Politics and Patriarchy, J. Obelkevich, L. Roper and R. , eds., Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987, pp. 190-191; Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women, University of Press, 1987, p. 215; Dyan Elliottt, Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock, Princeton University Press, 1993, pp. 195-265. 22 Francesca and Lorenzo Ponziani had three children: Evangelista, Agnese and Battista. Evangelista and Agenese died of the plague; only Battista survived into adulthood. Mattiotti recorded the deaths of Evangelista and Agnese in his Trattati. See Carpaneto, pp. 8-12. For chronology and a family tree of the Bussa and Ponziani families, see Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 59-73. 23 Esch, DBI, p. 596; Gill, “Open Monasteries, p. 25. 24Lugano, “L’istituzione,” pp. 274-275; See also Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 59-140.

10

oblates came into being in the 13th century. Secular oblates were those who, while

remaining in the world and retaining the usufruct of their goods, donated their

possessions to a monastery and lived according to a monastic rule under the direction of

an abbot. 25 In the case of Tor de’Specchi, the oblates lived communally as pinzochere under the direction of a madre presidente, to whom they made revocable vows of obedience. Beginning with their formal oblation, the women of Tor de’Specchi were linked by papal decree to the Benedictine order of Olivetan monks housed nearby at the church of Santa Maria del Foro.26 By 1444, with the dispensation of a papal bull by

Eugenius IV, the community had the rights to live under common ordinations, to elect

their madre presidente and to choose, and dismiss, if necessary, the priest and confessor

who would say mass for them.27 With the convent at Tor de’Specchi firmly established,

the Oblates of Francesca Romana became, and remain today, a formal monastic order dedicated to poor relief and charitable initiatives in Rome.28

From the day that she died on March 9, 1440, the Church and cittadini of Rome

publicly commemorated Francesca Ponziani’s extraordinary sanctity.29 Her body was transported in a solemn and widely attended procession from the palazzo Ponziani in

Trastevere to the Basilica of Santa Maria Nova in the Forum, where it was laid out for two days and three nights of public viewing. Following a funeral mass presided over by

25 New Catholic Encyclopedia, Second Edition, Volume 10, p. 512. 26Valerio Cattana, “Santa Francesca Romana e i monaci di Monte Oliveto” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 403-444. 27 Lugano, “L’istituzione,” pp. 300-303. 28Paola Vecchi, “La congregazione,” pp. 457-472. 29 Francesca Ponziani’s death was recorded in the Necrology of Monte Oliveto as “Beatissima Francisca de Pontianis devotissima oblate monasterii nostri romani, obit Rome”. Necrologium Montis Oliveti, Col. Cart., fol. 50, published in Placido Lugano, “L’istituzione,” pp. 292-293. The events surrounding her death were recounted by canonization witnesses, most notably Giovanni Mattiotti and several of the initial oblates. See Lugano, I processi, pp. 100-103. In 1494 the Roman magistrate declared March 9 a feast day in honor of Francesca. Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 154.

11

the Olivetan Abbot, Fra Ippolito di Roma, Francesca Romana was interred in a sepulcher

next to the high altar of Santa Maria Nova, an honor accorded only to the most important

figures of the church.30

At the same time, official documentation of her mystical life and miraculous

works began to take shape. Giovanni Mattiotti, the rector of a chapel at the basilica of

Santa Maria in Trastevere and Francesca’s spiritual confessor, immediately wrote a

lengthy treatise in the Roman vernacular describing the divine and demonic visions that

Francesca had recounted to him or experienced in his presence.31 Soon afterwards, his

vernacular treatise was translated into Latin. In her critical edition of Mattiotti’s original

Latin texts, Alessandra Romagnoli lists the following as the original quattrocento sources

that comprise the foundational hagiographic corpus documenting the life and work of

Francesca Romana:

1. The transcripts of the three canonization processi (1440, 1443, 1451); 2. The mystical and visionary treatises and Vita of Mattiotti, written in both Latin and vernacular forms between 1440-1447; 3. Three redactions of Mattiotti’s Vita, written by Fra’Ippolito da Roma, between 1452 and 1453; and 4. The two fresco cycles at Tor de’Specchi – the oratory cycle of 1468 and the refectory cycle of 1485.32

I expand the hagiographic corpus to include three little-known panel pantings

commissioned by the oblates, made during the same decade that Mattiotti was writing his

treatises. Though they have been identified as representations of events narrated in

Mattiotti’s Trattati, they have not been analyzed or contextualized as among the oblates’

initial contributions to the legacy of Francesca Romana.

30 The primary source documenting the funeral proceedings comes from canonization testimony. Lugano, I processi, pp. 140-147. 31 See note 14 above. 32 Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. xxxv-xli.

12

The written sources can be divided into two distinct contemporary versions of

events that show how Francesca’s identity became a contested site for the simultaneous

representation of a strong religious leader and a pious, modest female saint. Produced in

the forty years or so after Francesca’s death, they shaped an enduring image of the beata

that was composed from well-established hagiographic tropes combined with signs of a

uniquely Roman identity and association. Here, I use the term beata in relation to

Francesca in accordance with its literal meaning – “blessed one”. Indeed, the phrase

“BEATA ANIMA” (blessed soul) was part of the original inscription on Francesca’s

33 tomb in Santa Maria Nova. In Catholic doctrine, is an important step in

the process of canonization, defined as formal ecclesiastical permission to venerate a holy

person, with restriction to specific places and certain liturgical exercises.34 Though no

record of Francesca’s official beatification has been published to date, she was referred to

as “beata Francesca” in contemporary sources, most notably the canonization

proceedings.

Mattiotti’s personal and highly emotional tracts were gleaned from his recording

of his frequent meetings with Francesca, during which she made confession and received

Holy Communion. Along with canonization testimony, they formed the principle

inspiration for the spiritual foundation of the community of oblates and the most

important sources for the content of the panel paintings and the Tor de’Specchi

frescoes.35 Fra’Ippolito’s biographies were more official and sanitized versions of

33 Lugano, I processi. For the full text of the epitaph, see La nobil casa, p. 111. See also Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 156. 34 For a full explanation of the complex processes of beatification and canonization see, Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonization," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 35 Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. xxxv-vi; Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” pp. 51-61.

13

Mattiotti’s tracts. As abbot of the Olivetan monastery that oversaw the oblates of Tor de’Specchi, he presented Francesca as an exemplar of the penitential and charitable female, in accordance with monastic ideals that stressed solitude and withdrawal from the outside world.36 As this study shows, these ideals were also stressed in the pictorial

versions of Francesca’s Vita that were commissioned, designed and utilized by the

Oblates of Francesca Romana.

Visions Demonic and Divine

Like many pious mystics before her, especially charisimatic holy women like

Catherine of Siena or Bridget of Sweden, Francesca Ponziani was blessed with divine

visions and beset by demonic temptation.37 Mattiotti’s written accounts of her visions

have been scrutinized by scholars for connections to late-medieval hagiography,

literature, and imagery.38 Yet, the pictorial representations of Francesca’s mystical life as

commissioned by the oblates not only correspond to specific passages from Mattiotti’s

Trattati, but also shaped a dynamic meditative and devotional practice for the nascent

monastic community.

Chapter 1 focuses on the group of little-known panel paintings (c. 1445)

portraying a series of vignettes from Francesca Ponziani’s divine visions. By reassessing

extant documentary evidence, I demonstrate that they were likely commissioned by the

36Romagnoli, p. xl. 37Arnold Esch, “Tre sante ed il loro ambiente sociale a Roma: S. Francesca Romana, S. Brigida di Svezia e S. Caterina da Siena,” in Atti del simposio internazionale cateriniano-bernardiniano, Accademia senese degli intronati, 1982, pp. 89-127. 38 Vittorio Bartocelli, “Le fonti delle visione di Santa Francesca Romana,” Rivista storia benedettina, Volume XIII, 1922, pp. 199-215; Ornella Moroni, “Le visioni di Santa Francesca Romana tra medioevo e umanesimo,” Studi romani: Rrivista bimestrale dell’Istituto di Studi Romani, Volume 21, 1973, pp. 160- 178.

14 oblates for their private burial chapel outside of Tor de’Specchi, and therefore represent their particular contribution to the hagiographic corpus that initially defined the image of

Santa Francesca Romana. I draw on late-medieval optical theory, the theology of vision and contemporary Italian texts that guided women through meditative and mnemonic practices in order to explain specific iconographic cues in the panels that were meant to be viewed at close range.

Within the Tor de’Specchi complex, Francesca Romana was often depicted framed by a doorway, on the threshold between two spaces or, in the case of the demonic refectory images, blocked from entry or exit. In my second chapter, anthropological models of liminality are employed to discuss the meaning of the position by a doorway as a metaphor for the oblates’ transition from secular to monastic society and from worldly lay women to chaste servants of God. It also represents Francesca on the threshold of sainthood, specifically portrayed as Rome’s mystical visionary and miraculous healer.

The symbolic and ritual significance of doorways in ancient Rome, as represented in popular literature and theatre, and as ultimately appropriated by Renaissance popes, add rich layers of meaning to a seemingly mundane iconographic trope for the oblate viewers.

Here, I demonstrate how the oblates drew on imagery and iconography from the papal chapel of Nicholas V, where Francesca was represented alongside venerated Roman martyrs as an exemplar of Christian caritas, for the extensive fresco cycle of their own oratory. The visual connections to the papal chapel link the oblate community and the monastery of Tor de’Specchi to the Vatican, and testify to their sophisticated knowledge of and access to the most important ecclesiastical commissions of the period.

15

The third chapter focuses on the sculptural, muscular and naked bodies of the

demons imagined in the Tor de’Specchi refectory that appear to be too tempting as visual

material intended for a community of religious women. Yet, they are perfectly in line with quattrocento artists’ growing preoccupation with anatomical studies and the practice of life drawing that grew from a desire to make images more forceful, and to narrow the gap between reality and representation. As such, they depicted the demonic trials of

Francesca Romana in a more naturalistic manner within the virtual sensorium that was at once the oblates dining space and site for ritual penance. Drawing on art theory of the

period, and innovative methods for depicting the sacred and profane body, I examine how

and why ideas about temptation, penance, sexuality and punishment were incorporated

into the Tor de’Specchi images. At the same time, I argue that the refectory frescoes

ultimately glorified Francesca’s triumph over corporeal satiation and sin. Meant to be

viewed as both didactic and interactive, the paintings firmly point to the oblates’

discerning knowledge of artists and imagery circulating among Florentine workshops

engaged in painting the Sistine Chapel walls, and their ability to communicate their

wishes directly to the artists that they chose.

In the final chapter, I consider the terra verde frescoes of Francesca’s demonic

temptation in relation to the refectory as a ritual space and in conversation with the

extensive cycle in the adjacent oratory. The panels were meant to be viewed as a

sequential series of cues that choreographed the oblates’ movement through the refectory,

and acted as meditative aids for the community while they dined in silence. They were

commissioned in accordance with the oblates’ desire to conform to monastic protocol by

weaving traditional themes and iconography into the context of Francesca’s encounters

16

with the devil. Terra verde is examined as an effective medium for representations of the

night and the demonic realm, and as a terrifying and naturalistic backdrop for the performance of ritual penance.

The noblewomen-turned-oblates who commissioned the impressive body of

imagery at Tor de’Specchi were at once pious servants of God and savvy consumers of

art, reflecting their liminal status as residents of a monastic community and also as active

participants in Roman society. The expansive cycles of their convent embody many of

the ambiguities and paradoxes of late-medieval piety. The oblates’ theatre of Francesca’s

demonic visions helps us to initiate a conversation about how early modern women

taught themselves to picture the Devil as a real and ever-present force to be vanquished,

expanding our idea of images made at the behest of religious women to include the

parochial communities of fifteenth-century Rome.

17

Chapter 1

Una Vita Visibile: Images for Memory and Devotion and the First Oblates of Francesca Romana as Patrons of Art

During their first fifty years as a formal, ecclesiastically sanctioned monastic community (roughly 1435-1485), the oblates of Tor de’Specchi commissioned diverse painted representations of Francesca Ponziani’s divine visions and demonic apparitions.

Rendered in media ranging from tempera on gilded panel to terra verde fresco, these

‘visions made visible’ were designed specifically for the urban spaces that were shared and decorated by the women who were the first followers of the beata Francesca. To date, scholars have largely turned their attention to the extensive fresco cycle of the Tor de’Specchi oratory, which was painted more than thirty years after the community moved into the monastery, as the primary visual representation of the mystical life and miraculous works of Francesca Romana. Yet we know that three (and possibly more) of the oratory frescoes that illustrate Francesca’s divine visions were copied from three extant panel paintings made twenty years earlier, that depict a synthesis of moments and passages from Francesca’s mystical visions as she dictated them to her confessor,

Giovanni Mattiotti [Figures 3, 4, 5].39 With this in mind, this chapter will focus on the

commission for and function of these three panels, in order to demonstrate their

importance as the oblate community’s unique initial contribution to the lasting legacy and

image of Santa Francesca Romana.

39 George Kaftal., “Three Scenes from the Legend of Santa Francesca Romana,” The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, Vol. XI, 1948, pp. 51-61, 86; Giovanni Brizzi, “Contributo all’iconografia di Francesca Romana” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 265-362.

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The commissioning and design of the panels played a critical role in shaping the

devotional and meditative practice of the quattrocento Oblates of Francesca Romana

during their foundational years as a community living in the Tor de’Specchi. Specific

details in the paintings can be connected to the ways in which the oblates navigated the

thorny politics of promoting the canonization of their founder. At the same time, they

give us insight into their spiritual needs as a monastic community and allow us to better

situate their role and status as sophisticated and discerning patrons of art and architecture.

Because of the timing of the commission of the work, the panels must be added to the

corpus of primary sources that inform our understanding of the piety, community and cult

of Santa Francesca Romana in quattrocento Rome.

Since the meditative practice of the Tor de’Specchi oblates depended on

memorization, through repetition, of the pious deeds and mystical life of their founder,

Francesca Ponziani, the images commissioned by the community at its inception were

intended to stimulate and preserve those memories. To date, we have no documentation

for the commission of the panels, or of specific stipulations for the visions or scenes to be

represented on them. Yet, as we shall see, the panels could only have been

commissioned by the oblates for close, devotional viewing, and for building and asserting

communal identity around the figure of Francesca Romana. Further, visual cues in the

images allow us to analyze them in the context of medieval theories of optics, memory

and the imagination (imaginative faculties), in order to understand their theological and

mnemonic significance for the community.

Rooted in the Galenic and Aristotelian traditions, the prevailing phsyiological basis for the workings of memory during the late-medieval period held that memory was

19 considered to be the final process in sensory perception. As Mary Carruthers describes it,

“[memory] begins with the stimulation of the five senses and becomes the material of knowledge through the activities of a series of internal functions, known to the Middle

Ages as the inward sense(s).”40 The inward (internal) senses, or “faculties,” were believed to be located in the brain and corresponded to the five external senses.41

Medieval philosophers and commentators debated the location, number and various properties of the faculties. Vision (sight) was deemed the center of cognition and the most important of the five senses, and became the subject of intense philosophical and theological debate with regard to theories of optics and the transmission and reception of light and color.42 Contemporary scholars were divided among theories of intromission, by which visible “species” were transmitted from an object to the eye, and extramission, which purported that visual perception was accomplished by rays of light emanating from the eyes or, looking back to Plato, a combination of both.43 Seeing or vision was

40 Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture, second edition, Cambridge University Press, 2008, p. 57. See also Frances Yates, The Art of Memory, University of Chicago Press, 1966; Camille, “Before the Gaze: The Internal Senses and Late Medieval Practices of Seeing,” in Visuality Before the Beyond the Renaissance: Seeing as Others Saw, Robert S. Nelson, ed., Cambridge, 2000, pp. 197-223. 41 Camille, “Before the Gaze,” pp. 200-201; See also Katharine Park, “Impressed Images: Reproducing Wonders,” in Picturing Science Producing Art, Caroline Jones and Peter Galison, eds., Routledge, 1998, pp. 254-271. 42 David C. Lindberg, Theories of Vision from Al-Kindi to Kepler, University of Chicago Press, 1976. See also Carl Nordenfalk, “The Five Senses in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 48, 1985, pp. 1-22; Jeffrey F. Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing: The Suspicion of Sight and the Authentication of Vision in Late Medieval Art and Devotion,” in Imagination und Wirklichkeit: Zum Verhältnis von mentalen und realen Bildern in der Kunst der frühen Neuzei, Klaus Krüger and Alessandro Nova, eds., Philipp von Zabern, 2000, pp. 47-68; Idem, “Speculations on Speculation: Vision and Perception in the Theory and Practice of Mystical Devotion,” in Deutsche Mystik im abendländischen Zusammenhang: Neu erschlossene Texte, neue methodische Ansätze, neue theoretische Konzepte, Walter Haug and Wolfram Schneider-Lastin, eds., Tübingen, 2000, pp. 353-408; Idem. The Visual and the Visionary: Art and Female Spirituality in Late Medieval Germany. Zone Books, 1998.; Idem. Nuns as Artists: The Visual Culture of a Medieval Convent. University of California Press, 1997; Jeffrey F. Hamburger and Anne-Marie Bouché, eds., The Mind’s Eye: Art and Theological Argument in the Middle Ages. Princeton University Press, 2006. 43 Lindberg, Ibid.

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therefore not passive, but understood to be an active process involving the body and the

whole person.44

In late-medieval psychology, imagination, or the imaginative faculty, was

considered to be an essential instrument of memory.45 Based on the Platonic tradition,

the storing of images in memory was believed to be integral to devotional processes in

which the faithful drew upon interior reflection or insight in the pursuit of divine

knowledge or vision.46 Despite regular flare-ups of iconoclastic movements, the

prevailing power of religious imagery lay in its capacity to provoke vivid imaginative or

even visionary responses.47 The imaginative faculty could therefore be deemed an essential instrument in the process of perception, remembrance and mediation between material images and mystical visions, and could provide the foundation for a contemplative event that went beyond the corporeal senses.48 On the other hand, an

untrained imagination could lead to dangerous distraction, resulting in immoral

conduct.49

Catherine Mooney has proposed a clear contrast in the role of images and

visuality in terms of gender within the hagiographic vitae of contemporary holy men and

holy women.50 Religious visions seem to have played a much greater part in the lives of

44 Camille, “Before the Gaze,” p. 202; Cynthia Hahn, “Visio Dei: Changes in Medieval Visuality,” in Visuality Before and Beyond the Renaissance: Seeing as Others Saw, Robert S. Nelson, ed., Cambridge, 2000, pp.169-196. 45 Murray Wright Bundy, The Theory of Imagination in Classical and Mediaeval Thought, University of Illinois, 1927, especially pp. 146-199. See also Lindberg, Theories of Vision, pp. 122-146; Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” pp. 47-49; Carruthers, The Book of Memory, pp. 56-98. 46 Bundy, pp. 41-59 47 David Freedberg, The Power of Images: Studies in the History of Theory and Response, Chicago, 1989; Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” pp. 48-50. 48Bundy, pp. 42-59; Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” p. 47-48. 49 Bundy, pp. 50-51; Hamburger, Seeing and Believing, p. 47. Bolzoni. The Web of Images, pp. 7, 23-35. 50 Catherine Mooney, Women’s Visions, Men’s Words: The Portrayal of Holy Women and Men in Fourteenth-Century Italian Hagiography, Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 1991, pp. 174-222; Mooney, “The Authorial Role of Brother A. in the Composition of Angela of Foligno’s Revelations,” in Creative

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Christian women than of men. According to this hypothesis, women were portrayed as

having more elaborate internal visions, in which they participated more directly, and

textual evidence supports the notion that women were much more likely than men to be

moved, inspired or tempted by looking at external images.51 During the period of the

religious crisis of the Great Western Schism (1378-1417), more sophisticated means for personal spiritual elevation and ecstasy came into being, often in the form of literature and images directed toward, and sometimes crafted by, religious women.52

Various strategies were devised to train or discipline the mind for the practice of

committing large amounts of material or crucial information to memory. Through

deliberate meditation on texts and images -or a combination of both - medieval readers learned how to “mould” their minds by creating a schema or map of places (loci) where

memories could be stored. Memory systems often called for the mental construction of assemblages that included numeric and architectural grids, ladders, chains, libraries or

files. By inventing an image or mnemonic ‘hook’ that was meant to evoke the

recollection of a thing, or things, the trained practioner would be able to recall stored

information at will. 53 Depending on individual contexts or needs, specific visual motifs

had the power to fix themselves in the minds of the viewer or beholder, especially after

repetitive consumption or experience. The more striking or distinctive the image, the

more memorable it would be. According to the Rhetorica ad Herennium, the most

widely used handbook on rhetoric during this period, one critical feature of a memory

Women in Medieval and Early Modern Italy: A Religious and Artistic Renaissance, U. Pennsylvania Press, 1994, pp. 52-53; Park, “Impressed Images,” pp. 264-65. 51 Park, “Impressed Images,” p. 264. 52 See, Bolzoni, p. 5; Ann Roberts, Dominican Women and Renaissance Art: The Convent of San Domenico in Pisa, Ashgate, 2008; Jeryldene M. Wood, Women, Art and Spirituality: The Poor Clares of Early Modern Italy, Cambridge University Press, 1996; Gabriella Zarri and Gianna Pomata, eds., I monasteri femminili come centri di cultura fra rinascimento e barocco, Roma, Edizione di storia e literature, 2005. 53 Carruthers, The Book of Memory, pp. 99-152; Bolzoni, The Web of Images, pp. 2-5.

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image is that it be striking and idiosyncratic enough to be clearly recalled. Drawn from

the earlier rhetoric of Cicero and Quintillian, this anonymous Roman treatise was

designed to train people in the art of public speaking. 54 Book III of the ad Herennium

addresses the issue of images intended to stimulate the memory:

Now, since in normal cases some images are strong and sharp and suitable for awakening recollection, and others so weak and feeble as hardly to succeed in stimulating memory, we must therefore consider the cause of these differences, so that, by knowing the cause, we may know which images to avoid and which to seek…nature herself teaches us what we should do… When we see in everyday life things that are petty, ordinary, and banal, we generally fail to remember them, because the mind is not being stirred by anything novel or marvelous….ordinary things easily slip from the memory while the striking and novel stay longer in the mind….We ought, then, to set up images of a kind that can adhere longest in the memory. And we shall do so if we establish likenesses as striking as possible.55

The panels commissioned for the first oblates of Francesca Romana were

composed precicely to awaken specific recollections for the community by rendering

familiar iconographic motifs in innovative and striking ways.

Precepts for monastic reading during this period, which will also prove relevant

for the fresco cycles commissioned by the oblates at Tor de’Specchi, were concerned as

much with meditation (meditatio) as study (lectio). Meditatio was understood to be

contemplative and penetrating – indeed the consummation of lectio.56 By building layers

of knowledge through repeated meditatio, the monastic reader or viewer would reach

ever deeper levels of spiritual understanding. Meditation and memorization were deemed

to be active processes that were deliberate and cumulative, performed in the service of

54During the late-medieval period, the ad Herennium was believed to have been written by Cicero. See [Cicero], Ad C. Herennium: De Ratione Dicendi (Rhetorica ad Herennium), Harry Caplan, trans., Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1981. See also Peter Parshall, “The Art of Memory and the Passion,” Art Bulletin, Volume 81, No. 3, September, 1999, pp. 456-472. 55 Ad Herennium, III.XXI.35-XXII.36-37 (Loeb edition, Ibid, pp. 219-221). 56 Mary Carruthers summarizes the differences between lectio and meditatio, drawing on a variety of sources, in her chapter on memory and the ethics of reading. See Carruthers, The Book of Memory, pp. 202-212.

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knowledgeable interpretation.57 Reading out loud during meals was a regular monastic

practice, one that was followed by Francesca’s oblates, so that the listener was provided

with both corporeal and spiritual sustenance at the dining table. In the monastic tradition,

memory and meditation were related through metaphors of eating and digestion; one

would consume a text or image as one would consume food. The reader, listener, or

viewer would purposefully ruminate on and digest information in the process of

meditating on what he or she had read, heard, or seen in pursuit of edifying knowledge.

As a result of renewed interest in classical rhetoric alongside traditions of

monastic meditation, the fifteenth century saw a revival of connections between oratory

and memory through the rise of vernacular preaching, as well as the wide dissemination

of religious texts that employed mnemonic devices.58 San Bernardino of Siena (1380-

1444), a contemporary of Francesca Ponziani, effectively employed fiery rhetoric, theatrical play and recognizable imagery in his public preaching. In order to leave an indelible impression on his listeners and convince them of the truth of his messages, he would incorporate local landmarks and commonplace metaphors into his sermons.

Through repeated use of familiar iconography, San Bernardino hoped to access the experience and visual memory of his audience to create a kind of web or grid onto which the lessons of his sermons would be retained.59 In the wake of ecclesiastical protests, the

eminently memorable preacher was summoned to Rome in 1425 (the year of Francesca’s

formal oblation) to face charges of heresy. After pleading his case before the Curia he

57 Carruthers, pp. 205-208; Evelyn Lincoln, “The Devil’s Hem: Allegorical Reading in a Sixteenth-Century Illustrated Life of St. Benedict,” in Early Modern Allegory: Embodying Meaning, Cristelle Baskins and Lisa Rosenthal, eds., Ashgate, 2007, pp. 135-153. 58 Parshall, pp. 456-472; Bolzoni, The Web of Images, pp. 3-7. 59 Bolzoni, The Web of Images, pp. 117-19. See also Franco Mormando, The Preacher’s Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Italy, University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 1-52; Iris Origo, The World of San Bernardino, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1962.

24

was subsequently exonerated and, at the request of the Pope, stayed on to preach to

throngs of Romans in St. Peter’s square for eighty days.60 It is likely that Francesca and her followers were among his listeners. Scholars have made compelling connections between the vivid language of San Bernardino’s sermons and distinct verbiage and visual

metaphors found throughout the beata’s mystical visions.61 Though clearly not the only or even dominant source for specific details drawn from Francesca’s visions,

Bernardino’s sermons provide an important for understanding the oblates’ early art patronage. His strategies for illuminating theological and moral discourse with ideas and imagery that were immediately recognizable to a contemporary audience can be compared to the striking additions or amendments to traditional iconography or motifs in the vision panels discussed in this chapter.

The three panels of Francesca Ponziani’s ecstatic visions are a case study of the

ideation, crafting and use of images for documentation, memorization and focused

viewing at the critical moment of a religious community’s inception. As a fledgling

monastic order, the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi were obliged to shape and perpetuate their founder’s identity. Under their patronage, the richly sensual and material details of

Francesca’s visions sketched by Mattiotti in the written Trattati were translated into vivid and accessible visible form on the painted panels, and served to excite both the corporeal and inward senses of the oblates. At the same time, the ‘visual visions’ were made to

60 Origo, The World of San Bernardino, pp. 123-127. 61 Vittorio Bartocelli, “Le fonti delle visione di Santa Francesca Romana,” Rivista storia benedettina, Volume XIII, 1922, pp. 199-215; Ornella Moroni, “Le visioni di Santa Francesca Romana tra medioevo e umanesimo,” Studi romani: rivista bimestrale dell’Istituto di Studi Romani, Volume 21, 1973, pp. 160-178. Francesca Romana has been tentatively assumed to be one of the “due donne, credo santissime, le quali erano maritate ognuna” that San Bernardino met while in Rome. The reference is from a 1427 sermon given in Siena, in which he praises the virtues of the two unnamed Roman women. See Mauro Tagliabue, “Francesca Romana nella storiagrafia. Fonti, studi, biografie,” in Una santa tutta romana, p. 212. For the text of the 1427 sermon, see L. Bianchi, ed., Le prediche volgari di s. Bernardino da Siena dette nella Piazza del Campo, l’anno MCCCCXXVII, Vol. I, Siena, 1880, p. 102.

25 epitomize and embody Francesca’s Roman-ness as emblematic of a unique spiritual and communal model for her female followers as they established themselves as a viable and visible entity in the city.

Material Beginnings

Two of the extant panel paintings of Francesca’s mystical visions are currently in the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the third belongs to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. These small works depict

Francesca Romana holding the Christ Child [Figure 3], Francesca Romana embraced by the Virgin [Figure 4], and the communion and consecration of Francesca Romana [Figure

5].62 Stylistic and forensic analysis and thematic similarities between the panels confirms that they were painted as a group, and dates them to approximately 1445.63 The series was rendered in bright colors of tempera, set against sumptuous gilded backgrounds on wood panel. The paintings were made more elaborate still by intricate tooling and delicate punch work that set off the main figures of the compositions, most prominently

Francesca, Christ and the Virgin Mary.

62 All three paintings are rectangular with vertically oriented compositions, and are approximately 22” x 15” in size. For continuity, I am using the titles given to the panels by the museums that house them, with the exception of Figure 4. I have changed the description of the panel to “Francesca embraced by the Virgin” rather than “Francesca Clothed by the Virgin”. Museum catalogue information is as follows: Figure 3: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the Elder, Santa Francesca Romana Holding the Christ Child, 1975.1.101; Figure 4: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the Elder, Santa Francesca Romana Clothed by the Virgin, 1975.1.100; Figure 5: The Walters Art Museum, The Communion and Consecration of the Blessed Francesca Romana, 37.742. See John Pope-Hennessy, Italian Paintings of the Robert Lehman Collection, Volume 1, pp. 204-209; Federico Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Volume I, pp. 154-158; and Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” pp. 51-61, 86. 63 Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” pp. 51-61; and Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Ibid..

26

Prior to the Metropolitan’s purchase of the Lehman panels in 1975, George Kaftal

identified the subject matter of all three paintings as derived from the texts of Francesca

Ponziani’s ecstatic visions as they were recorded in Mattiotti’s Trattati, and he noted

their unmistakable relationship to—and direct influence on—the frescoes of the Tor

de’Specchi oratory painted about twenty years later.64 He posited that there were likely to have been six panels in the group, based on the corresponding number of fresco panels of Francesca’s ecstatic visions within the oratory cycle, but this is by no means definitive.65 Considering the size of the panels and their thematic connection, it has been

suggested that they were originally part of an altarpiece.66 In that case, the vertical

orientation of their compositions suggests that they would have been arranged one above

the other, flanking a larger central image as in, for example, the altarpiece of the Beata

Umiltà (1226-1310), founder of the donne di Faenza and of two Vallombrosan

monasteries [Figure 6].67

The provenance of all three panels has been traced back to the church of Santa

Maria Nova in the Roman forum, which was re-named the Church of Santa Francesca

Romana in the seventeenth century. Francesca Ponziani was buried there next to the main

altar shortly after her death in 1440.68 Earlier scholars have put forth the idea that the

64 At the time of Kaftal’s analysis in 1948, the two Lehman panels were owned by the Harris Gallery in London. See Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” pp. 51-61. Kaftal consulted Armellini’s edition of the Vita di S. Francesca Romana (Rome, 1882), which is based on the Vatican Manuscript of Mattiotti’s Trattati. 65 Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” p. 59. 66 Both the Lehman and Walters panels are now supported by wooden cradles, making it virtually impossible to discern whether or not they were originally attached to a larger central painting (or to anything else). 67 The altarpiece of Beata Umiltà, by Pietro Lorenzetti, is currently housed at the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence. See Catherine King, “Women as patrons: nuns, widows and rulers” in Siena, Florence and Padua: Art, Society and Religion 1280-1400, Volume II: Case Studies, Diana Norman, ed., Yale University Press, 1995, pp. 264-265. 68The provenance of the Lehman panels is discussed in Pope-Hennessy, Italian Paintings, p. 206.

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altarpiece or panels were displayed on or near the high altar of Santa Maria Nova, and

indeed this is plausible in light of the fact that Francesca’s tomb was erected in close

proximity to it.69 However, tradition holds that a much venerated early icon of the

Virgin, ambitiously attributed to St. Luke and possibly having been moved there from the

Church of Santa Maria Antiqua, the oldest Christian building in the forum, had long been

displayed on the high altar of the church.70 Indeed, Francesca is reported to have had a

particular devotion to the monumental icon and, according to at least one source, she and

her initial followers made their monastic oblations while kneeling before it.71 The

oratory fresco of Francesca and her community making their oblation does not depict the

icon on the altar, however, although the altar shown is set in a recessed niche and is only

partially visible.

Even though Francesca had inspired a fervent local following and cult among her

contemporaries, and was nominated for sainthood immediately following her death, it is

unlikely that her image would have displaced an image of the Virgin to whom the church

was dedicated and to whom her own community was devoted. Therefore, based on the

extant documentary evidence outlined below, and specific details in the panels, I propose

an alternative placement and function for the vision panels that is more intimately

connected to the devotional customs and communal identity of the oblates. Further, I

For a recounting of the obsequies and burial of Francesca Ponziani, see La nobil casa, pp. 108-114; Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 141-143. See also Licia Marti, “Santa Francesca Romana (Santa Maria Nova),” Roma Sacra, Volume 3, 1995, pp. 40-47. 69 Kaftal and Zeri both proposed that the panels related to the main altar. See, Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” p. 59-60. Zeri posited that an altarpiece containing the panels was placed directly on Francesca’s tomb adjacent to the altar, and was broken up during extensive renovations of Santa Maria Nova at the beginning of the seventeenth century. Zeri, Italian Paintings, p. 156. 70 Hans Belting, Likeness and Presence: A History of the Image before the Era of Art, Edmund Jephcott, trans., University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 72-73, 124-126 and Figure I; Marina Warner, Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and Cult of the Virgin Mary, Random House, 1983, pp. 104-106; See also Marti, “Santa Francesca Romana,” pp. 46-47. 71 Capra, Guida illustrata della Basilica di S. Maria Nova (S. Francesca Romana), p. 14.

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believe that the panels formed the pictorial foundation for a type of meditative viewing

practice for the oblates that was carried over – and refined over time – in the fresco

programs at the monastery of Tor de’Specchi.

According to a concession made by fra’ Battista da Poggibonsi, the Benedictine

abbot general of Monte Oliveto who oversaw the basilica and monastery of Santa Maria

Nova, the oblates were granted the right to a funerary chapel within the church in 1442,

two years after Francesca Ponziani’s death. Donna Agnese di Paolo Lello, the madre

presidente of Tor de’Specchi in that year, donated two houses to endow the chapel

construction, under stipulation that no one but the oblates were to be buried there without

the community’s express consent.72 Patronage of a private burial chapel in Santa Maria

Nova and in proximity to the tomb of their founder was a pious undertaking that publicly

affirmed both the status and wealth attached to the fledgling community.73 Reciprocally,

the constant presence of the community in the church, as donors of the chapel and as

successors to the blessed Francesca who was entombed there, added honor and prestige to the basilica. Along with insuring proper burial within the church for individual members of the community, memorial masses for the souls of the dead would regularly be said within the chapel. According to St. Antoninus, the Archbishop of Florence during this period, there were three reasons for being buried in a sacred place: the intercession of the saints in whose honor the church (or chapel) was built; the fact that the faithful, when

72 The concession is dated October 4, 1442. See Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 156; La nobil casa, pp. 111-112; and Placido Lugano, “Santa Francesca Romana nella memoria dei contemporanei e dei posteri,” Rivista storica benedettina, V. 3, 1908, pp. 162-163. If one was facing the high altar from the doorway of Santa Maria Nova, the oblates’ chapel was the third on the right side of the church. See Marti, p. 43 for a floor plan of the basilica, and p. 44 for a description of the chapel. 73 Jonathan Katz Nelson, “Memorial Chapels in Churches: The Privatization and Transformation of Sacred Spaces,” in Renaissance Florence: A Social History, Roger Crum and John Paoletti, eds., Cambridge, 2006, pp. 353-375. For art patronage by religious women during this period, see King, “Women as patrons,” pp. 242-278.

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coming to church, would see the tomb and offer prayers for the deceased; and the dead

would be assured of rest undisturbed by demons, who would not intrude on sacred

ground. 74 As chapel owners, the oblates would provide the necessary furnishings for the

Mass, including an altar table, crucifix and objects for the liturgy: missals, candlesticks,

chalices, patens, bells, ewers, censers and even priestly vestments.75 Additional

embellishments to a chapel, such as frescoes, stained glass or an altarpiece, attracted the

attention of the faithful who regularly visited the church, but also served as striking and

aesthetically pleasing reminders to the surviving patrons of their own moral obligation to

pray for the souls of the dead.76 It follows, then, that the first oblates would have

decorated their chapel with a resplendent object such as a rich altarpiece containing

identifying imagery like the three vision panels, as a public assertion of communal

association with the blessed Francesca, as well as providing a tool for their own spiritual

edification.

Funerary chapels are by nature commemorative, and indeed the oblates would

have utilized their private burial space within Santa Maria Nova for traditional purposes.

Both to casual church visitors and for the oblates, the vision panels memorialize the

sanctity of Francesca Ponziani as founder of the order and as intercessor for the dead, and

declare the oblates as her legitimate successors—subjects that would befit their

placement within the burial chapel. However, only the oblates were likely to have paid

attention to the particular details in all three panels that correspond directly to specific

moments from Francesca’s ecstatic visions as recorded by Mattiotti or, perhaps, as she

74Antoninus, Summa Theologie, V III, Tit X, Cap. III. See also Robert W. Gaston, “Liturgy and Patronage in San Lorenzo, Florence, 1350-1650,” in Patronage, Art, and Society in Renaissance Italy, F.W. Kent and Patricia Simons, eds., Clarendon Press, 1987, pp. 111-133; and Nelson, “Memorial Chapels,” pp. 358-362. 75 Nelson, “Memorial Chapels,” p. 356. 76 Nelson, “Memorial Chapels,” p. 358.

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personally recounted them for her consorelle prior to her death. Indeed, witnesses at the canonization hearing immediately following her death, including Mattiotti and various oblates, described Francesca’s visions as recorded in the Trattati in great detail.77 A

discerning patron with intimate knowledge of the substance of Francesca’s visions, and

with an interest in repeated contemplation of a detailed visual account of them, must have

advised the painter on precise specifications for the most essential visual elements. The

community of oblates was such a patron. Therefore, in the interest of understanding the

complexities and richness of the panels, we must examine their minute particularities in

order to elucidate their function within the ritual context of the community’s spiritual

beliefs and developing meditative practices.

Private Devotion and Heavenly Bodies

The three vision panels date from what Hans Belting called “the era of the private

image.” This period coincided with the increasing popularity of small panel paintings and

portable statuary as aids to personal devotion and as supplements to images made for

public veneration.78 Quattrocento viewers understood that the purpose of religious

images was first, to be instructive in the same way as information conveyed by books

would be; second, to bring examples of the saints into active memory through daily

presentation before the eyes of the viewer; and third, to excite feelings of devotion, which

77 Ornella Moroni, “Le visioni di Santa Francesca Romana tra medioevo e umanesimo,” in Studi romani: Rivista bimestrale del’Istituto di Studi Romani, Volume 21, 1973, p 167; Lugano, Processi, p. 88. 78 Belting, Likeness and Presence, pp. 409-457, esp. pp. 409-419. Sixten Ringbom cites numerous quattrocento examples of this type of image. Ringbom, Icon to Narrative: The Rise of the Dramatic Close- up in Fifteenth-Century Devotional Painting, Second Edition, Davaco Publishers, 1984, pp. 30-39.

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were aroused more effectively by things seen than by things heard.79 Individuals

expected an image to “speak” to them in person, just as the saints had been spoken to in

communion with the divine. A painting of this type was intended produce a private

dialogue, as if between living persons, within the imagination of the viewer, thus bringing

him or her closer to the somatic and mystical experiences of the saints.80 Pictures of a

saint’s visions were particularly effective in exciting this inner dialogue, working to make

the experience of the venerated person come alive for the beholder and, as a consequence,

providing a potential substitute for the vision.81 In effect, the viewer would strive toward

a virtual re-enactment of Francesca’s mystical experience each time he or she meditated

on the image. This phenomenon must have been particularly powerful for the initial

oblates of Francesca Romana, as Francesca (the protagonist in the visions) had, until

recently, been a tangible presence in their own lives. As a result, the oblates’ daily

meditation on the painted panels not only would have recalled to them the experience and

relevant details of their founder’s visions, but would have kept Francesca manifestly

present by stimulating personal memories of their actual interactions with her. The

presumed function of these images would be to train one’s imaginative faculties, through

repetitive viewing, to ultimately move beyond the material representation on the panel

and into the viseo Dei as achieved by Francesca.82

The scene of Santa Francesca holding the Christ Child was conceived to be

precisely this type of image [Figure 3]. Set against a rich gold background that negates

79Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience, pp. 40-41. Baxandall cites the Catholicon of John of (Joannes Balbus) for this passage (see n. 4 on page 161). See also, David Freedberg, The Power of Images, pp. 162-163. Freedberg traces the quote back to the Commentarim super libros senteniarum of (see Note 3, p. 470 for the full citation of the Latin text). 80 Belting, Likeness and Presence, p. 410; Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” esp. pp. 55-58. 81 Belting, Likeness and Presence, p. 412. 82 Bundy, The Theory of the Imagination, pp. 41-59; Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” pp. 48-58.

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any sense of naturalistic space or perspective and bathes the figures in resplendent light,

it is a crowded, composite rendering of recurrent motifs from Francesca’s divine visions

as recorded in Mattiotti’s Vita. In the lower portion of the panel, a symbolic

representation of earth and the heavens confirms that the figures occupy the celestial

realm that lies beyond the physical world, in the place where the sacred order of the

divine is revealed.83 Directly above the cosmos and among the ranks of God’s elect,

Francesca kneels at the feet of the Virgin Mary and cradles the Christ child in her arms.

She is dressed in the monastic garb of her order – a long white veil over a black woolen dress – and her head is surrounded by the rays of a beata (blessed one) which, in this panel, end in stars.84 She exchanges a tender look with the chubby, naked infant Jesus,

who reaches up to stroke her face. In the upper-left corner, bright red seraphim form a makeshift throne to support the Virgin, who is cloaked in a vibrant blue-grey mantle over a pale yellow dress, as she watches over Francesca and her son. In her role as Queen of

Heaven (Maria Regina), she wears an enormous, bejeweled crown in the shape of a large wedge-like fan that nearly eclipses her intricately tooled halo. Pairs of colorful angels fly beneath her feet and by her side. Francesca’s guardian angel, seen in the form of a child dressed in a red dalmatic with extended, multicolored wings, hovers beneath the Virgin and offers the beata a bouquet of flowers. Behind Francesca, Saints Paul, Mary

Magdalene and Benedict, shown in half-length and in exaggerated scale, are meant to be

83 The concept of hierarchy as a matter of theology is defined, and the ranks of heaven outlined at length, in Dionysius Areopagiticus, The Celestial Hierarchy, in Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, Colm Luibheid, trans., Paulist Press, 1987, esp. pp. 153-191. 84 Carpaneto, p. 146.

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viewed as both Francesca’s heavenly protectors and as witnesses to her vision of this

divine and miraculous meeting.85

The miracle of Francesca receiving the Christ Child in her arms occurred many

times throughout the course of her mystical life, and is recorded in several of the vision

narratives in Mattiotti’s Vita.86 In the painted panel, the moment of affectionate tactile

interaction between Francesca and the infant Jesus appears at the center of the image,

clearly articulating the beata’s unmediated access to the divine [Figure 7]. Significantly,

all other figures in the panel (with the exception of two conversing angels) turn toward

and gaze at the central characters of Francesca and the baby, making them the clear focal

point of the composition. The Virgin, angels and saints are not only divine witnesses to

the miracle, but are portrayed as figures in the act of fixed, devotional seeing, to be

emulated by the viewers of the panel. In effect, the pair becomes a portal into the

celestial world of the vision for the meditative viewer, in the way that the theologian known as Dionysius the Areopagite (Pseudo-Dionysius) described centuries earlier:

…those beings and those orders which are superior to us are incorporeal. Their hierarchy belongs to the domain of the conceptual and is something out of this world. We see our human hierarchy as nature allows, pluralized in a great variety of perceptible symbols lifting us upward hierarchically until we are brought as far as we can be into the unity of divinization. The heavenly beings, because of their intelligence, have their own permitted conceptions of God. For us, on the other hand, it is by way of perceptible images that we are uplifted as far as we can be to the contemplation of the divine.87

85 The presence of the Apostle Paul, St. Benedict and Mary Magdalene as divine protectors of the beata and as messengers of Jesus and the Queen of Heaven is explained in Francesca’s vision of Christmas, 1433. It is in this same vision that the Madonna hands down her Rule to Francesca. See Carpaneto, pp. 143-145 and Kaftal, p. 54. 86Carpaneto, Il dialetto romanesco, pp. 36-37; 46-47; 143-147; 204; Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” p. 54. 87 Emphasis mine. Dionysius Areopagiticus, De Ecclesia hierarchia, I.2, in Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, Colm Luibheid, trans., Paulist Press, 1987, p. 197. For a synopsis of discussions of divine contemplation in the writings of Dionysius, see C.E. Rolt. Dionysius the Areopagite on the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1920, pp. 25-40.

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Thus, it is through the perceptible corporeality of Francesca and the baby Jesus that the

viewing oblates were led on their own contemplative path toward the incorporeal divine.

Indeed, saints’ bodies, and particularly that of the Virgin Mary, were viewed as channels

of communication with the spiritual world.88 This idea was powerfully and widely

conveyed through the status and cult of relics, and medieval mystics sought to

authenticate their visions by associating them with the bodies of Christ and the saints.89

For the women of Tor de’Specchi, the painted pair of Francesca, whose recent death made her presence still manifest, and the infant Christ (the Word made flesh) provided the tangible visual tools necessary for them to strive for a mystical state that mirrored the experience of their founder. If only through their gender and common monastic dress, the oblates saw in Francesca the mirror-image of their own corporeality; as their spiritual leader, she represented a local, identifiable channel into the hierarchical, mystical pathway toward metaphysical union with the Divine.

Specific cues in the textual narratives of Francesca’s visions as recorded in

Mattiotti’s Vita directed the reader, or listener, toward their own interior reflections.

Cynthia Troup analyzed the grammatical structure of Mattiotti’s treatises, both celestial visions and the encounters with demons, in order to elucidate their function as devotional literature intended for use by the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi.90 By comparing Mattiotti’s

Trattati with popular religious texts such as the Meditations on the Life of Christ, Troup

demonstrated that his treatises were written to instruct the oblate, whether as a listener or

88 Donna Spivey Ellington, From Sacred Body to Angelic Soul: Understanding Mary in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, Catholic University Press, 2001, pp. 128-141. 89 Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” pp. 54-55. 90 Cynthia Troup, “Reading surfaces: Imagery and devotion in Giovanni Mattiotti’s vernacular tractati,” in Cultures of Devotion: Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Religion, Cynthia Troup and Peter Howard, eds., Monash, 2000, pp. 52-60.

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as a reader, to imagine herself participating in the vision.91 The following passage from

one of Francesca’s heavenly visions is a good example:

[the Virgin] dressed in resplendent light, with her usual crown, holding in her arms the tiny Lord (baby Jesus), nearly eight months old, so beautiful and lovable, as you can imagine, reader, so that you hold him together with the writer, [and] with all the devoted listeners.92

In this case, as in others throughout the Trattati, the reader or listener is enjoined to

imagine the scene along with others, as would befit both individual and communal

experience of meditation on Francesca’s visions. Considered along these lines, the

painted panels functioned in a similar fashion and were intended to supplement or even

replace the text for those most familiar with it. The scrolls, or banderoles, held by the

Virgin, Mary Magdalene and the guardian angel in the scene of Francesca holding the

Christ Child, are inscribed with texts that are not original to this panel. However, the

inscriptions on scrolls in the other two extant panels are intact, and derive from

Mattiotti’s transcriptions of the visions. It seems fair to presume along with Kaftal, then, that this panel would have contained similar passages, aiding the viewer in reflecting on the text.93 Mnemonic passages from the trattati were translated into pictorial vignettes

and charged visual cues to prompt the viewer toward recollection and interior

visualization of the saintly narrative. For example, in the scene of Francesca holding the

Christ child [Figure ], purposeful, focused looking and contemplation of the corporeality

91Troup, “Reading surfaces,” p. 54. 92 Translation and emphasis mine. [the Virgin] vestita de resplendente luce, colla corona solita, tenendo in braccio lo Signore piccolino quasi de octo mesi, tanto bello et amabile, quanto lo ymagina tu lectore, acio che lo possiedi insieme collo scriptore, con tucti devoti scoltatori. Carpaneto, Il dialetto, p. 34; Troup gives a slightly different translation of this passage, Troup, “Reading Surfaces,” p. 54. 93 The painting of Francesca holding the Christ Child [Figure 3] currently has inscriptions taken from Dante’s Paradiso inserted into the panel, and they are not original to the work. Kaftal sorts through this problem in his article, and I agree with his conclusion that, based on the scrolls in the other two surviving panels [Figures 4, 5], the original text on Figure 3 would likely have been drawn from Mattiotti’s Trattati. See Kaftal, “Three Scenes,” pp. 58-61, 86; and Zeri, “Italian Paintings,” pp. 156-157.

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of the infant Jesus, witnessed through the central figures of Francesca and the baby, is

ultimately meant to command the viewer’s attention and direct her thoughts and

recollections toward the appropriate passages of the Trattati.

This idea can be clearly demonstrated in the context of the lengthy vision tract dated Christmas, 1432 (die della sancta nativita dello Signore) in which Francesca witnessed and participated in the miracle of the Nativity. After describing the extraordinary scene of Christ’s birth to Mattiotti in great detail, the beata recalled a moment when the Virgin placed the newborn Jesus in her arms and prompted her to contemplate the “glorious humanity” of the “precious body of the Lord.”94 According to the narrative, the Virgin assigned a particular significance to each anatomical feature of the infant’s body, which Francesca simultaneously lauded in ecstasy with joyful singing and praise.95 For example, the baby’s head signified, “all that He has done and would do,

and all that He has undone and would undo;” his forehead, the principles and light of the

intellect; his ears, the inclinations and humility of petitions that souls make justly; his

hands, the good works done and to be done, as all good works proceeded from Him.

Curiously, the infant’s eyes are not mentioned, though his nose and mouth are.96

Mattiotti’s recounting of Francesca’s vision of the Nativity, as well as the panel

illuminating moments from it, repeats or emulates several iconographic details and

94 This is one of the most extensive vision narratives of Mattiotti’s Trattati . For the entire tract, see Carpaneto, Il dialetto, pp. 43-51. For descriptions of the Christ child’s body, see pp. 45-47. 95 Et poi ponendosello nelle braccia, con granne letitia [Francesca] contemplava et maniava tucti li parti de quella gloriosa humanita [del pretioso cuorpo del Signore], sempre cantando et dicendo la excellentia et la significatione de tucti parti del pretioso cuorpo, et era dechiarata della significatione della gloriosa vergine matre. Carpaneto, p. 45. 96 Perlo sancto et pretioso capo fo dechiarata dalla regina, como significava tucte cose da esso facte et che farravo, et tucte cose che a desfacte (et desfarra). Perla fronte, lo intellecto, como principio et luce de intellecto…..perle rechie, lo inclinamento et la humilita delli petitioni che faco le anime iustamente….perle mano tucti li exercitii facti et operationi buoni operati, et anche chesse faco, et farrano, perche da esso procedono. Carpaneto, pp. 45-46.

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mnemonic passages found in a copiously illustrated fourteenth-century Italian manuscript

of the Meditations on the Life of Christ.97 Originally attributed to Saint and

widely circulated in the fifteenth century, the treatise was authored as a guide to

meditation, and was specifically addressed to a Clarissan nun (Order of the Poor

Clares).98 As a text, the Meditations was full of sensory detail and particulars on the life

of Jesus that cued readers to construct mental images and to imagine themselves

participating in the scenes described.99 When supplemented with illustrations, as in the

Italian manuscript, the images subsequently constructed in the mind of the audience

would have presumably been guided by those displayed in the book.

The Meditations of the Life of Christ devotes several pages to the Nativity and,

like Mattiott’s Trattati, prompts the female reader to contemplate the body of the infant

Jesus: “Kneel and adore your Lord God....kiss the beautiful little feet of the infant Jesus

who lies in the manger and beg His mother to offer to let you hold Him a while. Pick

Him up and hold Him in your arms. Gaze on His face with devotion and reverently kiss

Him and delight in Him.”100 The drawing accompanying this passage in the illustrated

Meditations depicts the seated Virgin gazing intently at the tightly swaddled infant Jesus,

as she hugs him and draws him close to her face. She is portrayed sitting atop a platform

inside of a cave that is bracketed by palm trees, with , the ox and the ass in the

manger looking on, in order to recreate the historical setting of the biblical narrative

[Figure 8]. Similarly, the figures of the Virgin and Child shown in the drawing attached

97 MS Ital. 115, Bbliothèque Nationale, Paris. The manuscript contains 193 pen drawings, 113 of which are finished with color washes. Spaces for an additional 104 illustrations throughout the end of the text are left blank. For an English translation of the same, with reproductions of all 193 illustrations, see Isa Ragusa and Rosalie B. Green, eds. and trans., Meditations on the Life of Christ: An Illustrated Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century, Princeton University Press, 1961. 98 See Ragusa and Green, introduction, p xxvii and prologue to the Meditations, pp. 1-5. 99 Bolzoni, pp. 156-158. 100 Ragusa and Green, Meditations, p. 38.

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to a meditation on Christ’s circumcision are set in a grassy landscape, with Joseph and

the animals by their side. Mary gazes tenderly at the baby Jesus, who reaches up with

both of his hands to stroke her face, in a pose that more closely resembles that of the

figures of Francesca and the infant Jesus in our vision panel [Figure 9]. Yet while the

images in both the manuscript version of the Meditations and the visions of Francesca

Romana were meant to inspire quiet contemplation and fixed viewing of particular events

by a female audience (in this case surrounding the Nativity), it is evident that the painted

panel of Francesca holding the Christ child was purposefully constructed to represent a

mystical vision and not a historical scene. The Virgin is highlighted in her role as Queen

of Heaven, otherworldly light is cast by the gilding, there is no sense of naturalistic

setting or perspective, and the celestial cosmos is surmounted by colorful, fluttering

angels, with the half-length bodies of saints bursting from the golden background. Thus,

all aspects of the composition are oriented – both literally and technically – toward showcasing the rotund, naked body of the infant Jesus, as beheld by Francesca in ecstasy.

Contemplated correctly, this panel was meant to lead the oblate viewers closer to the mystical state experienced by their founder, by imagining themselves in the same rapturous state.

Mattiotti relates in his vision narrative that when considered as a whole entity,

Christ’s body was given for our comfort and salvation, and the promise of eternal life –

because He is life eternal.101 In the panel of Francesca holding the Christ Child, then,

eternal salvation, the central message of , is signified in the corporeality of

the infant Jesus as beheld by Francesca. The intimate interaction depicted between the

101 Per tucto lo cuorpo, como in tucto incise dato et davo ad tucte hore, per nostro confuorso et raducto, et per nostra salvatione, per volerencie actennere quello chencie a promesso, et darencie vita eterna,, per che esso e vita eterna. Carpaneto, p. 46.

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two figures indeed recalls similar portrayals of the Madonna and Child (like those in the

Meditations), and foreshadows the Virgin’s suffering at the Crucifixion. For the oblates

of Tor de’Specchi, the added allusion to Francesca Ponziani’s motherhood (and, perhaps

to their own) and to the deaths of two of her young children during a devastating plague

in Rome lent even more pathos and credence to the scene. It also brings to mind the

tradition of noblewomen, and nuns in particular, who commissioned, owned and, at

times, crafted life-size effigies or dolls, called bambini, representing the baby Jesus. A

near contemporary of Francesca Ponziani, Caterina de Vigri (Saint Catherine of Bologna,

1413-1463), was the mystical abbess of a Clarissan convent, a painter, and author of a

spiritual treatise, Le sette armi spirituali. Along with painting several versions of the

Madonna and Child, she also handcrafted a bambino for her private use, which is

preserved in the Monastero del Corpus Domini in Bologna. Vigri’s treatise, written

between 1436-1450 and therefore probably unknown to the earliest oblates of Francesca

Romana, could have had an influence on later patronage and devotional practices at Tor

de’Specchi. 102 While the ritual use of these dolls is still a matter of debate, their function

as meditative aids for contemplating the humanity and body of Christ seems plausible.103

Surely, the oblates of Tor de’Specchi would have been familiar with the figure of the

Santo Bambino housed in the nearby church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, an effigy of the

102 The canonical study of the possible functions for the holy dolls is Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, “Holy Dolls: Play and Piety in Florence in the Quattrocento,” in Women, Family and Ritual in Renaissance Italy, Lydia C. Cochrane, trans., University of Chicago Press, 1985, pp. 310-329. See also Jeryldene M. Wood. Women, Art and Spirituality: The Poor Clares of Early Modern Italy, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 121-144. For a recent critical edition of CaterinaVigri’s treatise, see Caterina Vigri, Le sette armi spirituali, Antonella Degl’Innocenti, ed., Sismel, 2000. 103 Klapisch-Zuber did propose that the dolls “broke down the transparent wall that separates reality from its figuration,” which could be tied to meditation, but seems to be more in line with wish-fulfillment, i.e. like a child ‘playing house,’ the nuns played with the dolls to act out their own longings or frustrations over not having children of their own. Klapisch-Zuber, pp. 328-329. However, this does not account for the number of religious women who had retired to the convent after having been wives and mothers. Jeryldene Wood hints at a spiritual and more meditative function for the dolls, especially in the context of images such as Francesca and the Christ Child. See Wood, Women, Art and Spirituality, pp. 136-137.

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Christ Child carved in olive-wood from Gethsemane by a Franciscan friar in Jerusalem

(c. 1400) and reportedly painted by an angel. Following a long-standing custom in

Rome, the bambino was carried to the bedside of the sick, and credited with salvific

powers as if emanating from the body of Christ himself.104

Francesca, whose own miracle-working body is all but obscured in the painting

by the bulky fabric of her dress and pendulous white veil, nestles the baby to her bosom

while simultaneously offering him to the viewer’s gaze. Only her radiant face is visible

as she gazes fixedly and tenderly at the child who, the text tells us, embodies the Divine

Word (guardava….fixamente allo divino verbo).105 By portraying the beata in this

attitude, the image conforms to Mattiotti’s text which related that Francesca never lifted

her eyes from the baby in her arms, and which explicitly prompted the reader to think

(pensa lectore) about the joy and comfort that she experienced in this state.106 The

combination of fixed gazing and deliberate meditation was employed to bring the viewer

into the imagined state of Francesca’s vision, with all of the somatic and emotional

benefits attached to it.107 Indeed, it is a powerful example of the active form of viewing

and vision in which monastic initiates were trained.

The rosy, robust figure of the baby Jesus, with the plump belly and pudgy thighs

appropriate to an eight-month-old child, was therefore made to bring the viewer into the

104For the Santo Bambino, see Amarilli Marcovecchio, “Il culto delle statue vestite a Roma in età pontificia,” La ricerca folklorica, 1991, pp. 63-71; Ursula Schlegel, “The Christ Child as Devotional Image,” Art Bulletin, 52, 1970, pp. 1-10; Giovanni Previtali, “Il Bambin’ Gesu come imagine devozionale nella scultura italiana del trecento,” Paragone, no. 249, 1970, pp. 31-40; C. van Hulst, “La storia della devozione a Gesu Bambino nelle immagini plastiche isolate,” Antonianum, 19, 1944, pp. 35-54; H.W. van Os, “The Madonna and the Mystery Play,” Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, 1971, pp. 5-19. 105 Carpaneto, p. 47. 106 …pero non levava li suoi ochi dale soe braccie, nelle quale teneva esso Signore…..pensa lectore quanta letitia abe quando li retorno, et sempre cantando iubilando piena de letitia, con gaudio et de confuorso, sola ad lo divino verbo fixamente guardanno… Carpaneto, p. 47. 107 Bolzoni, The Web of Images, p. 5.

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composition. His naked flesh is set in relief against Francesca’s pure white veil and black

dress; his head is framed by a cruciform halo made of delicate punchwork and tooling.

Understood as a link between the physical world of the oblates and the metaphysical

realm of the vision, ritual contemplation of his body – literally from head to toe - brought

the viewer into communion with the Divine Word as revealed through the rapturous

narration of Francesca Ponziani.

The decision, either by the painter or the oblate patrons, to show Francesca

holding the child rather than the more traditional representation of the Madonna and

child, speaks to what I would call a type of mystical agency or contemplative authority,

transferred from the Virgin to the oblate community through the person of their founder.

This is best described visually in the hierarchical arrangement of the panel of the Virgin

embracing Francesca [Figure 4]. According to Mattiotti’s written account of this vision,

Francesca was in holy meditation in her room when she was led by a great light to the

Virgin. Rapt in ecstasy, she saw the Madonna swathed in a golden cloak and surrounded

by a Saints Paul, Benedict and Mary Magdalene. A multitude of angels was also present

and identified as seraphim, a term that in itself was indicative of order and ranking.108 As

Francesca laid her head against the Virgin’s breast, the Queen of Heaven enveloped her

within the golden mantle; beneath this cloak was another mantle made of white cloth,

under which the Virgin wrapped the oblates, and offered them all to God as “her

elect”.109 The account of the vision in the Vita therefore denotes a clear separation

108 See, for example, Pseudo-Dionysius, The Celestial Hierarchy in Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, Colm Luibheid, trans., Paulist Press, 1987, pp. 143-192. 109 Stanno la mirabile ancilla de Christo nelle soa camera in sancta meditatione, menata dalla luce, vide lalta regina/acompanagnata con moltitudine de angeli seraphici, et con essa era lo apostolo/sancto Pavolo, sancto Benedecto con la gloriosa Magdalena, et le figliole in Christ de/essa beata stavano socto lo manto della regina, et volendo io [Mattiotti] sapere do-/ve essa beata stava, medisse con vergongna, como stava dallo lato dextro/alla regina, collo capo chienato allo suo pecto coperta con uno manto de/oro, lo

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between Francesca’s direct proximity and access to the Virgin (laying her head on her

breast and sharing the golden mantle) and the more limited reach of her oblates, who were gathered within the lower and lesser white mantel. This presented a conundrum for the panel painter who, charged with representing this particular moment, simultaneously had to show Francesca and her community united under the protection of the Virgin, yet

divided between the gold and white cloaks.

By the early fifteenth century, the image of the Our Lady of Mercy (Madonna

della Misericordia), who stood sheltering the faithful under her voluminous mantle, was

well-known throughout Italy [Figure 10].110 However, the panel depicting Francesca’s vision departs from traditional Misericordia representations in a number of ways, and highlights two important keys for proper interpretation of the painting: first, in order to understand the subject matter and significance of the panel, the viewer had to be familiar with the Trattati account of the vision, and second, the composition of the panel sets up a hieratic continuum from the Virgin through Francesca to her oblates, in order to illustrate the community’s unique pathway toward mystical union with the divine.

Dominating the upper half of the panel, we see the Maria Regina wearing her

opulent crown and draped in a cloak that shimmers with gilded lilies and swirling

punchwork arabesques [Figure 11]. She is seated on a cloud among flame-red seraphim, balancing the swaddled Christ child on her lap and drawing a reverent, kneeling

Francesca to her side. Her golden mantle is wrapped securely around the back and shoulder of the beata, and is held in place by St. Paul in his role as heavenly witness.

quale teneva anche amantata la gloriosa vergine et matre, socto lo quale au-/reo manto era laltro candidissimo, collo quale copriva le figliole, et lalta regina li disse: Ben venga la mea electa, a Dio si fosti offerta… Carpaneto, pp. 152-153. This vision is dated March 1, 1433. 110Warner, Alone of All Her Sex, pp. 326-328.

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The black lining of Mary’s glittering cape matches Francesca’s plain woolen dress;

indeed, it is noteworthy that Francesca’s praying hands are covered by the folds of her

bleached linen headcloth, which is made to blend with the snowy fabric of the Virgin’s

lower cloak.

The composition of the lower half of the panel is equally striking. In what may

initially appear to be a separate grouping, Mary Magdalene and St. Benedict hold up a

wide band of rich, white damask cloth, and envelop twenty oblates within what is to be

understood as an extension of the Virgin’s lower cloak [Figure 12]. Stacked in a vertical

arrangement, the figural group is meant to be looked at from top to bottom: next to the

clouds, Mary Magdalene holds the tip of the creamy cloth up to the heavenly seraphim,

whose fiery wings match her vibrant red robe. Below her, a sea of identically veiled

oblates is huddled under the white mantle. Their faces barely visible, we see them gazing

up in unison at Francesca with the Virgin. St. Benedict stands on the ground below and

anchors the group firmly to the earth. As in the panel of Francesca and the Christ child,

all who are present in this scene – the Virgin, the baby Jesus, angels, saints and oblates – are turned toward and looking at the figure of the kneeling beata. Thus, the knowledgeable viewer would understand that Francesca and her community enjoyed divine protection and the Virgin’s favor, but also that access to these privileges was to be gained through constant attention to their founder’s example.

This point is made explicit at the lower left of the panel where a single angel spins

golden thread on an oversized loom that leans heavily against the wall of a chapel-like structure. A group of dogs and cats, traditional symbols of evil, circles menacingly around the angel’s warp in an attempt to interrupt his work and break the precious threads

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[Figure 13]. This is a highly unusual, if not unique, iconography that would have been

understood only by the viewer with knowledge of the Trattati - in this case, of

Francesca’s vision on the Feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin (August 15). In it, the

beata’s guardian angel begins to spin silk threads in order to weave cloth, and labors ceaselessly even when assailed by “certain dogs and cats”.111 A nineteenth-century biographer gave a symbolic explanation of the scene, according to which the oblate community was formed (woven) by means of Francesca’s heavenly visions and, though assailed by evil from the outset, their spiritual bond, as strong and precious as silk thread, could not be broken.112 The oblates also would have known that the angel depicted in this

scene was Francesca’s second guardian angel, who was brought to her on the feast day of

Saint Benedict (July 11) in 1436. The timing of this bestowal is highly significant, as the

beata received this guardian angel only after her husband’s death, and on the day that she

moved to the Tor de’Specchi as her permanent residence.113 It was at this point that

Francesca was able to fully commit herself to her consorelle and to the work and

devotional life of the community, bringing an end to the conflict between her conjugal

and spiritual obligations.114 As a result, her new guardian angel was of a higher rank than

111 This vision is dated August 15, 1439. See Carpaneto, pp. 202-204. ..disse lo dicto mirabile angelo ad essa beata: Voglio comensare ad ordire una tela de ciento legami, et puoi farragio laltra de sexanta legami, et poi farragio laltrade trenta legami. ..Et nello dicto ordimento che esso angilo faceva, certi cani con gacti impicciavano li fili, nota peril contrarietati… 112 L. Ponzileoni, Vita di Santa Francesca Romana. Torino, 1874, p. 255. See also, Kaftal, p. 58. 113 Carpaneto, p. 199. Poi che la mirabile ancilla de Christo anno ad stare colle soe dilecte figliole in Christo depo la morte del suo marito nella festa et sollempnita de sancto Benedecto, nelli anni domini. Milli. Cccc. Trenta sei. 114 See Dyan Elliottt, Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock, Princeton University Press, 1993, pp. 231-245. Elliott specifically cites Francesca Romana as a model for the tensions between the spiritual desires and domestic obligations of female saints.

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the first, delivered to her by an and belonging to the highest order of the

heavenly choir.115

By showing the guardian angel standing firmly on the ground, where evil is all

around, the painter suggests that he is performing his work in the earthly realm where the

oblates faced daily temptation. He reminds them to keep their eyes on Francesca and the

Virgin who, according to sources such as the Meditations on the Life of Christ, did not

spend time in vain occupation or frivolity – the pathway toward evil - but occupied

herself with honest work like spinning.116 In fact, Mattiotti recounts in his Trattati that

this guardian angel never took his eyes away from his work of spinning, but always kept them fixed heavenward as a lesson for Francesca and her followers.117 He is depicted

exactly this way in the panel, with his hands unremittingly curled around the golden

threads and his eyes perpetually gazing up at the beata and the Virgin [Figure 14]. His

giant loom rests against the chapel structure in order to show that good works bolster the

Church, and reciprocally that the Church supports those who perform them. Indeed,

though the cats and dogs glare at him and do their best to distract him, the angel appears

wholly unaffected by their devilish antics.

The act of seeing or imaginative vision itself was suspect, and the punishment for

an undisciplined imagination was believed to be demonic distraction or, in the extreme,

possession.118 For a community of women whose foundation and reputation were

115….lo glorioso archangelo sopra dicto, la quale assiduamente vedeva in forma humana, li devo uno assai piu nobile angelo, la quale era dello quarto choro, cioe de potestati, et era della supprema stantia dello dicto choro.. Carpaneto, p. 199. For the dinstinctions between angels in the heavenly realm, see Pseudo- Dionysius, The Celestial Hierarchy in Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works, Colm Luibheid, trans., Paulist Press, 1987, pp. 143-192. 116 Ragusa and Green, Meditations, pp. 72-73. 117 Sempre li occhi de esso mirabile angilo sguardavano fixamente al cielo, o che facessi lo dicto lavoro o che non. Carpaneto, p. 203. 118 Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” pp. 47-49; Mormondo, The Preacher’s Demons.

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intrinsically tied to the mystical life of its founder, it was imperative that Francesca’s

visions be presented as irreproachable. Accordingly, the oblates are pictured staring upward, en masse, at their divine model and protector as she is blessed by the infant

Christ. They appear to be oblivious to the ever-present cats clamoring for attention, one

of whom is so insistent that he scratches at the Virgin’s white cloak. This panel therefore

emphasizes the right kind of vision, looking or seeing, oriented toward pious work and

eventual union with the divine. By extending the Virgin’s mantle to incorporate the

oblates and portaying the community fortified by a myriad of angels and saints, the panel

presents a model for imitating Santa Francesca and legitimizes the community as

intimately tied to heaven.

It was during this period that the focus of female spirituality reportedly moved

beyond the traditional modes of expression that took the form of charity, asceticism and

pious works. It was now urged increasingly toward Eucharistic devotion and the

Mystical Union with Christ.119 Sanctity in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was

characterized by a new mystical model, when Christian perfection tended to be identified with direct contact with God. Thus, the Eucharist took on greater importance, and the reception of the Eucharist at the mass was widely documented as the trigger or starting point for visionary experience.120 Seen as more than just the culmination of the sacrifice

of the Mass, especially as documented in the lives of female saints, communion for

religious women represented the meeting of the soul and its Spouse, and the

119 André Vauchez, The Laity in the Middle Ages: Religious Beliefs and Devotional Practices, Daniel E. Bornstein, ed., Margery Schneider, trans., Notre Dame, 1993, pp. 237-242; Spivey-Ellington, From Sacred Body to Angelic Soul, pp. 134-141; Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 217-221; Dominique Rigaux, “Women, Faith, and Image in the Late Middle Ages,” in Women and Faith: Catholic Religious Life in Italy from Late Antiquity to the Present, Lucetta Scaraffia and Gabriella Zarri, eds., Harvard, 1999, pp. 72-82; Ann Roberts, Dominican Women and Renaissance Art: The Convent of San Domenico in Pisa, Ashgate, 2008, pp. 159-160; Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast. 120 Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing,” p. 56.

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consummation of a union during which the rest of the world ceased to exist.121 This was

certainly one model of piety that Mattiotti ascribed to Francesca in his Vita. Indeed, he

emphasized the fact that Francesca generally fell down in ecstasy after having received

communion during the mass, and related that her union with the person of Christ in the

sacramental communion was not only a source of great joy for her, but also represented

her privileged access to the sensations (intuizione) of the central mysteries of the faith.122

The Walters panel of The Communion and Consecration of the Blessed Francesca

Romana, [Figure 5] from a vision that took place on Christmas, 1433, visually articulates

Francesca’s exceptional access to the body of Christ in the Eucharist.123 The panel is

arranged in a pyramidal, hierarchical configuration against a gold leaf ground, with the

Maria Regina seated at the pinnacle. Mary holds the blessing Christ child in her lap and

looks straight out of the panel to engage with the viewer. As in the other two vision

paintings, she is supported by a throne comprised of a multitude of fiery red seraphim.

On either side of her, colorful angels recline on wispy clouds, posed in attitudes of

wonder and humility. At the center of the panel, the hem of the Virgin’s robe rests on an

altar that is outfitted for the heavenly Mass. The table is furnished with a cross,

candlesticks, a chalice, ampullae and a cushion – trappings that the oblates as patrons

would have provided for the altar of their own burial chapel – and is decorated with

sumptuous brocade facing the communicants. Before the altar, two discrete moments

from the celebration of the Eucharist are acted out concurrently, with Francesca Romana

and St. Peter (who is labeled) depicted twice. Peter, as the first pope and bishop of

Rome, is dressed in pontifical vestments (se veste pontificale) including the tri-layered

121 Vauchez, The Laity in the Middle Ages, pp. 241-242. 122 Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 217. 123 Carpaneto, pp. 143-147.

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papal tiara, a crucial detail that is shown in the painted image but not mentioned in the

text.124 In the scene on the left, Francesca kneels on an intricately patterned carpet as St.

Peter, standing on a marble step before the altar, bends to place a glittering communion

wafer on her tongue. Here, Peter is depicted in his crimson cope with a golden halo

framing his tonsured head; his tiara has been placed on the altar as he performs the ritual

of the Eucharist. Behind Francesca, St. Paul holds a candle to illuminate the moment of

Holy Communion and gazes down at the wafer that appears to emanate light.

On the right side of the panel, Francesca again kneels before St. Peter and bows

her head reverently. St. Peter, shown here in full papal regalia, lays his right hand on

Francesca’s veil as he reads a blessing over her. Sts. Benedict and Mary Magdalene

stand off to the side as witnesses to the consecration. Benedict swings a censer and

gestures toward the beata to emphasize the scene. Beside him, Mary Magdalene looks

down on an assisting angel who props open a book containing the scripture to be read by

St. Peter. Francesca’s guardian angel stands at the foreground of the panel and raises his

hand to alert the viewer to the wondrous scenes behind him.

Frequent communion (more than a few times a year) by the laity was a matter of

intense debate within the late-medieval Church. Growing suspicions surrounding the

extreme asceticism of some holy women and their refusal to eat anything other than the

Eucharist led to accusations of fraud and abuse of the sacraments.125 As André Vauchez

noted, these manifestations of “eucharistic starvation” (esuries) represented the mirror image of women’s intense desire to receive the body of Christ in the form of bread and

124 Carpaneto, p. 144. For identification of papal garments, see Hall, Dictionary of Subject and Symbols in Art, p. 262. 125 Vauchez, The Laity in the Middle Ages, pp. 238-240; Rigaux, “Women, Faith and Image,” p. 81; Romagnoli gives a concise examination of these issues in relation to Francesca’s eucharistic devotion. See Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 217-221.

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wine as often as possible and, as a result, ran up against the censure of the Church.126

Francesca Ponziani, as a married woman and still a member of the laity, was clearly

associated with a fervent eucharistic observance. However, her frequent communion was

framed in terms of her attachment to the faith and Roman Church, a devotion that was

closely monitored and sanctioned by her spiritual father, Mattiotti.127 This was an

important distinction at the time that is plainly articulated through both the Trattati and

commissioned imagery.

The picture of Francesca taking communion from St. Peter effectively asserts her

spiritual and corporeal identification with the highest echelons of Heaven yet—equally

important in this context—affirms her prominent social, political and religious association with the temporal papacy and, by association, with Rome itself. It also

reconfirms her ties with early Christian Rome, an association that would be keenly felt in

the church of Santa Maria Nova in the Roman forum. A comparison with the

contemporary painting of The Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine of Siena by

Giovanni di Paolo clearly highlights this distinction [Figure 15].128 Whereas Catherine

receives communion from Christ within a space that is deliberately demarcated as

separate from the temporal church, and literally behind a priest’s back, Francesca’s

miraculous communion takes place in full view of, and therefore emphatically sanctioned

by, the papacy from its very inception in St. Peter. Further, Francesca’s devotion as

articulated in the panels appears to be linked less with the adult Christ in His role as

126 Vauchez, Ibid, p. 239; Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast. 127 Romagnoli, pp. 218-220; Moroni, “Le visioni di Santa Francesca Romana,” p. 169. 128 Giovanni di Paolo, The Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine of Siena, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (32.100.95). See Pope-Hennessy, Italian Paintings in the Robert Lehman Collection, pp. 128-133 and 302-303.

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heavenly bridegroom (as is the case with Catherine of Siena), and more closely with

Jesus as divine savior and redeemer.129

To emphasize this point, the communion wafer in the scene of Francesca’s

heavenly eucharist is shown to be stamped with a symbol that resembles the image of the

Name of Jesus, made popular during this period by San Bernardino of Siena [Figure 16].

Further, the wafer is not depicted as a solid mass, but surrounded by shimmering beads or

points of light which make it appear to be illuminated. In her study on vernacular

preaching, Lina Bolzoni demonstrated that San Bernardino used the image of the Name

of Jesus – which he displayed on an azure background surrounded by rays of gold - as

“the memory image par excellence, the key that would unlock all the doors to knowledge, meditation and contemplation”.130 The appearance of this emblem in the vision panel of

Francesca’s miraculous communion can by explained by considering it in relation to the

following passage from one of San Bernardino’s sermons of 1424:

Everything that God has done for the salvation of the world is hidden in this name of Jesus…As the apostle Saint Paul said in a few words: ‘God wrote above the earth the very name of Jesus.’ Just a few words and of great substance, so that both children and adults can learn and remember them, and with them be saved….

When you remember this name, Jesus, cleanse your mouth so that you may remember it with clarity and purity….And whoever recalls it, it would be fitting that he recall it with reverence so that he can feel the sweetness that it contains; such that if he remembers and considers the word in itself, he will enter into a state of contemplation.131

The detail of the communion wafer is not readily apparent within the complex

composition of the vision panel; this in itself is an indication that the painting is meant to

129 See Romagnoli, pp. 221-234; Roberts, Dominican Women and Renaissance Art, pp. 155-161. 130 Bolzoni, The Web of Images, pp. 168-177. 131 Bolzoni, The Web of Images, p. 168. The biblical quote is derived from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians, 2:9-11.

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be looked at closely and contemplatively. By conflating the image of the Name of Jesus

with the manifestation of his corporeal presence in the wafer, Francesca is shown to be

receiving not only the body of Christ at this heavenly Mass, but also the sum of his

embodied wisdom and knowledge. The figure of St. Paul, who proclaimed the authority

of Jesus’ name in his letter to the Philippians, reinforces this point as witness to

Francesca’s Holy Communion. The pictorial association between the Eucharist as

spiritual nourishment and San Bernardino’s call to taste the sweetness of the holy name

as entrée into a meditative state would not have been lost on the oblate viewers. Further,

the fiery preacher offered the Name of Jesus as fortification against demonic temptation,

and as an alternative to magic or superstitious practices. He reminded his listeners that by calling upon Jesus instead of “spell makers” who served the devil, the pious person could rid himself of evil and attain salvation. 132 This notion was fundamental for understanding the evolving image of Santa Francesca Romana who, as a mystic, could have been accused of black magic or diabolic practices. In his Trattati, Mattiotti

repeatedly emphasized the fact that Francesca called out for Jesus during all of her

demonic battles. By showing that St. Peter offered Francesca the communion wafer

impressed with the Name of Jesus – literally the Word made flesh – the painter

demonstrated her miraculous access to divine knowledge and power. At the same time

he acknowledged her obeisance to, and recognition by, the temporal pope by depicting St

Peter in the garb worn by the quattrocento pontiffs.

132 Bolzoni, pp. 170-172.

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The Virgin’s Crown and the Papal Tiara

At the uppermost limit of all three panels the seated Virgin, in her role as Queen

of Heaven, is depicted wearing an enormous crown (corona). It is an elaborate tri-

layered headdress, which was described down to the most minute detail in a lengthy

passage from the above-mentioned vision of Christmas, 1432, and is painstakingly

rendered in the painted images [Figure 17].133 Though a golden, tooled halo softly

illuminates the Virgin’s face, the massive crown overshadows it and is crisply delineated

with a bold, black outline that is absent in the rest of the composition. Successive layers

of the weighty headpiece are visually defined in strict accordance with the text.

Paraphrased briefly, the first layer of the crown, made of pure white roses, denoted the

humility and purity of the Mother of Christ. The second layer, a gold band adorned with

twelve golden lilies, signified her , charity and prudence.134 Each lily contained a

star that sent forth rays of great brilliance, individually emitting a number of beams that

related directly to particular theological gifts or matters of faith. Finally, the third and

uppermost part of the crown denoted the Virgin’s greater glory, courage, justice and

mercy, and was encrusted with twelve precious stones, again with each one singularly

endowed with rich symbolism.135

The story of Mary’s death, dormition and ultimate assent into heaven became

widely popularized during this period through the Legenda Aurea, and is tied to the

133Carpaneto, Il dialetto, pp. 43-51; for the description of the Virgin’s crown, see Ibid, pp. 47-49; Kaftal, pp. 56-57. 134 Note: The Latin manuscript of the Trattati describes the second crown as having “duodecim lilia aurea” (see Romagnoli, p. 457) whereas Carpaneto’s transcription of the original manuscript in the vernacular uses “castoni” which seems to translate as “mounting” or “setting” (Carpaneto, pp. 47-48). 135 Carpaneto, pp. 47-49.

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doctrine of the Assumption, where Mary is crowned Queen of Heaven.136 Her crown is

the memento of her triumph, yet its appearance symbolizes not only the glory of Mary the

individual, but also of the power of the Church itself, for which the Virgin often

stands.137 The triumph of Mary has ancient Roman precedents; the first known image of

Maria Regina was painted in the sixth century on a wall of the church of Santa Maria

Antiqua in the Forum, in close proximity to the oblates’ parish of Santa Maria Nova.138

The basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, where Francesca frequently went to pray and make confession, boasted a large icon of Maria Regina in the guise of a Byzantine empress, with Pope John VII prostrated before her, as well as a glittering apse mosaic of one of the earliest images of the Coronation of the Virgin [Figure 18].139 In fact, the

image of Mary as Queen was to be found all over fifteenth-century Rome, for example, in

the grand and impressive apse mosaics of the early Christian and Carolingian churches of

SS. Cosmas and Damien in the Forum, Sta. Cecilia, S. Prassede and S. Clemente.140 As

Francesca is documented as having prayed or communicated at many of these churches

(she and her sister-in-law, Vanozza, reportedly made spiritual by visiting

Roman basilicas in succession), it seems clear that the rich Marian imagery in them had

an impact on the vivid pictorial language used in describing the Virgin of Francesca’s

visions.141 However, this does not fully explain the acute attention to descriptive detail

136 See Jacobus de Vorgine, The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints, Volume II, William Granger Ryan, trans., pp. 77-119. For the Legenda Aurea and commentary on scriptural, apocryphal and literary sources known to, and possibly read by, Francesca Ponziani, especially as sources for her visions, see Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 190; Moroni, “Le visioni di Santa Francesca Romana tra medioevo e umanesimo,” pp. 160-178; Bartocetti, “Le fonti delle visione,” pp. 13-40. 137 Miri Rubin, Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary, Yale University Press, 2009, 285-312. 138 Rubin, Mother of God, pp. 97-98; Warner, p. 104. 139 Warner, pp. 107-113; Romagnoli, p. 190. 140 Romagnoli, p. 190. 141 Romagnoli, in particular, cites the apse mosaics and Cavallini’s mosaic cycle of the Life of the Virgin in Santa Maria in Trastevere, as the pictorial sources for much of the visual language of Francesca’s visions.

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associated with the crown in Francesca’s visions, nor does it illuminate the reasons for

the scriptural, doctrinal and dogmatic significance attached to it.

In a brief but insightful essay, Giulia Barone reflected on the deliberate

construction of the spiritual persona (or reconstruction of the personality) of Santa

Francesca Romana through hagiographic typologies recorded in the quattrocento

canonization proceedings and in the vernacular edition of Mattiotti’s Vita.142 In her

conclusion, she noted that the recounting of Francesca’s visions in particular were

“training in the core truths of the Faith because these visions, which were so closely

linked to the liturgical cycle, contained all of the doctrinal lessons so that the [envisioned]

images, painstakingly described, must have been [constructed] to fix them materially

(plasticamente) in one’s memory.”143 The painted panels of Francesca’s visions were

conceived and constructed with the same goals in mind. They are deliberately non- narrative, and therefore should be seen as mystical and mnemonic. Accordingly, they are meant to be viewed as a series of highly charged, yet static, vignettes; and each vignette is meant to be meditated on as both a single entity, and in terms of the significant details that each presented to the viewer. When contemplating the Virgin’s crown, for example, the tri-layered construction should be considered both as a unified whole and in terms of its composite parts [Figure 17]. Described by Francesca in her vision as constructed of

See Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 183-200 and related bibliography. Moroni described the pictorial nature of Francesca’s visions as Giotto-esque (giottesca) (Moroni, “Le visione,” p. 175), while Guila Barone noted the strong sense of color asserted in the visions, relating them to the “splendor of the Late- Gothic miniaturists” and the “brilliant color and dream-like atmosphere” of the early work of Fra Angelico. Giulia Barone, “L’immagine di Santa Francesca Romana neI processi di canonizzazione e nella Vita in volgare,” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 57-69. 142 Barone, Ibid. 143 Barone, Ibid, p. 69. It is noteworthy that in her footnote to this assertion, Barone cites Francesca’s description of the Virgin’s crown in her vision of Christmas, 1432 as an example.

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three crowns, (fabricate de tre corone)144 the rendering of the crown in the painted panels as an oversized, almost architectural, fan-like headdress balanced on the Virgin’s head commands the viewer’s attention . The use of the verb “fabbricare” rather than “fare” in this instance implies deliberate construction of the crown in Francesca’s imaginative vision state, rather than simply relating to its material form. The crown’s unusual size and shape bring to mind the type of striking likeness called for in the ad Herennium as a mnemonic lead-in to the vision narrative. Here, the novel rendering of a recognizable subject (the crown of the Queen of Heaven) is employed to produce both a memorable re- invention of it as well as its pictorial association with a related object – which, in this case, would be the papal tiara.

Beginning with the papacy of Boniface VIII (r.1294-1303), the tri-layered tiara came to symbolize pontifical hieratic claims to spiritual, temporal and imperial power.145

Over time, the papal crown was increasingly modeled to eclipse all others in magnificence, often made of gold and encrusted with gems, as an outwardly splendid sign of the popes’ unmatchable jurisdiction among secular monarchs and to re-establish

Rome as caput mundi.146 Initially, the tiara was worn solely for ceremonial occasions,

but by the mid-fifteenth century, the popes were also wearing it for liturgical functions,

and it appeared on the papal seal as well as on coins and medals of the period.147 Indeed

Filarete’s bronze doors at St. Peter’s (c. 1445), which include an image of Pope Eugenius

IV wearing the triple papal tiara as he receives the keys to heaven from St. Peter, date to

144 Carpaneto, p. 47. 145 Charles Stinger, The Renaissance In Rome, Indiana, 1998, pp. 215-216; Richard Krautheimer, Rome: Profile of a City, 312-1308, Princeton, 2000, pp. 150-152; Egerton Beck, “The Mitre and Tiara in Heraldry and Ornament (Concluded) II – The Tiara,” Burlington Magazine, Vol. 23, No. 126, Sept., 1913, pp. 330- 332. 146 Krautheimer, Rome, p. 151; Stinger, The Renaissance in Rome, p. 215. 147 Stinger, pp. 215-216.

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approximately the same year as the vision panels commissioned for the oblates of Tor

de’Specchi.

In the panel of Francesca’s heavenly communion and consecration the appearance

of St. Peter wearing the papal tiara as he celebrates Mass surely relates to the

iconographic and ideological symbolism increasingly attached to it, especially as the

papacy was re-establishing itself in Rome after the Great Schism [Figure 19]. It is also a visual assertion and commemoration of the filial and political links between the papacy and the Francescan community. Indeed, Pope Eugenius had links to the Olivetan monks at Santa Maria Nova, and his support of the cult of Santa Francesca Romana can be understood as his attempt at unifying popular devotional practices with monastic reform.148 Yet the hieratic composition of the communion panel decisively affirms the

Virgin’s elevated status for the community. Her massive crown is triple the size of the papal tiara, and serves as the apex of her weighty, triangular form. Two replicas of Pope

Eugenius’ crown as depicted by Filarete - one sitting on the altar and one on St. Peter’s head – are also strategically positioned on either side of the Virgin’s feet, which effectively fills out the corners at the base of the triangle and metaphorically renders the papacy as pivotal, yet ultimately under the jurisdiction of heaven.

It is within the minute details of the three crowns of Maria Regina, then, that the

central tenets of the Roman Church and, at the uppermost level, that the most laudable

virtues of the Virgin —most surely to be emulated by the oblates—were to be meditated

upon. As noted above, the first crown signified humility, the second virginity and the

third glory. The passage describing each individual detail of the tre corone takes up four

folios in the manuscript of Mattiotti’s Trattati. Here, I will focus on one important aspect

148 Romagnoli, p. 146.

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of the crown as described by Francesca and as painted in the panels to illustrate its

mnemonic and meditative importance; that is, the rays of light emitted from the stars

described as being in the second crown of the Virgin.

There were twelve stars in the second crown of Francesca’s vision: each star sent

forth “rays of great brilliance,” with some of the rays refracting into beams. All of the

rays and beams were imbued with a particular doctrinal significance. For instance, the

first star shone three rays, by which was understood the holy undivided Trinity; the ray of

the seventh star sent forth twelve beams, representing the twelve articles of the holy

Catholic faith; the ray of the eighth star emitted five beams, representing the five wounds

of Christ and the Virgin’s pain when she saw her son on the cross, and so on.149 The painter of the Santa Maria Nova panels was laboriously faithful to the description of the crown in Mattiotti’s text, and painstakingly rendered each star, ray and beam in its proper order within the approximately 1” x 1” space of the pictorial crown [Figure 17]. This strict attention to detail worked to consciously create a sophisticated network of visual cues meant to be examined, counted and checked at close range. Though the crown as a whole did make a strong visual impact when seen from a distance, its deeper layers of meaning were only to be gleaned from purposeful, meditative and knowledgeable viewing.

Here, we must take note of the language of optical theory within the narrative of

Francesca’s visions. Mattiotti’s use of the term “ray(s)” in the transcription of

Francesca’s vision of the Virgin’s crown (radium maximi splendoris in the Latin edition and ragi de grannissimi splendori in the vernacular treatise)150 calls to mind St.

149 Carpaneto, pp. 47-49. 150 Romagnoli, p 457; Carpaneto, pp. 47-48.

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Augustine’s writings on the connections between physical and spiritual vision. Whether

Francesca used the word “ray” when she related the substantive imagery of her visions to

Mattiotti or to her oblates is unknowable, but that is how her confessor transcribed her

description. Further, metaphors of light in relation to both Christ and the Virgin are

ubiquitous in the Christian tradition. However, in the context of exploring the possible

ways in which a quattrocento painter might have made an image of a mystical vision

visible and legible for his audience, we can turn to an analysis of medieval optical theory.

Margaret Miles examined Saint Augustine’s writings in order to illuminate the

ways in which his model of physical vision (“the eye of the body”) made an impact on

his nuanced understanding of spiritual vision (“the eye of the mind”).151 Augustine

subscribed to the classical “visual ray” or extramission theory of the physics of vision,

which hypothesized that a ray of light, energized and projected by the mind through the

eye toward an object, actually touches its object, thereby connecting viewer and object.152

He used this theory as a model for his account of the possibility of the interaction of God

and the human soul, stating in one instance that rays “shine through the eyes and touch

whatever we see.”153 However, the possibility of divine illumination (spiritual vision) for

human beings was dependent upon rigorous preparation through faith, cleansing and

strengthening the eye of the mind. In short, just as in physical vision the viewer and

object are united through rays of light projected through the eye of the body, in spiritual

151 Margaret Miles, “Vision: The Eye of the Body and the Eye of the Mind in Saint Augustine’s De Trinitate and Confessions,” The Journal of Religion, Volume 63, No. 2 (Apr., 1983), pp. 125-142. 152 Lindberg, Theories of Vision, pp. 87-90. 153 St. Augustine, The Trinity (De Trinitate), Edmund Hill, trans., John E. Rotelle, ed., New City Press, 1991, pp. 258-443; Miles, p. 127.

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vision, the soul is united with God through spiritual longing which, Augustine claimed, is

the visual ray of the eye of the mind.154

For the oblates of Tor de’Specchi, the interconnectivity between familiarlity with

Mattiotti’s text and meditation on the painted panels appears congruent with Augustine’s

prescriptions for preparing one’s soul for Divine illumination. Here, they would have

recalled the textual accounts of Francesca’s vision of the crown that emitted splendid rays of light, viewed them with the eye of the body as they were translated pictorially into the painted panels, and finally meditated with the eye of the mind on the significance of each individual star, ray and beam in the image. The painted version of Francesca’s mystical vision was ideally meant to stimulate both a somatic and spiritual experience for the viewer.

Every inch of the panel makes imagery available that would aid the oblates in their unending obligation to remember and imitate the sancitity of their founder. Each minute detail is meant to bring to mind a specific passage or reference from the vision narratives of her Vita. The themes both overtly and subtly evoked through the images – humility, purity, virginity, motherhood, charity and sacrifice – would have had deep resonance for pious women, and particularly for those adopting the mantle of religious life. If they were indeed placed within the privileged space of the oblates’ burial chapel, they provided the women of Tor de’Specchi with an outwardly splendid, yet intimately relevant visual reminder of the mystical life of their founder and the divine origins of their community. Clearly meant to be viewed and contemplated at close range, the visual cues embedded in the painted panels acted as an aid to private devotion for the oblates

154 St. Augustine, The Trinity (De Trinitate), Edmund Hill, trans., John E. Rotelle, ed., New City Press, 1991, pp. 258-443; Augustine, Confessions, Henry Chadwick, trans., Oxford, 1991, esp. Book X, pp. 179- 192. See also, Miles, pp. 128-136.

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much in the way that illuminations in a Book of Hours would have brought a specific text

or scriptural passage to mind.155 As they meditated on the significance of each golden

ray, or the embossed wafer or the body of the infant Christ, Francesca’s oblates were

drawn further into their founder’ visionary experience, and therefore closer to the holy

life and eternal salvation that they hoped to one day attain.

As patrons of art, the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi accomplished much with their

commission for the gilded panels of Francesca’s mystical visions. It was their initial

contribution to the hagiographic corpus that would shape the identity of their founder. As

such, it provided their fledgling community and the faithful who would visit the church

of Santa Maria Nova with an impressive set of images to commemorate the sanctity of

Francesca Ponziani. Whether set within a funeral chapel or not, the panels (or altarpiece)

proclaimed her intercessory powers through the depiction of Francesca’s direct access to

the divine realm. By legitimizing her mystical experience and her role as the founder of a

religious community with strong ties to the pope and the Roman church, the panels could

be viewed as pictorial witnesses toward the cause for Francesca’s canonization. They

offered splendid visual proof of Francesca’s piety, and indeed that of the oblate

community, while at the same time eliminating suspicion of dark magic or demonic

influence that could have been associated with her as a prominent mystic.

As highly detailed and thoughtful renderings of Francesca’s visions recorded in

Mattiotti’s Trattati, the panels represent the beginning of a pattern of commissions and

communal devotion that was uniquely tied to the image of Santa Francesca Romana.

They give us insight into the skills that the mostly noble oblates were trained in in terms

155 Sandra Penketh, “Women and Books of Hours,” in Women and the Book, Assessing the Visual Evidence, The British Library, 1996, pp. 266-280; Carruthers, The Book of Memory, pp. 1-17.

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of approaching their life in common as a monastic order, and to their sophisticated

patronage networks. As we move forward through this study we will see, through close

analysis of the extensive fresco cycles at Tor de’Specchi, that these skills were carried

over and refined to the end of the fifteenth century (and beyond). By the time that the

unsettling terra verde frescoes were made for the community’s refectory in 1485, the oblates had discovered even more powerful and authoritative ways of meditating on and accessing Francesca’s mystical life, by pictorially re-creating her nocturnal encounters with the devil.

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Chapter 2

If These Walls Could Talk: How the Oblates Imagined the Tor de’Specchi Oratory

Francesca Ponziani was renowned for her charity toward Rome’s poor. During her lifetime, she healed the sick and wounded, fed multitudes of hungry people during times of famine and was able to resurrect the dead. She had mystical visions that brought

her in contact with Christ, the Virgin Mary and a host of venerated saints. She founded a

community of religious women who embraced her pious lifestyle and rigorous discipline, and who adopted her mantle as exemplars of charity in Rome. After she died, Francesca

continued to work miracles by curing the afflicted bodies and souls of the faithful who

prayed for her intercession and sought her perpetual succor. She was, by all accounts, “la

santa tutta romana”.

The oblates of Francesca Romana chose to represent the full spectrum of their

founder’s extraordinary works and miracles when they planned the extensive fresco cycle

for their convent oratory. As far as we know, the oratory frescoes were the first images

commissioned by the community for the walls of their monastic space at Tor de’Specchi.

When the cycle was painted in 1468, the cause for Francesca Ponziani’s canonization had

stalled after three rounds of testimony had been recorded by a papal tribunal.156 By this

time, Giovanni Mattiotti had written his Trattati based on his recollection of Francesca’s

confessions to him and her frequent communion with him. Fra Ippolito, the Abbot of the

Monastery of Santa Maria Nova, had penned an ecclesiastically sanctioned biography of

156 Lugano, I processi.

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Francesca that conformed to Olivetan ideals of feminine sanctity.157 With the oratory

commission, the oblates crafted their own version of events already recorded in the

written testimony in a resplendent pictorial exposition.

The oratory cycle covers all four walls of the Tor de’Specchi chapel, and is

comprised of twenty-five colorful panels which are separated by decorative borders with

grotesque motifs, and are arranged in two horizontal bands around the room [Figure 20].

Each scene is described in a brief caption written in romanesco, or the Roman vernacular,

beneath it.158 Like the painted panels examined in the previous chapter, the subjects and

stories depicted in the oratory frescoes can be connected to passages from Mattiotti’s

Trattati or to canonization testimony. Here, we will see how the vibrantly hued paintings

in the Tor de’Specchi oratory served two vital and interconnected purposes for the

women who worshipped there. First, the cycle provided the oblates with a room-sized virtual picture book of the spiritual and thaumaturgic history of their founder to focus on, and interact with, during the celebration of Mass in the chapel. It is also likely that the oratory was used a space for individual or collective meditation and ritual perambulation on a regular, if not daily, basis and therefore each panel was a potential locus for lengthy contemplation and viewing.159

The frescoes also represented the oblates’ official documentation of Francesca’s sanctity, toward the cause for her canonization. Each panel showed Francesca in an act or attitude that substantiated her miraculous powers, and that conformed to doctrinal

157 See Alessandra Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 3-55 and my Introduction for a discussion of the hagiographic corpus and relevant bibliography. 158Paolo D’Achille, “Le didascalie degli affreschi di Santa Francesca Romana”, in Il volgare nelle chiese di Roma: Messaggi graffiti, dipinti e incise dal IX al XVI secolo, Francesco Savatini, et al, eds., Bonacci, 1987. pp. 109-183. 159 Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 75-106.

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criteria for canonization in the Roman church.160 The community’s foundation as a

religious order was tied to their association with a venerated local woman who was hailed

as beata Francesca Romana. At the time that the oblates commissioned the oratory

frescoes, their founder’s official status within the Church was in a state of flux. The

community’s future as a viable and potentially autonomous monastic institution rested on

Francesca being declared a saint. Many of the images in the oratory cycle show

Francesca in front of a portal, framed by doorway, or standing on a threshold between

one place and another. Throughout the chapel, exceptional moments of grace, transition

and transformation are revealed within the frame of a painted doorway. In this chapter, I

draw on the iconography of the doorway, and its metaphorical symbolism, as a

representation of the transitional position that the oblates, as followers of Francesca

Romana, found themselves in midway through the fifteenth century.

On the most basic level, doors represent entry and exit and are transitional spaces

often demarcating public or private, invitation or exclusion, beginnings or endings. From

antiquity on, Roman authorities endowed portals with political significance and

transformative power and invented ceremonial rites that involved crossing thresholds and

the opening and closing of doors. For the expanding Roman Church, these rituals were

adapted for liturgical and processional purposes, drawing on metaphor and allegories

from the lives of Christ, the Apostles and saints.161 Quattrocento popes renewed and

expanded the use of doors and doorways as key religious symbols. The historical

160 Beccari, Camillo. "Beatification and Canonization," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 161 For a series of brief but dense and informative articles on the evolving uses and iconography associated with doors and doorways, see Le porte di bronzo dall’antichità al secolo XIII, Salvatorino Salomi, ed., Marchesi Grafiche Editoriali, 1990. Of particular relevance to this study are, Licia Vlad-Borrelli, “La porta romana,” pp. 1-10 and Margaret E. Frazer, “Church Doors and the Gates of Paradise Reopened,” pp. 271- 277. See also, Allyson Everingham Sheckler and Mary Joan Winn Leith, “The Crucifixion Conundrum and the Santa Sabina Doors,” Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 102:3, 2009, pp. 1-22.

65 symbolism associated with the decoration of doors and doorways, pictorial representations of doorways and indeed doors themselves were widely understood among the Christian community in Quattrocento Rome. 162

Victor Turner’s work on liminality and community allows us to begin to answer questions about the ways that representations of doorways were utilized during a transitional period for both the nascent community of oblates and the cause for

Francesca’s canonization. According to Turner’s theory, liminal entities are in a transitional phase between culturally recognized states or positions assigned them by law, custom, convention or ceremony. Consequently, they are outside of established patterns and paradigms of society allowing them, through ritual action or ruptures in socially sanctioned behavior, to make a transition from one state of being or status to another by effectively crossing a limen or threshold.163

As pinzochere, the oblates occupied a liminal space in the Church hierarchy; they were neither professed nuns nor secular lay women.164 Though they were officially under the pastoral care of the Olivetan community, they had obtained papal permission to govern and discipline themselves. In the spring of 1444, Pope Eugenius IV conceded to

162 Charles Stinger, The Renaissance in Rome, pp. 43-46. See also Peter Partner. The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance, University of California Press, 1972, esp. pp. 366-446. 163 Victor Turner, “Liminality and Communitas” reprinted in A Reader in the Anthropology of Religion, Michael Lambek, ed., Blackwell Publishing, 2002, pp. 358-274. See also Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Aldine Publishing, 1969; Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols, Cornell University Press, 1967. For a discussion of Turner’s theory and it’s relevance to late-medieval women’s piety, see Caroline Walker Bynum, “Women’s Stories, Women’s Symbols: A Critique of Victor Turner’s Theory of Liminality” in Anthropology and the Study of Religion, Robert L. Moore and Frank E. Reynolds, eds., Chicago: Center for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1984, pp. 105-125. For a discussion of the liminal quality of dreams and visions of saints, see Jean-Claude Schmitt, “The Liminality and Centrality of Dreams in the Medieval West” in Dream Cultures: Explorations in the Comparative History of Dreaming. D. Shulman, ed., Oxford, 1999, pp. 274-287. 164 Gill, “Open Monasteries,” and Pennings, “Semi-religious Women”. This was a relatively common status for religious women outside of Italy, as well. See Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture, pp. 170- 193; Walter Simons, Cities of Ladies: Beguine Communities in the Medieval Low Countries, 1200-1565, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

66 the Oblates of Francesca Romana at Tor de’Specchi the right to choose the priest who would be their confessor and who would celebrate Mass for them ‘with open doors’ (con le porte aperte) in their private oratory.165 This pivotal decree further stipulated that the prelate that they selected should be of impeccable reputation and of mature age, and that if he did not perform his clerical duties to the oblates’ satisfaction, the community had license to dismiss him and hire another. He would hear the oblates’ confessions, grant absolution for sins and administer requisite sacraments for the Order. 166 Even after the decree was issued, the community’s relationship with the Olivetan monks was, at times, contentious, and the oblates struggled to maintain the rights granted to them by the pope.167

The phrase porte aperte raises questions as to its significance within a papal document issued to the newly-formed community. During these crucial early years, the oblates of Francesca Romana sought to establish a formal religious and charitable presence in the city at large, while maintaining societal ideals for proper and pious behavior. Katherine Gill and Joyce Pennings published seminal works that raised questions about the terms “open monasteries” and “semi-religious women” and their

165 ….Quindi è che noi, inclinati alle vostre divote preghiere, con autorità apostolica col tenore delle presenti vi concediamo piena e libera facoltà di potere ellegere alcun prete sacerdote di vita approvata sufficiente e discreto, religioso o secolare, di età provetta per vostro cappellano e confessore, il quale tante volte quante sarà opportune celebri la Messa con le porte aperte [Latin: apertis ianuis] nell’Oratorio della predetta casa, senza ricercare sopra di ciò licenza da veruno, ed udire diligentemente le confessioni vostre e delle altre oblate che dimoreranno nelle case proprie loro, allure però solamente quando accaderà che esse per ragione d’infermità dimorino nella propria casa loro e non altrimenti, se i peccati non fossero tali che meritamente si avesse da ricorrere alla Sede apostolica, possa a voi ed a loro dare l’assoluzione, e per i peccati commessi ingiungere la penitenza salutare, ed amminisrarvi gli altri Sacramenti; e che possiate licenziare il ditto prete, come vi parerà espediente, ed in suo luogo, ancora quando fosse morto, eleggerne un altro successivamente idoneo nel modo che si è ditto, salva sempre la ragione della chiesa parrocchiale predetta or di altra qualsivoglia. The complete concession is transcribed, both in the original Latin and in Italian in Lugano, “Listituzione delle Oblate di Tor de’Specchi secondo i documenti,” Rivista storica benedettina , XIV, 1923, pp. 300-303. The original document is filed in the Archivio di T.d.S., Cancello I, n. 18 (Lugano, p. 300); See also Paola Vecchi, “La Congregazione delle Oblate,” p. 461. 166 Lugano, “L’istituzione,” pp. 300-303. 167 Paolo Vecchi, “La Congregazione delle Oblate,” in Una santa tutta romana, p.p. 461-463.

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relevance within the context of fifteenth-century Rome.168 More recently, Anabel

Thomas surveyed the art and architecture of Italian Renaissance convents to investigate how public and private spaces were delineated within female monastic houses, and to posit a possible gendered network for both patronage and viewership in women’s religious communities.169 Here, I look at the ways in which the oblates imagined the oratory scenes of both public charity and private devotion in order to articulate the challenges and potential dangers that they faced as pinzochere.

The practical and ideological program of the oratory panels is best examined as a

collection of individual scenes, carefully chosen and arranged by the oblate community.

The cycle as a whole should then be understood in relation to the interior spaces of the

Tor de’Specchi complex and in the context of the city, both real and imagined, beyond its confines. The iconography and symbolism associated with the doors in quattrocento

Rome provide theoretical models for understanding the repeated image of Francesca in a doorway as a charged visual metaphor. We can see how the devotional and meditative practices defined and honed in the commission for the small gilded panels were brought forward and further refined in the commission for the Tor de’Specchi oratory.

168 Katherine Gill, “Open Monasteries,” pp. 15-47; and Idem, Penitents, Pinzochere and Mantellate: Varieties of Women’s Religious Communities in Central Italy, c. 1300-1500. Unpublished Dissertation, Princeton University, 1994. See also Pennings, “Semi-Religious Women,” pp. 115-145. 169Anabel Thomas, Art and Piety; See also, Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture, pp. 50-62.

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A Community on the Threshold

The Oblates of Francesca Romana were linked by papal decree to the Benedictine order of Olivetan monks housed nearby at the church of Santa Maria del Foro.170 A

fresco panel in the Tor de’Specchi oratory illustrates this association, showing Francesca

and several female followers making their formal monastic oblation in the presence of the

Olivetan Abbot, Fra’Ippolito of Rome [Figure 21].171 Fra’Ippolito wrote three versions

of the Vita of Francesca Romana between 1452-52, following the last canonization hearing. The caption beneath the fresco reads, “How the beata Francesca, with all of her

spiritual daughters [both] present and future, offered themselves to the monastery of

172 Santa Maria Nova of the order of Monte Oliveto under the rule of Saint Benedict.”

The painted scene takes place inside of the church of Santa Maria Nova, which is

depicted with ornate marble columns and a clerestory punctuated with biforate windows.

A gilded monstrance and crucifix, pictorially emphasized by an apsidal niche, is singularly positioned atop an altar covered with a rich lace cloth. Fra’Ippolito, who is

shown in exaggerated scale to underscore his authority, raises his hand to bless the

oblates while tonsured monks seated on wooden benches look on. The abbot’s face is

less schematically rendered than those of the monks and oblates in this panel and was

perhaps meant to be a portrait.

170Valerio Cattana, “Santa Francesca Romana e i monaci di Monte Oliveto” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 403-444. 171 Cavallaro, Anna, Antoniazzo Romano e gli antoniazzeschi, una generazione di pittori nella Roma del Quattrocento, Campanotto, 1992, pp. 44-49, 211-216. The date of the oblation is given as August 15, 1425, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, see Lunardi, “L’istituzione,” p. 73. 172 Como la beata Francesca con tucte le soe figliole in Christo presente et future se offerivo allo monasterio de Sancta Maria Nova del oridine de Monte Oliveto socto la regola de sancto Benedecto.

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The group of oblates headed by Francesca bow as pious postulants to the

corporate body of monks and, more importantly, to the body of Christ on the altar.

Francesca occupies the center of the scene, bridging the segregated figural groups. Her

plain black dress and gleaming white mantle chromatically connect males to females,

monks to oblates. Haloed, and rendered slightly larger than the other women, she kneels

before an open doorway that reveals a crenellated wall and blue sky in the distance. The hierarchical arrangement of the panel resembles Giotto’s fresco of Pope Innocent approving the Rule of the Franciscan order, in his cycle of the life of Saint Francis in

Assisi [Figure 22].173 Here, St. Francis and his followers kneel before a group of bishops

and the pope, who looms over the scene from an elevated throne. Like Francesca, Saint

Francis is shown as slightly larger than his followers, and mediates between the two

figural groups within a fictive space that, in this case, is meant to represent a papal

chamber. The representation of Francesca Romana before the doorway in Santa Maria

Nova clearly accentuates her formal oblation, and frames her as the link between the

Benedictine community and her oblate followers. It also signifies her position on the

threshold between the sanctified domain of the church and the secular world represented

by the cityscape beyond the door – the same position that the oblates found themselves in

at the time that the frescoes were painted.174

The image of the community’s formal oblation is one of five scenes on the

northern wall of the oratory that together pictorially summarize all of Francesca’s virtues

as they were meant to be meditated on, and prayed for, by the oblates. The wall is

173Leonetto Tintori and Millard Meiss, The Painting of the Life of St. Francis in Assisi, New York University Press, 1962. 174 For a discussion of conflicting ideologies and representations of women in sacred spaces, see Adrian Randolph, “Regarding Women in Sacred Space” in Picturing Women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, Geraldine A. Johnson and Sara F. Matthews Grieco, eds., Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 17-41.

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arranged in three vertical sections with a sumptuous altarpiece of the Madonna and child flanked by Saints Benedict and Francesca Romana in the center. Two smaller panels, one

on top of the other, make up the spaces on either side of the wall. [Figure 23]. The

altarpiece, and indeed the entire wall behind the altar, would have been the backdrop for

the rite of Holy Communion, and was therefore the center of liturgical activity in the

chapel. During this period, it was customary for a church or chapel altar to be oriented

toward the east. The Tor de’Specchi altar and altarpiece are oriented to the north, most

likely due to the fact that the oblates converted and adapted an existing urban space for

their monastery.175 The east-facing wall in the oratory is perforated by a horizontal band

of windows, making the placement of a central altar and altarpiece difficult without

costly renovations. Further, the east wall faced the nearby Teatro Marcello, whereas the

northern wall was oriented toward the Church of Santa Maria Nova in the Roman forum.

It is also plausible, then, that the oblates chose the plain northern wall for the altar placement and for the scene of their oblation, as a nod toward the site of their own

foundation as a community, and to the location of their founder’s tomb and burial chapel.

The five paintings on the altar wall are separated into discrete panels, but can also

be understood as a cluster of images revolving around the central figure of the Virgin

Mary. In the altarpiece, the Madonna is seated on an elegant marble throne surrounded

by a brocade cloth of honor. She is depicted wearing the elaborate tri-layered crown as

described in Mattiotti’s Trattati which, in the oratory images, is rendered with less

meticulous attention to detail than in the small panel paintings of twenty years earlier.

Portrayed in an attitude of maternal affection, she gazes tenderly at the infant Jesus as he

175 See Martha C. Howell, “The Spaces of Late Medieval Urbanity,” in Shaping Urban Identity in Late Medieval Europe, Marc Boone and Peter Stabel, eds., Garant Publishers, 2000, pp. 3-23; Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women, Routledge, 1994, esp. pp. 170-186.

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strokes her face and nurses at her breast [Figure 24]. Here, Mary is simultaneously

represented as the Queen of Heaven and the Madonna lactans to signify both her divine and human natures.176 The oblates, as communicants at the altar, would have meditated on the image of the Madonna nourishing their Savior at her breast as they were nourished by the body of Christ in the Eucharist. They would have associated the Virgin’s sacrifice with that of their spiritual mother, Francesca, who had suffered the agony of seeing two of her own children die of the plague. Francesca’s guardian angel, who was brought to her in a vision by her dead son, Evangelista, is shown in the foreground of the altar panel to reinforce this point.177 The child-like angel looks up at Francesca in the same way that the infant Jesus is transfixed on the Queen of Heaven, foreshadowing his death, but also promising the reunion of mother and child in heaven.

The figure of Francesca is depicted to the right of the Virgin (from the viewer’s

point of view), next to the figure of the infant Christ. She holds an open book in her hand

inscribed with the following passage from Psalm 72:

Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me: and with thy glory thou hast received me.178 [Figure 25]

Psalm 72 is a reminder to the faithful that good works done in the service of God

lead to divine salvation, where pridefulness born of temptation leads to eternal ruin and

176 For the Madonna Lactans, see Margaret Miles, “The Virgin’s One Bare Breast: Female and Religious Meaning in Tuscan Early Renaissance Culture,” in The Female Body in Western Culture, Susan Suleiman, ed., Harvard University Press, 1986, pp. 193-208; Megan Holmes, “Disrobing the Virgin: The Madonna Lactans in Fifteenth-century Florentine Art., in Picturing Women in Renaissance and Baroque Art., Cambridge, pp. 167-195; Caroline Walker Bynum, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the High Middle Ages, University of California Press, 1982. 177 For the deaths of Francesca’s children, Evangelista and Agnese, and the vision of Evangelista bringing the guardian angel, see Carpaneto, pp. 8-11. 178 Psalms, 72:24, Douay-Rheims Bible (Psalm 73 in the King James version). The inscription reads: TENVISIT MANVM DEXTRAM MEAM ET IN VOLVNTATE TVA DEDVXISTI ME ET CUM GLORIA SVS CEPISTI ME.

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damnation. Pictorial examples of the types of good works prescribed in the psalms, as

well as visions showing the path to divine salvation, are represented on the altar wall and

repeated throughout the oratory cycle. The two bottom panels on either side of the

altarpiece depict scenes of Christian charity in the form of miraculous healing. In one,

we see Francesca and her sister-in-law, Vanozza, dressed in the habit of the oblate order,

and walking from the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano to their home in Trastevere.

As they are crossing the Ponte Santa Maria (now the Ponte Rotto), they come upon a man

who is bleeding to death after being seriously injured in a sword fight [Figure 26].179

Francesca raises her hands in alarm when she realizes that one of his arms is nearly severed in half.

On the opposite side of the panel, we see the Francesca, Vanozza and the same

man standing at the foot of the bridge, in front of a group of houses in Trastevere. A

young nobleman has joined them as a witness to the event. Here, Francesca grasps the injured man’s elbow to demonstrate for the viewer that his life-threatening wound has been miraculously healed. In order to pictorially emphasize her thaumaturgic powers, the beata is shown blessing the site of the gash which, like the man’s sleeve, is now clean, closed up and free of blood. The presence of the divine in this scene is reinforced by the cross-mullioned windows depicted in two of the houses in the background. Naturalistic details in the panel such as the swirling Tiber River, the stone bridge and a series of houses rendered in receding perspective effectively ground the image in the streets of quattrocento Rome. In this fresco, the moment of miraculous healing takes place in front of the open portone of a red house with a biforate window, which we understand to be the

179 Mattiotti included this miracle in his Latin edition of his Trattati. See Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 366.

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Palazzo Ponziani.180 The figure of Francesca, in particular, is framed by the open doorway; her golden halo and white veil stand out against the black recesses of the house interior. This motif is repeated in the pendant scene of healing on the altar wall, and indeed in eight other panels throughout the cycle [Figure 27].

Each of the images of miraculous healing represents Francesca Romana as a healer in the tradition of Jesus as Christus Medicus.181 St. Matthew recounted several instances when Christ, by the power of his healing touch and prayer, miraculously cured people who came to him with various physical and spiritual afflictions.182 His gospel

narrative also recalls the moment when Jesus sent out his twelve apostles to preach, and

bestowed the power of healing on them, saying:

..But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. Freely have you received: freely give. [Matthew, 10:6-8]

Here, Matthew describes the apostolic mission, or Vita apostolica, of spreading

the good news of salvation and dispensing charity through healing and exorcism.

Throughout the oratory cycle, we see a variety of people who come to Francesca Romana

with critical injuries and congenital illnesses. In every instance, the afflicted are shown

to be restored to health as a result of the beata’s healing touch and her fervent prayer.

This was particularly effective pictorial evidence of Francesca’s extraordinary

180 For identification of the red house as the Palazzo Ponziani, see Giovanni Brizzi, “Contributo all’iconografia di Francesca Romana,” in Una santa tutta romana, p. 268; Arnold Esch, “Tre sante ed il loro ambiente sociale a Roma: S. Francesca Romana, S. Brigida di Svezia e S. Caterina da Siena,” in Atti del simposio internazionale cateriano-bernardiniano, Siena, 1980, pp. 92-93 and 102-103; J.G. Maire Vigueur, “Strutture famigliari, spazio domestico e architettura civile a Roma alla fine del Medioevo,” in Storia dell’arte italiani, XII: Momenti di architettura, Torino, 1983, pp. 146-150. 181 For Christus Medicus, see John Henderson, The Renaissance Hospital: Healing the Body and Healing the Soul, Yale University Press, 2006, pp. 113-117; Andrée Hayum, The Isenheim Altarpiece: God’s Medicine and the Painter’s Vision, Princeton University Press, 1989, pp. 36-38. 182 See especially the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapters 8 and 9.

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thaumaturgic powers in the tradition of Jesus and his apostles, designed by the oblates as

visual testimony toward the cause for Francesca’s canonization. Mattiotti’s Trattati, and the frescoes themselves, also tell another story that was directly related to the oblate community’s mission as a charitable organization in Rome.

Mattiotti’s account of the healing of the wounded man on the Ponte Santa Maria, though hagiographic and labeled ‘miraculous succor’ (Aliud Miraculum), contains details that reveal a more human interaction and medical intervention by Francesca. He relates that when Francesca and Vanozza first encountered the poor, injured man lying on the bridge, Francesca asked him why he had not gone to a doctor. He replied, “Because I don’t have money.”183 Hearing this, and moved by pity, the two women carried the man

to the Palazzo Ponziani (propriam domum) where Francesca washed his wounds and

stitched them up as best she could. They praised God, and after a short time the man left,

healthy and free of his wounds.184 While Mattiotti’s account asserts that God was called

upon to intervene in restoring the man to health, he also tells us that Francesca had the

medical knowledge and skill needed to successfully save the man’s arm. It was not

considered proper or pious behavior for a noblewoman to interact with a man, and

especially a poor man, in the streets of fifteenth-century Rome.185 The idea of carrying

him home to wash and dress his wounds was unthinkable. Therefore, even though the

actual event was an act of human kindness and Christian charity, the frescoes had to show

Francesca doing God’s work, in the Christological and apostolic tradition.

183 Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 366. Ipsa, ex pietate et caritate mota, dixit pauperi: “Quare, pauper homo, non facis tibi mederi?” At ille respondens cum fletu dicendo: “Quia non habeo pecunias” 184 Romagnoli, p. 366. 185 Here, see Boanas and Roper, “Feminine Piety in Fifteenth-century Rome,” esp. pp. 180-185.

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The caption painted below the fresco corroborates this assertion. It reads: “While

returning from the church of Saint John, Francesca found a man on the Ponte S. Maria

whose arm was almost totally cut off; she was moved by compassion and, touching him,

he was healed right away.”186 The caption indicates that this was indeed a miraculous

event, facilitated on the spot through Francesca’s access to divine powers of healing. For

the oblates who were familiar with the Trattati, the appearance of Francesca in front of

the doorway signified that the wounded man was, in fact, brought to the Ponziani home

and treated by the women there. It was also emblematic of their own charitable work

with the poor, that originated at home (the convent), but was carried out in public spaces

beyond its confines.

Article number forty-four of the Ordinazione states that when the oblates were

outside of the house, there should always be at least two or three of them together.

Punishment for transgression of this mandate was a scourging in front of the community

for the space of five Patre nostri and an Ave Maria.187 In every scene of Christian

caritas in the Tor de’Specchi oratory, Francesca is shown with one of her consorelle by

her side. The second oblate acts as a witness to corroborate the extraordinary events

shown in the cycle, and the appearance of an additional figure often added balance to the pictorial composition of a single panel. However, her presence also signified that the

community adhered to the statutes handed down by their founder, and that they had a

legitimate – and pious – reason for being outside of the monastery.

186 Tornando la beata Francesca dalla chiesia de sancto Ianni trovavo che nello ponte sancta Marie era taglia/to ad uno quasi tucto lo braccio essa beata mossa ad compassione toccandolo subito fu sanato. 187 Item, quando son fore de casa, sempre steano insiemi almeno tre o vero doi; chi fa altremente, dica sua colpa alla presidente in presentia de l’altre e siali data una desceplina per spatio di cinque Patre nostri con la Ave Maria.

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The oratory images of miraculous healing demonstrate that Francesca passed on

her knowledge of medical practices and preparations of medicinal herbs to the oblates. In the pendant to the scene of the severed arm on the altar wall, Francesca is shown healing the wound of a servant in the Ponziani household, who accidentally cut off his foot while chopping wood in their forest [Figure 27].188 Here, the painter shows the moment of the

grisly accident, as well as Francesca in front of the Ponziani home, blessing the man she

has miraculously healed. Next to him, however, we see evidence of Francesca’s medical

intervention portrayed alongside the moment of miraculous healing. Three used

bandages, one of which is covered with dried ointment and blood, are strewn on the ground in the foreground of the panel in order to emphasize the physical, as well as

divine, nature of the miracle [Figure 28]. The same is true in a painting on the opposite

(south) wall in which, according to her Vita, Francesca used ointment to cure a man who had lost the use of one leg [Figure 29].189 This scene is portrayed inside of a domestic

bedroom, where the patient sits up in a raised wooden bed and prays for Francesca’s

assistance. His crimson blanket is peeled back to reveal his scarred and festering leg to

Francesca and the viewer. The beata stands at the foot of the bed making a sign of

blessing over the bloody leg, and looks down at a pile of soiled bandages that have just

been removed from it. Her blessing hand points to an apothecary jar set in a recessed

niche, which we understand to contain the medicinal ointment. Here, Francesca’s

188 The caption reads, Uno chiamato Iuliano tagliando le legna se tagliavo quasi tucto lo pede it infra spatio de cinque mesi lo pede se lli fracidavo recommandandose alla beata Francesca essa toccandolo subito fu sanato. For Mattiotti’s Latin text, see Romagnoli, pp. 368-369. 189 The caption is as follows: Uno chiamato Ianni avendo per longa infirmità quasi perduta la gamma colla cossa/como fu revommandato alla beata Francesca subito fu liberamente sanato. See Daniela Mazzuconi, “Pauca quedam de vita et miraculus beate Francisce de Pontianis: Tre biografie quattrocentesche di santa Francesca Romana,” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 101-115.

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gestures simultaneously indicate her reliance on earthly remedies as well as her divine

powers of healing in curing this man’s affliction [Figure 30].

The composition of this fresco is strikingly similar to Fra Angelico’s panel

painting of Saints Cosmas and Damian healing Palladia, made thirty years earlier for the

predella of the San Marco altarpiece [Figure 31].190 Fra Angelico portrayed the San

Marco scene of healing as an open view into Palladia’s bedroom, where the twin

physician saints attend to their patient. Palladia sits upright in a tall bed set on a wooden platform. She is shown wearing a bed cap and nightgown, and is covered up to her waist by a sheet and woolen blanket; there is no indication of her injury or illness in the scene.

St. Damian makes a sign of blessing over Palladia, and offers her a drink from a sparkling water pitcher set in a basin on a stool next to the bed.

In contrast to the sanitized scene of miraculous healing in Fra Angelico’s panel,

the depiction of the fetid leg, bloody bandages and apothecary jar in the Tor de’Specchi

fresco gave the oblate viewers a vivid and more naturalistic account of Francesca’s work

with the poor and infirm. The depictions of miraculous healing combined with evidence of bona fide medical intervention portrayed within the cycle signify the tensions inherent

in the oblate community’s charitable mission. The image of Francesca in a doorway was

also emblematic of the oblates’ position on the threshold between secular and religious

life. When her female followers left their homes to join the community at the monastery

at Tor de’Specchi, they adopted a lifestyle that was at once sheltered and public. They

consecrated themselves to a regimen of religious devotion, under a Rule that imposed strict guidelines for proper dress and behavior. At the same time, they dedicated

190 For the San Marco altarpiece, see William Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, Yale University Press, 1993, pp. 97-122; See also Laurence Kantner and Pia Palladino, eds., Fra Angelico, Yale University Press, 2005, pp. 190-199.

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themselves to a life of charitable work and service that took them outside of the convent

and put them in direct contact with the poor, diseased and wounded of the city.

Transition and Vestition

Francesca Ponziani divided her time between the convent of Tor de’Specchi and

her family’s palazzo in Trastevere while her husband was still alive. After his death in

1436, she went to live with her community full-time and served as madre presidente until

she died, four years later. Though she resided at Tor de’Specchi full-time after 1436,

Francesca died at the Palazzo Ponziani while visiting one of her children, who was ill.

Afterwards, the community came under the co-direction of Rita de’Celli and Agnese di

Paolo di Lello from 1440-54.191

Francesca’s transition from matrona of a noble household to retirement in the Tor de’Specchi is marked on an engraved plaque on the wall just inside the convent door

which reads:

In this place on the [feast] day of St. Benedict, 1436, Francesca came to find her spiritual daughters; she stopped at the foot of this stairway, closed the door [behind her]; she took off her shoes, she placed a rope around her neck and prostrate with tears she begged to be received into the congregation founded by her as the least of all of them.192

Whether it happened or not that Francesca actually crossed the threshold of Tor de’Specchi on the feast day of St. Benedict, in making this assertion the community aligned itself and its founder with the Benedictine tradition and the order of Olivetans at

191 Marchetti, p. 6. See the Serie Cronologica in La nobil casa, pp. 167-68. The property was willed to the congregation as a permanent residence during this period, in 1445. See Lugano, “L’istituzione,” p. 303 for a transcription of the donation. 192 In questo luogo la N.S.M. Francesca nel giorno de S. Benedetto 1436 venne a trovare le sue figliole spirituali si fermò al piede in questa scala chiuse la porta si scalzò si pose una corda al collo e prostrate con lacrime supplicó di essere ricevuta nella congregazione da lei fondata come minima di tutte loro. The feast of St. Benedict is July 11.

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Santa Maria Nova. In the altarpiece of the Tor de’Specchi oratory, the figure of St.

Benedict is portrayed opposite Francesca Romana [Figure 32]. He stands next to the

panel showing the community’s oblation at Santa Maria Nova and is depicted wearing

the white habit of the reformed Benedictine order. He holds a golden crosier in one hand

and the book containing his Rule in the other.193 The top half of his body lines up with

the scene of Francesca’s oblation, and his pastoral staff rests against the frame of the

panel next to the kneeling oblates. In effect, Francesca’s community is shown here as

twice blessed – and tightly contained - by Benedict and his Olivetan followers at Santa

Maria Nova.

According to the Benedictine tradition, a new member of the community was

required to prostrate himself before each monk, asking for his prayers and renouncing all

worldly goods for the community. When this was done, he exchanged his clothes for

those of the community. The old clothes of the inductee are kept in a wardrobe in case he

is persuaded by the devil to leave the monastery, in which case he will be stripped of his

habit and expelled.194 Ceremonies of vestition and profession for religious women in

Italy often took place in quasi-public outer rooms of a convent, such as a guest parlor.195

As Patricia Marchetti’s axonometric view of the fifteenth-century complex makes clear,

there was no designated parlor or reception room in the initial monastic space at Tor

de’Specchi [Figure 2]. A quattrocento fresco covering the large wall at the base of the

stairway, adjacent to the plaque, offers compelling evidence for the entryway as the site

193 The Olivetans were reformed Benedictines, headquartered at the Abbacy of Monteoliveto. See Enzo Carli, L’Abbazia de Monteoliveto, Electa Editrice, 1961. See also Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, pp. 44-46 and 80. 194Terence G. Kardong, Benedict’s Rule: A Translation and Commentary, The Liturgical Press, 1981, pp. 462-485. 195 Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 264-69.

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for formal induction and investiture [Figure 33]. The painting is nearly identical to the

oratory altarpiece, with the Madonna and Child flanked by the figures of Saint Benedict

and Francesca Romana. In this image, however, the Virgin is not enthroned or crowned,

but is shown instead with her plain blue mantle draped modestly over her head. The baby

Jesus is not nursing, but sits upright and looks out at the viewer. He holds a shining orb

in one hand and makes the sign of blessing over the viewer with the other. St. Benedict is represented on the side of the panel closest to the street and, like the altar wall, in the direction of the monastery at Santa Mara Nova. Opposite him, Francesca stands next to the doorway and stairs leading to the Tor de’Specchi oratory and displays an open book that we understand to contain the statues that she crafted for her oblates. Her guardian

angel stands at her side and looks up the stairway toward the chapel, inviting the oblate to

enter the monastery and welcoming her into the community.

Processions were often part of monastic induction rites in Renaissance Italy,

ranging from perambulations within the confines of a convent to ceremonial public

parades from a postulant’s home to the monastery, often accompanied by family

members.196 The record of Francesca’s formal transition as described on the entrance

plaque argues persuasively for a similar ritual at Tor de’Specchi. It is conceivable that,

like their founder, the new oblate(s) would cross the threshold from secular life to

religious profession in the same manner. Closing the door behind her, she would be welcomed by her consorelle in the presence of the Virgin and Child, St. Benedict and

Francesca Romana as represented in the fresco. She would replace her secular clothing with the garments of the Order, after which she would be led up the stairs and into the convent to live according to the Tor de’Specchi rule. By adopting rituals and practices

196 Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 264-265.

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that conformed to those of traditional monastic communities, the oblates asserted their

institutional identity and as well as their commitment to a life dedicated to Christian

service.

The initiation ceremonies at Tor de’Specchi also relate to symbolic entries and

rituals of investiture and induction outside of the strictly monastic context. Renaissance

hospitals were staffed by a variety of volunteer laborers, many of whom were women

dedicated to a life of Christian charity in caring for the sick and impoverished.197 In

many cases, these women participated in an investiture ceremony during which they

would don a habit and receive a blessing by the hospital chaplain.198 While the garb of

the hospital volunteers often resembled those of professed nuns, they did not take formal

monastic or religious vows. However, hospital architecture was strictly segregated

according to gender, class and social status, and residents adhered to a Rule delineating

specific duties and obligations for both sexes.199

Following a recognizable model set by prior holy women and saints, Francesca

and her oblates at Tor de’Specchi were especially committed to caring for the sick and

poor in Rome’s hospitals – most notably at Santo Spirito, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere and

Santa Maria in Cappella.200 The latter was situated near the Palazzo Ponziani in

Trastevere, and was founded in 1391 by Francesca’s in-laws, Andreozza and Cecilia

197 John Henderson, The Renaissance Hospital: Healing the Body and Healing the Soul, Yale University Press, 2006, esp. Chapter 6, “Serving the Poor: The Nursing Community,” pp. 186-221. See also, Eunice Howe, “Appropriating Space: Women’s Place in Confraternal Life at Santo Spirito in Sassia, Rome,” in Confraternities and the Visual Arts in Renaissance Italy: Ritual, Spectacle and Image, Barbara Wisch and Diane Cole Ahl, eds., Cambridge University Press, 2000, pp. 235-258. 198 Henderson, Ibid, p.p. 188-190. 199 Howe, “Appropriating Space,” esp. pp. 241-243. See also, Eunice Howe, “The Architecture of Institutionalism: Women’s Space in Renaissance Hospitals,” in Architecture and the Politics of Gender in Early Modern Europe, Helen Hills, ed., Ashgate, 2003, pp. 63-82; Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture, pp. 172-177. 200 Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 75-77; La nobil casa, pp. 95-96 and 146-48.

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Ponziani. As the donor family, the Ponziani would have endowed the hospital and

perhaps decorated it with their coat of arms, leaving the work of caring for patients to

employees. Francesca transgressed the boundaries of her social station and took on

many of the daily chores at the institution - feeding the infirm, washing their clothes and

treating their wounds. 201 In the tradition of pious mystics such as Angela of Foligno and

Catherine of Siena, she reportedly sucked pus from patient’s wounds – an act of extreme

penitential devotion.202 The Tor de’Specchi frescoes of Francesca’s miraculous healing

represent the beata working in the service of God, putting humility and piety above social

rank. Though not specifically tied to her hospital service, the oratory images pictorially

sanction the idea of a noblewoman caring for a domestic servant or an impoverished

patient. Francesca is portrayed as a of Christ in the streets and spaces of Rome,

and her oblates are shown alongside her, as the legitimate successors of her charitable

mission.

In 1445, with the consent of the Ponziani family, Pope Eugenius IV transferred

official patronage of the hospital at S. Maria in Cappella to the community of oblates at

Tor de’Specchi.203 This was a significant step toward giving the order an ecclesiastically

approved public presence beyond the façade of the monastery, and confirms that

individual oblates performed charitable service that required them to travel through the

streets of Rome. Considered in relation to the ordinationi which set down stringent rules for the locking and guarding of the doors to the main portal and to the dormitories, a clearer sense of the movement of the oblates begins to emerge. The Tor de’Specchi

201 Boanas and Roper, “Feminine Piety in Fifteenth-century Rome,” p. 181. 202 Romagnoli, pp. 75-77. 203 Romagnoli, p.76, n. 50. See also La nobil casa, p. 148. The oblates at Tor de’Specchi retained patronage of the hospital until 1655, when it passed to the Doria-Pamphili family.

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statutes center on tightly controlling the flow of the oblates, and certainly outsiders, in

and out of the house. They do not indicate a cloistered or enclosed community, but rather

dictated regulations for the oblates’ proper and pious behavior when working outside of

the monastery.204

The inscription on the plaque in the convent entryway indicates an act of humility and penitence that is in accordance with guidelines for pious behavior and the admission of new members as set down in the Rule of Saint Benedict. It also relates to several statutes in Francesca’s ordinations, which called for individual discipline and prostration in the presence of the entire community. The Benedictine Rule outlines steps of humility and discipline that must be taken in pursuit of one’s religious vocation. Pious members of the community were cautioned to guard against evil thoughts and bodily desire, for death is at the “doorway to pleasure.”205 This warning was made manifest in the wall-

sized oratory fresco of Francesca’s vision of Hell, located in a recessed niche on the

western wall of the Tor de’Specchi chapel. [Figure 34].206 The fresco is divided into six

horizontal bands, five of which represent a schematic depiction of Hell where the damned

were separated and labeled according to their particular vice or sin. At the top of the

painting, the archangel and Francesca are shown standing on a floating, wispy

cloud against a clear blue sky. Beside them, brightly colored demons hurl dead bodies into the gaping jaws of the Hell Mouth, portrayed here as a thick, green fire-breathing basilisk with jagged fangs and dragon’s wings. The angel Raphael acts as Francesca’s guide at the gateway to the Inferno, and points down at the sinners who are imprisoned

204See attached Appendix for the ordinationi. Specifically, statutes 23, 26, 37, 39, 40 and 45 for the rules surrounding doors and doorways. 205 Kardong, Benedict’s Rule, pp. 462-485. 206 Mattiotti’s transcription of this vision takes up several pages of his Trattati. See Carpaneto, pp. 265- 307; and Romagnoli, pp. 815-871, for the Latin edition.

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and tortured as punishment for their earthly transgressions. Satan reigns over the scene

on a throne made of seething red flames; his charred black body spans all five layers of

his infernal kingdom.

A small iron grate was placed into an opening cut into the wall at the base of the

vision of Hell [Figure 35]. The grate is also visible from the convent entryway, at the

top corner of the painting of the Madonna and saints, and therefore mediates between

both spaces. Both the oratory panel and the entry fresco were adapted to accommodate

the opening. The caption beneath the painting of Hell appears as a broken text, rather

than a continuous narrative, with the end of each line painted below the grate. It is surely

no accident that the phrase, “the horridness of Hell” (l’oribilità dello inferno) and the word, “sin” (peccato) appear on the two lines at the base of he grate.207 The barred

window in the oratory wall was a potential means of security for the community, so that

an oblate could sit by the grate and guard the door at a safe distance from the public, and

without being seen.208 As the only window from the convent interior to the entryway, the

grate also offered a view of the doorway leading toward temptation and vice in the outside world. The vision of Hell above the window and the snippets of text below served as perpetual reminders of the dangers outside of the convent, and as confirmation of the oblates’ decision to enter into a religious community in order to avoid eternal damnation.

The architectural nucleus of the monastery of Tor de’Specchi was a house rented

by the first group of oblates, from the wealthy Roman Clarelli family in 1433. The

building was soon willed to the community as their permanent residence and is located on

207 The entire caption reads: Como la beata Francesca fu menata in visione da l’angilo Raphaele ad vedere l’oribilità dello inferno/mostravo in que modo sonno punite et cruciate le anime per ciaschedun peccato. 208 See Appendix A, Statute no. 26.

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what is now via Teatro Marcello in the Campitelli district of Rome. 209 The banks of the

Tiber and the bridge to Trastevere- both of which were portrayed in the oratory frescoes -

were within sight and an easy walk from the Tor de’Specchi. To the east, the convent

abutted the ancient Theatre of Marcellus (Teatro Marcello). During the late-medieval period, several archways of the Teatro were occupied by poor families while others were leased by butchers who opened a market on the premises.210 Most notoriously, they were

reputed to be frequented by prostitutes, posing a stark contrast to the women behind the

doors of the monastery nearby who were striving to be models of Christian virtue.

Quattrocento Italy experienced a revival of Roman theatre, most specifically in

the Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence.211 Medieval commentaries on ancient

theatre, most notably in ’s Etymologies (c. 620), viewed theaters as

places where prostitutes plied their trade, lingering in archways when shows were over.

Early Christian doctrine asserted that the theatre was an invention of devils plotting

against humankind, and that a Christian who favored drama went against his baptismal

vow to renounce Satan.212 Humanist adaptations of classical plays have been studied by

modern scholars in terms of what they reveal about fifteenth-century social

considerations. Theoretical treatises on architecture stressed the importance of stairways,

windows and especially doors in the theatre, and quattrocento stage and theatre design

209 Arnold Esch, “Santa Francesca Romana el il suo ambiente sociale a Roma” in Una santa tutta romana, Ibid., pp. 33-55; Marchetti, La Casa delle Oblate, pp. 8-12; La nobil casa, pp. 7-56; Carlo Pietrangeli. Guide Rionali di Roma, Rione X-Campitelli, Parte I, Fratelli Palombi Editori, 1975, pp. 46-56. 210 Christopher Hibbert, Rome: The Biography of a City, Penguin Books, 1985, pp. 221, 320. 211 Maggie Günsberg, Gender and the Italian Stage: From the Renaissance to the Present Day, Cambridge, 1997, pp. 7-10; Gary R. Grund, ed. and trans. Humanist Comedies. I Tatti Renaissance Library, Harvard University Press, 2005, pp. viii-xii; William Tydeman, ed. The Medieval European Stage, 500-1550. Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 467-482; Götz Pochat. Theater und Bildende Kunst im Mittelalter und in der Renaissance in Italien. Akademische Druck – u.Verlagsanstalt Graz/Austria, 1990, pp. 214-221. 212 Joseph R. Jones, “Isidore and the Theatre,” Comparative Drama, Volume 16, 1982, pp. 26-48. See also, Tydeman, pp.34-36

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reflected these notions.213 Dramatic representations of women on stage laid out fifteenth- century concerns regarding visibility, social status and privacy.214 The most common

backdrop for plays was a single setting, often a row of flat architectural facades

surrounding a fictive piazza. Female characters (usually portrayed by male actors) had

very few spoken lines and were rarely seen “out of doors” on stage; rather, their presence

in the domestic sphere was implied by a voice offstage or, more frequently, by a figure

standing in the doorway or on the threshold of the household space. A woodcut from the

title page of a quattrocento version of the plays of Terence illustrates this clearly,

depicting two pious matrons who stand demurely before one curtained doorway, while

another draws hers aside to reveal a bedroom within [Figure 36].215

The eastern wall of the Tor de’Specchi oratory was adjacent to the Teatro

Marcello, and a panel on it contained a scene of Francesca healing or caring for Rome’s

poor. It is quite possible that the oblate viewers were reminded of the impoverished

families living in the archways of the Teatro Marcello when they meditated on the images

on this wall. As patrons and caregivers in the local hospitals of Trastevere, they would

have worked in the service of their neediest neighbors. As pious women walking to and

from the hospitals, ‘out of doors’ and likely passing the theatre on the way, they would

have taken care to avoid the dangers and temptations associated with it. The tension that

213 Looking back to Vitruvius, Alberti treats doorways in the theatre in his section on rules and principles for “openings” in architectural design. Leon Battista Alberti, De Re Aedificatoria. I.12, Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach and Robert Tavernor, trans., MIT Press, 1988, pp. 28-41. See also Vitruvius, Pollio, De Architectura, Ingrid Rowland, trans., Cambridge University Press, 1999. Sebastiano Serlio would expand on these theories, incorporating illustrations of set designs into his text. See The Book of Architecture by Sebastiano Serlio, A.E. Santaniello, ed., London, 1611, New York, 1980, pp. 3-15. For commentary on and excerpts of the same, with illustrations of Serlio’s set designs for comic and tragic scenes, see Tydeman, Ibid, pp. 472-479 and Pochat, pp. 306-320. 214 Günsberg, p. 8. 215 See Pochat, pp. 214-217; also Elissa Weaver, Convent Theatre in Early Modern Italy: Spiritual Fun and Learning for Women, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 76-78.

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these situations created was made visual in the repeated representation of Francesca

Romana as a pious matron and miraculous healer sheltered by a doorway yet, at the same time, exposed to the public. The image of Francesca perpetually on a threshold reminded the oblate viewers of their own transition from noble households governed by the constraints of class and social convention, to servants of God protected by the convent

and living according to the example and guidelines set out by their founder.

From the Papal Chapel to the Tor de’Specchi Oratory

Francesca Ponziani and the founding oblates at Tor de’Specchi were all members

of families who fell into disfavor at the turn of the fifteenth century, following bitter

power struggles with the popes who had just returned to Rome from Avignon. Arnold

Esch traced both the natal and political genealogies of the early oblates, as well as those

of canonization witnesses and recipients of Francesca’s miraculous works.

Overwhelmingly, these groups hailed from families in the Campitelli and Trastevere

districts of Rome – most notably the Petrucci, Lelli, Cenci, Margani and Becchaluva

clans. 216 These families, comprised of old nobility and new men, were aligned against

the papacy during the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, and confronted

Boniface IX in the struggle for governmental and political control of the city. The

papacy gained the upper hand in 1398 and many of the family padroni were exiled or

executed.

216 Arnold Esch, “Santa Francesca Romana ed il suo ambiente sociale a Roma” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 33-55.

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During the same period, the papal court sought to re-establish control of the city

through visual and rhetorical programs that linked classical values and motifs to the new

needs of Christian Rome. Doorways played a prominent role in this developing

ideology. A fifteenth-century chronicler noted that the far right door of St. Peter’s

Basilica was understood to be the “Golden Gate” of Jerusalem, through which Christ had

passed on Palm Sunday. Tradition held that the door had been brought to Rome by the

emperors Titus and Vespasian after their conquest of the Jewish capital. Indeed, the

emperors’ triumphal parading of the treasures of Jerusalem was commemorated in a relief

sculpture on the Arch of Titus in the Roman forum. At various times, pilgrims and the

faithful in Rome were allowed to file through the Vatican door to gain indulgence and the

remission of all sins, regardless of their severity. At the beginning of the sixteenth-

century, this practice was confined to Jubilee years. 217 Specific moments depicted in the

fresco cycle of the Tor de’Specchi oratory represent the community’s role in the shifting

dynamics between communal government and the papacy during the first half of the

fifteenth century. They can be interpreted in relation to the community’s early desire to

re-align itself with the pope and the official ecclesiastical culture of the city.

By the end of the fifteenth century, it appears that nearly every major city and

town in Italy had a homegrown .218 Local religious cults of the late Middle

Ages were centered largely around female mystics, whose miraculous works and

episodes of pronounced suffering and renunciation were widely touted and actively

217 Charles Stinger, The Renaissance in Rome, Indiana University Press, 1998, pp. 44-45; Eva-Maria Jung_Inglessis, “La Porta Santa,” Studi romani, XXIII, 1975, pp. 473-485; Licia Vlad-Borrelli, “La porta romana,” pp. 1-10 and Margaret E. Frazer, “Church Doors and the Gates of Paradise Reopened,” pp. 271- 277. 218 For a comprehensive discussion of local sainthood during the late Middle Ages, particularly in Italy and the Mediterranean world, see Vauchez, Andre. Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages. Jean Birrell, trans. Cambridge University Press, 1997, pp. 183-245. See also Diana Webb, Saints and Cities in Medieval Italy, University of Manchester Press, 2007.

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promoted through the initiatives of the Mendicant orders, most notably the Franciscans

and the Dominicans.219 The extraordinary pious deeds of these women were pictorially

documented on altarpieces and in narrative fresco cycles decorating prominent liturgical

and civic spaces in their native cities and were often disseminated across a wider region

over time. Prominent examples of women of this period who inspired a local following,

and who were amply commemorated through artistic commissions, include Catherine of

Siena, , Angela of Foligno, Fina of San Gimignano, Bona of Pisa,

220 Margaret of Cortona and Beata Umilita of Faenza. While the quattrocento scenes of

the miraculous life of Francesca necessarily conformed to established hagiographic

traditions and themes, there are crucial elements in the Tor de’Specchi images that

specifically connect them to Renaissance Rome.

When the oblates commissioned the oratory frescoes in 1468, they clearly had

knowledge of the images in Fra Angelico’s fresco cycle for the Chapel of Nicholas V.

They looked to the Nicoline frescoes as a model for representing the ideals of Christian charity and saintly munificence in a Roman context. Almsgiving was especially important to Pope Nicholas V. He founded an almshouse in the Vatican as one of the

charitable initiatives of his papacy in order to alleviate poverty during a period of

economic depression in Rome.221 The frescoes of the Cappella Niccolina include images

of papal benevolence enacted by venerated local saints, here portrayed in the garb and

219 Vauchez, Ibid. Vauchez offers quantative analysis of both canonized and beatified persons in Italy from the 12th-15th centuries, statistically illustrating a shift away from a focus on male saints toward the almost exclusive veneration of mystical women during this period. 220 For an extensive compendium of images of saints in Italy during this period see, George Kaftal, Saints in Italian Art: Iconography of the Saints in Central and Southern Italian Schools of Painting, 4 vols., Sansoni, 1952-85. See also George Kaftal, Saint Catherine in Tuscan Painting, Oxford, 1949. 221 Partridge, Art of Renaissance Rome, pp. 114-115. According to Partridge, the unspoken subtext to papal charity was a resistance to papal control by the Romans along with an economic depression in Rome that necessitated almsgiving.

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guise Nicholas V.222 It makes sense that the local woman who was hailed by contemporaries as una santa tutta romana would be depicted in the series alongside her saintly predecessors. The figure of Francesca represented a resonant symbol of charity for the papal court, as she was a candidate for sainthood during the years that Fra

Angelico painted the cycle. The image of the beata within this most prominent of sacred spaces was compelling visual evidence for the efficacy of Francesca’s cult and for the cause for her election to sainthood. By including her in the program for his private chapel, the pope perhaps assumed that the canonization proceedings would be successful.

The frescoes indelibly linked his papacy to the most celebrated holy woman in quattrocento Rome and, in effect, portayed her as his ally in dispensing alms to the city’s poor. As discerning and savvy patrons, the oblates capitalized on the prestigious position that their founder occupied within the papal chapel, and incorporated specific iconography from Fra Angelico’s frescoes into the scenes of Francesca’s charitable work in their own oratory. In doing so, they cemented a visual and ideological connection between their monastery at Tor de’Specchi and the papal residence at the Vatican.

The deep, architectural frame, apse-like niche and carved scallop shell that make

up the Virgin’s throne in the Tor de’Specchi altarpiece are taken directly from Fra

Angelico’s perspectival view of the nave and apse of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Nicoline

panel of St. Lawrence distributing alms [Figure 37]. In both cases, figures that epitomize the virtue of Christian caritas are surrounded by an architectonic construction that represents the seat of Roman Catholicism and the authority of the fifteenth-century

Church. The symbolic image of St. Peter’s was transferred to the Tor de’Specchi altarpiece, effectively giving the oblates visual access to the papal see each time they

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received communion in the oratory. This connection was further reinforced in the fresco

panel located to the right of the altarpiece and made as a pendant to the scene of the

community’s oblation [Figure 38]. Francesca’s vision of her communion and

consecration in heaven, which was portrayed on one of the small gilded panels for Santa

Maria Nova, has been transposed and enlarged for the oratory cycle.

Though the arrangement of figures in both images is virtually the same, the

golden background, richly patterned carpet and brocade altar front have been eliminated

in the oratory version to give the viewer a more clarified, though less splendid, account of

the vision. In the fresco, the viewer was meant to focus on the slightly-enlarged figures of Francesca and St. Peter who, in this version, appears in both a deacon’s dalmatic and in full papal regalia. The figure of Francesca’s guardian angel is much more prominent in the oratory fresco, as well. Here, he stands slightly in the foreground of the scene, and

holds up a sheaf of wheat and what appears to be a small loaf of bread, or roll, that he has

taken from a bundle tied around his waist [Figure 39]. The addition of wheat and rolls ties the frescoed vision of Francesca’s heavenly mass to the earthly ritual of the Eucharist as performed in the oratory, and alludes to the distribution of alms in the form of daily bread. Indeed, in Fra Angelico’s scene of St. Lawrence distributing alms, Francesca holds the wrist of a small child who clutches a loaf of bread to his chest. The Tor de’Specchi vision emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between the Church that dispenses the body of Christ in the bread of the Eucharist, and Francesca, who distributes food to her neighbors in need.

In a panel on the east wall, diagonally opposite the altarpiece, Francesca stands in the doorway of her family palazzo and distributes grain to a group of hungry people who

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are lined up outside her door [Figure 40]. The caption below the paintings reads:

“Similarly, [to a corresponding wine miracle] the beata Francesca having given to the

poor some remaining wheat left over [during a famine] in the [Ponziani] granary, later

miraculously has found forty rubbi [eight tons] of excellent grain in the same granary.”223

In the same painting, the beata is shown inside the Ponziani granary, sifting through the

crumbs of the family’s dwindling stockpile. As Francesca gathers more wheat to give to

the poor, Lorenzo Ponziani and his brother burst into their storeroom to recover what

remains of the food supply. Taken by surprise, however, Lorenzo stops in the doorway

and raises his hands in awe, seeing that God has miraculously multiplied their pile of

grain in response to Francesca’s saintly munificence.

Scenes of miraculous multiplication and distribution of food also work to place

Francesca within the pictorial and ideological paradigm of the papal chapel. Her

distribution of the grain takes place on the threshold of the doorway to the Ponziani

granary, below an opened cross-mullioned window. A companion scene to Fra

Angelico’s image of St. Lawrence distributing alms in the Cappella Nicolina shows St.

Stephen handing golden coins to Rome’s poor [Figure 41]. Compositionally, the scene is strikingly similar to the panel of the Tor de Specchi oratory, with the saint standing on a threshold dispensing charity to the deserving citizens of the city. The fresco of the

grain miracle again appropriates imagery from the papal chapel, here giving Francesca

223 Caption: Similemente avendo la beata Francesca dato alli poveri certa solatura de grano remasa nello granaro. Puoi miracolosamente fu trovato nello dicto granaro quaranta ruggi de buono et bellissimo grano. The source of this scene is a brief passage from Mattiotti’s Trattati. For the vernacular version, see Carpaneto, Il dialetto Romanesco, p. 3; see Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 347 for the Latin equivalent. . According to canonization testimony, the Ponziani reportedly did not condone Francesca emptying the family granary. The simultaneous pull between marital obligations and religious loyalties is a common hagiographical theme in saints’ Lives. See Boanas and Roper, “Feminine Piety in fifteenth-century Rome,” pp. 180-186; and Dyan Elliott, Spiritual Marriage.

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the role of almsgiver within her own community. In this case, we know that the distribution of grain takes place in her Trastevere neighborhood, in the doorway of the

Palazzo Ponziani. The source of miraculous charity has been re-directed from the institutional hierarchy and treasury of the Church to a local woman’s home and food supply.

Pious noblewomen traditionally distributed alms before the gates or doors of their palaces or estates. Felice della Rovere Orsini, daughter of Pope Julius II, stood in the gateway of the palace at Monte Giordano in Rome to dispense charity during the

Christmas season.224 The visual trope was widespread; in the roughly contemporary

illuminated Hours of Catherine of Cleves, for example, the Tuesday Hours of the Holy

Ghost is illustrated with an allegorical image of Piety represented as a Lady distributing

alms [Figure 42]. In this case, the Lady Is Catherine herself, dressed in red velvet robe

trimmed with ermine. She stands in front of the open doorway of her palace to give coins

to a group of beggars; one beggar is crippled and leans on a crutch, and all of them are

wearing dirty, tattered clothing. A banderole above the beggars’ heads carries a

quotation from the gospel of Luke, which reads, “Give alms, and all things are clean unto

you.” (Luke 11:41).225 In contrast to the resplendent clothing of Catherine of Cleves,

Francesca Romana wears the plain black dress and white headcloth of the oblate order

when she hands out her family’s grain. For the oblate viewers, the virtues of humility

and piety in their charitable mission are embodied in the modest garb and demeanor of

the beata in the oratory scenes of miraculous charity.

224 Caroline Murphy, The Pope’s Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere. Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 164. 225 Illuminated manuscript book made in Utrecht ca. 1440, today in the Morgan Library, New York, MS M.945. For a facsimile from the Morgan Library, see John Plummer, ed., The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, George Braziller, Inc., 1975, plate 57 for the image of Piety as a Lady Distributing Alms.

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The willful production and generous distribution of food was an indication of

saintly munificence and a recurring theme of hagiographic narrative. According to the

Legenda aurea, Saint Benedict prayed for, and received, two hundred measures of flour

for his depleted monastery during a period of famine.226 Similarly, Saint Dominic

miraculously summoned two angels (in the guise of young men) who appeared bearing

an abundance of bread to feed the hungry friars of his church.227 In one oratory fresco that would have resonated deeply with the oblates, the beata miraculously provides food for her community at Tor de’Specchi [Figure 43]. Pictured within a room that we understand to be the adjacent refectory and seated with her back to the doorway, she blesses a bowl containing the only crumbs to be found in the house and turns them into a breadbasket brimming with more than enough rolls to feed the fifteen oblates at her table.228 This imagery alludes to the Last Supper and the Miracle of the Loaves and

Fishes, biblical narratives that were scripturally and pictorially evoked in contemporary refectories. Like St. Dominic and St. Benedict, Francesca not only shares a meal with her disciples, she literally and miraculously provides it, giving both spiritual and corporeal sustenance to her community.

The fresco of Francesca miraculously feeding her consorelle is situated next to the

oratory doorway, on a wall that is next to the entrance to the refectory. Four panels that

depict Francesca’s heavenly, mystical visions are located directly adjacent to this panel, at the top of the south wall that abuts the refectory space [Figure 44]. Two of the scenes

226 de Voragine, The Golden Legend, p. 191. 227 Ibid. Volume II, pp. 50-51 and George Kaftal, Saint Dominic in Early Tuscan Painting, Blackfriars Press, 1947, p. 82. 228 Caption: Una die non essendo pane nella congregatione della beata Francesca se non certi pezzuili sufficienti ad tre persone essa beata benedicendo lo dicto pane ne furono satiate essa co[n] xv soe figliole in cristo et radunavone pieno uno canestro de meso quarto.

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(and possibly all, if there are lost panels) were copied directly from Francesca’s visions as depicted on the small painted panels made for the chapel in Santa Maria Nova: namely, the Virgin embracing the oblate community and Francesca cradling the infant

Christ. As we saw in the fresco panel of Francesca’s heavenly communion, the oratory visions are less chaotic and more orderly versions of the gilded panel paintings.

A comparison of the painted panel and the oratory fresco depicting Francesca

cradling the infant Christ points out the visual modifications made to the meditational

image to convert it from an intimate panel painting to part of a full-scale narrative fresco

cycle [Figures 3, 45]. In the fresco panel, the Virgin, Francesca and child, the guardian

angel and protector saints are all located in the same positions relative to the schematic

version of the cosmos below. Their gestures and poses approximate those in the painted

panel. However, in the oratory fresco, the colorful angels around the figure of the Virgin

have been eliminated and the scrolls are gone, leaving the viewer with a sense of clarity

and order that was not evident in the earlier version of this vision. Set against a more

naturalistic background of cool sky blue, the oratory vision is divided into five distinct

figural groupings. Each group is rendered in approximately the same scale and is set in a

clearly defined space denoted by elongated bands of clouds. The four peripheral clusters

are oriented toward, and focused on, the central figures of Francesca and the baby Jesus,

indicating their prominence and perpetually leading the viewer’s eye back toward them.

Though this fresco is located on the upper register of the wall, significant details, such as

the Virgin’s crown and the angel’s bouquet are again prominent and clearly articulated,

making them readily visible to the viewing oblates.

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In contrast to the naturalistic setting and narrative structure of the images of

Francesca’s earthly miracles, the frescoed visions should be interpreted as a series of mnemonic hooks meant to be meditated on as individual vignettes. The example of a memory image from a contemporary manuscript, depicting Christ surrounded by scenes relating to his life, defines the manner in which the frescoes were made to be viewed

[Figure 46]. The arrangement of the page is such that the viewer is cued to meditate on the relationship between the peripheral scenes and the central image of Christ. For example, the scene of the expulsion of and Eve in the upper left corner of the manuscript page should prompt the viewer to reflect on Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection as the redemption of original sin. In the same fashion, the much clarified and ordered composition of the oratory vision leads the oblate viewer to interpret the symbolism encoded in both the figural groups as an entity and within particular details

(like the crown that we’ve already seen) as they relate to the life of Francesca. Thus, a viewer could only fully appreciate and experience the image as it was meant to be seen, if he or she were apprised of its mnemonic significance through familiarity with Mattiotti’s

Trattati and by knowing how to interpret familiar visual cues.

When the oblates proceeded from the oratory to the refectory, they were immediately confronted with the gruesome terra verde scenes of Francesca’s battles with the devil. The images of Francesca’s miraculous multiplication of bread, along with the solid band of views into the heavenly realm, would have fortified the community for their own confrontations with the demons that loomed in their dining room. The oblates’ memories of their founder’s heavenly visions, built through repeated ritual and devotional viewing of them, provided the spiritual foundation needed to design and interpret the

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refectory cycle of demons. The community’s daily perambulations between the oratory

and the refectory were enhanced and directed through repetitive viewing of the carefully

arranged scenes from their founder’s mystical and pious life.

The Death and Funeral of Santa Francesca Romana

On Wednesday March, 9, after she had recited Vespers of the Little Office of Our

Lady, God came to take the soul of Francesca Ponziani. Her death was predicted in a

vision that she recounted for Giovanni Mattiotti three days before she died.229 Her body

was carried in a solemn procession from Trastevere to the Church of Santa Maria Nova in

the Forum, and was laid out for three days of public viewing. Her funeral was presided

over by the Olivetan abbot, Fra Ippolito of Rome and her pious deeds were lauded before

throngs of worshipers by such prominent contemporaries as San Bernardino of Siena and

San Giovanni of Capistrano. On March 12, Francesca Romana was interred in a

sepulcher next to the high altar of Santa Maria Nova, an honor accorded to only the most

important figures of the church.230

Francesca’s sanctified and venerated passage from her earthly life to the heavenly

realm was pictorially documented by her oblates in two of the most populated and

colorful frescoes in the Tor de’Specchi oratory, here referred to as The Death of

Francesca and Francesca’s Obsequies in Santa Maria Nova [Figures 47, 48]. The pivotal

229 See Lugano, I processi, Article LII, De eius obitu et sui prescientia, pp. 140-147; La nobil casa, pp. 108-114; Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 141-142. 230 The primary source documenting the funeral proceedings comes from canonization testimony. See Lugano, I processi, pp. 140-47. See also, Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 942.

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and transitional moments depicted in these panels marked the end of Francesca’s physical

presence among her consorelle and signified the beginning of what would be a lengthy

process devoted to the cause for her canonization. In the panel depicting the beata’s

death, Francesca is shown sitting rigidly upright against the tall wooden headboard of her

bed [Figure 49].231 Her pale face is drawn and her eyes are closed as she recites her final

prayers. A crisp, white sheet and smooth red blanket are tucked around her legs and she

is bolstered by a pillow at her back. The foot of the bed is obscured by a group of five

oblates who kneel as devoted witnesses to the transformative and transitional event of

their founder’s passage from this life to the next.

Francesca’s room is barren and stark, with only the floor, two plain walls and a

coffered wooden ceiling demarcating the space on the left side of the scene. In sharp

contrast, Heaven occupies the upper right half of the painting and is so crowded as to

break the barrier of the fictive ceiling and push into the bedroom space. Against a

backdrop of bright blue sky, the resplendent Christ, surrounded by a mandorla of red

cherubim and illuminated by golden light, reaches out and takes hold of Francesca’s soul,

lifting it into the celestial kingdom. Her arrival is heralded by a band of twelve colorfully

garbed angels playing a myriad of luminous instruments. At their feet, Sts. John the

Baptist, Peter and Paul, Mary Magdalene and Benedict welcome the pious woman who

will join their exclusive ranks.

Earth and Heaven are distinctly compartmentalized and divided by a swath of

intertwined white clouds that forms a ropelike arc sweeping through the panel. The

figures in this fresco are made to occupy discrete pockets of space; only Francesca – and

231 The caption beneath the fresco reads: Como lo eterno Dio se degnavo de venire per pigliare la anima della beata Francesca/quando se partivo dallo suo sacratissimo corpo.

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the oblate viewers – have access to the celestial vision. Francesca’s small, childlike soul rises up toward heaven to join hands with Christ, lifted on a path of flowers that makes visible the sweet odor of sanctity emanating from her body. A row of tiny flaming lamps illuminates her pathway to the divine. This is the image of the good and peaceful death that could be earned through a life of charity, piety and chastity. The moment of the

soul’s union with the divine takes place at the threshold of Paradise, where Christ takes

hold of the risen Francesca’s hand [Figure 50]. We see Francesca’s soul being spirited

from one realm to the next, across the thin band of clouds that separates heaven and earth.

The earthly remains of Santa Francesca Romana were laid out for three days of

public viewing at her funeral in Santa Maria Nova. In the Tor de’Specchi oratory, the

scene of Francesca’s obsequies is portrayed in a long horizontal panel on the western wall of the chapel [Figure 48].232 The beata is depicted in peaceful repose on her bier, surrounded by a crowd of mourners made up of both lay and religious devotees. Fra

Ippolito, who is again rendered in enormous scale as in the scene of the community’s oblation, prays over Francesca’s body as representative of the Benedictine community. A group of Olivetan monks stand around him, their white robes set off by the deep blue cloth draped over the bier. Several members of the community of oblates kneel at the head of the casket and look down on the face of their founder while others stand off to the side. Groups of Rome’s neediest citizens – the lame, blind, crippled and wounded – are crowded at the periphery of the scene, praying for Francesca’s healing intercession and hoping to lay their hands on her miracle-working body.

232 The fresco caption reads: Essendo lo sacrosancto cuorpo della beata Francesca più dì sopra terra nella chiesia de sancta Maria nova alla quale concurrendo innumerabili puopoli per lo odore della/soa sanctissima vita lo eterno Dio se degnavo per li meriti de essa beata demustrare molti et stupendi miracoli de varie et antiquate infermità. FINIS. MCCCCLXVIII. See also Lugano, I processi, pp. 140-147.

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At the right edge of the panel, the blind man stepping cautiously with his cane, the

stooped gentleman leaning on his walking stick and the lame youth supporting himself

with crutches all recall the humble supplicants appealing to St. Lawrence in the Cappella

Niccolina [Figures 1,51]. The visual quotations from the papal chapel are in the section of the panel closest to the altarpiece and in proximity of the re-creation of the doorway to

St. Peter’s where they begged for alms in Fra Angelico’s fresco. Close by these figures, a pious woman holds a small child dressed in red in her arms. The child has bandages wrapped around his head and clasps his hands in prayer, also hoping for a miracle. She is the only woman in the scene of the funeral, aside from the oblates themselves, and recalls images of the Madonna and child and the community’s devotion to the Virgin.

At the foot of the bier, a single oblate is set off by the child dressed in red and two of the poveri wearing brightly colored tunics on either side of her. She clutches her long white veil and gently holds the wrist of a small child. She is the mirror image of Fra

Angelico’s depiction of Francesca in the papal chapel of Nicholas V, the reincarnation of her pious soul embodied in her followers [Figure 52]. For the oblates who knew this image from the Vatican, Francesca was effectively both dead and resurrected in the oratory fresco of her funeral. The image of the beata reborn in the guise of one of the oblates guaranteed the proliferation of her charitable mission through the ongoing work of the community that she founded. The figural group of Francesca and the child was adapted in many later renderings of Santa Francesca Romana, and becomes and emblematic way of representing her. The figure of the child is later transformed into the guardian angel that is brought to Francesca by her young son who died of the plague, and who accompanies her in most later representations.

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Open Monasteries and Semi-Religious Women

In her work on semi-religious women in Italy, Katherine Gill proposed the

community of oblates at Tor de’Specchi as a model study for the institutions known as

monasteri aperti.233 Several types of communities could fall into this category: some

consisted of nuns who took solemn vows, but did not observe strict enclosure (clausura),

others acquired license by petitioning the pope and acquiring an exemption from

enclosure, and finally, there were communities of laywomen who took no solemn vows

and who may or may not have a formal ecclesiastical tie to a monastic order, bishop or

the papacy.234 The Oblates of Tor de’Specchi embody the last two categories. The

prominent presence of Fra Ippolito and the church of Santa Maria del Foro in the panels

of the community’s oblation and Francesca’s funeral implies that the association with the

monks was still integral to the community of oblates – at least in terms of their official

status or the cause for Francesca’s canonization. Joyce Pennings uncovered the

importance of Fra’Ippolito in terms of his role in intervening on behalf of the women on

Tor de’ Specchi in a conflict over certain rights claimed by the monks at S. Maria

Nova.235 However, the papal decree of 1444 reveals the ongoing tension between the

oblates’ struggle for autonomy and self-governance and their need for association with and protection from the male overseers.

233 Gill, Penitents, Pinzochere and Mantellate and “Open Monasteries,” pp. 15-47. 234 Gill, Penitents, p. 59. In both ecclesiastical Latin and local vernaculars, the women in these communities went by many names: mulieres, religiosae, mulieres de penitentia, sorores, pinzochere, bizoke, mantellate, terziarie, monache di casa, monacelle, sante, and santarelle. See Gill, “Open Monasteries,” p. 17. 235 Pennings, p. 132-140.

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Petitions by religious women regarding the issue of pastoral care by male

ecclesiastical bodies were common during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Though prior scholars privileged sexual activity, or the fear of sexual activity, as the root

cause of legislation and controversy, Gill proposed that women’s dissent was more about

agency regarding the crafting of Rules, meting out punishment and religious observance

(self-government) and movement outside of the convent.236 For the women of Tor

de’Specchi, it was a tenuous mixture of both. They crafted their own set of statutes based

on Francesca Ponziani’s model, they practiced ritual punishment within the confines of

the Tor de’Specchi and, at specified times, they left the convent space. However, as the

decree of Eugenius IV indicates, when they were in the presence of anyone who was not

a member of their community, and particularly a male, both their bodies and reputations

were in danger.

As several frescoes in the oratory lay claim to, the streets were considered a

perilous place for respectable women in quattrocento Rome. Feuding was prevalent, men were armed and, above all, an honorable woman would never venture outside without the company of another.237 The community’s Ordinationi explicitly stipulates that when the

sisters are outside of the house (monastery), there should always be at least two or three

of them together. Joyce Pennings noted that the Ordinationi were originally oral

instructions of Francesca to her housemates when she came to live with them at Tor

de’Specchi, which were placed on record in 1444. Francesca’s statutes covered the same

236 Gill, Katherine, “Scandala: controversies concerning clausura and women’s religious communities in late medieval Italy,” in Christendom and its discontents: Exclusion, persecution, and rebellion, 1000-1500, Scott L. Waugh, ed., Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 177-203. 237 Boanas and Roper, p. 186. For an overview of the political and social climate of Quattrocento Rome, see Charles Stinger, The Renaissance in Rome. See also Ludwig von Pastor, The History of the Popes, from the Close of the Middle Ages, Volumes I-V. F. I. Antrobus, Ed., B. Herder, 1902 and Arnold Esch, “Santa Francesca Romana e il suo ambiente sociale a Roma” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 33-56.

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issues as the Rules of tertiaries, but are treated in greater detail. The seventy-three house

rules of Tor de’Specchi derive from practical experience, covering in some detail such

delicate matters as the conduct of the oblates when outside of the convent. The rules are

not only taken from life, but are also meant for daily use. 238 Several of the statutes

address proper public behavior for the oblates, warning them that when they are outside

of the house they should be “prudent and circumspect according to the time and place so

as not to bring scandal [upon the house]”.239 Allowing a priest, or any male, inside of the house also presented a different kind of danger:

All of the doors of the house will be locked by night and by day, and no man over the age of five is ever allowed to enter, except for the confessor when necessary, and the doctor in case of sickness, and masters of wall and wood (plasterers and carpenters) to modify the house; and when they are in the house, it will always be with doors open and, if possible, in the company of others.240

Presumably, then, only males under the age of five and priests of “good reputation

and mature stature,” as stipulated in the papal decree, did not pose a significant sexual

threat. The use of the phrase “with doors open” recalls the verbiage in the papal decree.

In the case of the statute, however, it is a clear reference to both safety and the

preservation of the honorable status of the community of women. It noteworthy that

during the canonization proceedings, the women of Tor de’Specchi were addressed “good

238 Pennings, p. 127. 239 Statute 43: Item, chi è mandata fore de casa sia prudente e circumspecta secundo l’ora et lo luoco che non venga scandalo; se alcuno scandalo occurressi, sia tenuta de manifestarelo alla presidente et fare la pentientia che essa li darrao. See Appendix A. 240 Emphasis mine. Statute 67: Item, tutti li usci de casa steano serrate di nocte e de die, e non ve possa mai entrare homo che agia passata la etate de cinque anni, salvo lo confessore in caso di necessità e lo medico per bisogno de infermità e maestri de mura e de legname per aconcime della casa, e quando sono in case sempre stea l’uscio aperto, e se fossi possibile abiano la Compagnia. Chi non observa le ditte cose, per ciascheduna, vagia uno mese ultima ad tutte, e lo venardì e lo mercordì li sia data una desceplina per spatio de tre Patre nostri con l’Ave Maria. See Appendix A.

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women” or “honest women”.241 The oblates’ choice of dress was not only in line with

the adoption of a religious life, but also worked to present them as unobtrusive and

inoffensive as possible. Though the oblates of Francesca Romana were largely women

from noble families, their plain black dress and simple white veil resembled the

customary dress for older women of the lower classes.242 The visual correlation between

the dress of the oblates and that of the common woman can be found in the oratory panel

of Francesca reviving a suffocated infant, which represents the following story: [Figure

53]. Francesca heard a woman crying because she had accidently smothered her child in

her sleep, and because the child had died without being baptized. Francesca took the

child in her arms, and after praying over him, restored him to his mother alive.243 The

beata and the mother of the resurrected infant are dressed in virtually the same manner;

but for Francesca’s halo, the two women are almost interchangeable in this scene,

alluding also to the virtue of humility. However, humble dress and preventative statutes did not guarantee safety from the threat of physical violation.

Physical suffering and sexual temptation by the devil are prominent themes in

medieval saints’ Lives. A woman’s essential and inescapable corporeality, often

portrayed as wanton sexuality, was deemed to be the defining characteristic of her

sanctity. Women were portrayed as perceiving their relationship to God and Satan through the senses rather than through the mind; therefore, women’s religiosity was built

241 Pennings, p. 123 and p. 138, “Bonae dominae” or “honeste mulieres” 242 Pennings, p. 123-126. 243 The caption reads: Essendo muorto uno fanciulle lo quale se era affocato la nocte ad lato alla matre la quale recomandandose/con lacrime alla beata Francesca essa beata mossa ad compassione facta oratione toccandolo subito fu resciuscitato. See Romagnoli, Edizione critica, p. 370.

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around her body.244 The notion of specific parts of the body, particularly the mouth, as a

“doorway” or “portal” for demonic forces was also a late-medieval commonplace.

Demons were often vomited or spit out of the body during exorcism. In the writings of

several mystics, the ears, vagina and anus are also cited as doorways for demonic

possession and exorcism. In the scene of Francesca’s funeral, the man in red at the foot

of her bier is expelling two small black demons from his mouth – evidence of a

posthumous miracle performed by the beata [Figure 54]. Medieval etymologies derived

the Latin word os (mouth) from ostium (door) and emphasized the mouth as the primary

site of exchange between the inside and the outside of the body.245 The widespread fear

of the devil entering the body was expressed in a variety of metaphors, including one

Frenchman’s advice to his wife to “guard the castle doors, so that the devil cannot

enter….into the body.”246

In the context of the Roman oblates’ interaction with the refectory frescoes of

Francesca’s temptations and brutal encounters with demonic beings, the metaphor of the

“mouth as door” encompasses both the nourishing of the body through the consumption

of meals and the continuous need to fend off the devil from entering one’s body and soul.

As the oblates dined in their refectory, they simultaneously smelled, tasted and touched

their food, listened to the texts of Francesca’s visions as they were read aloud, and looked

at the images of the visions embodied in the eerie green frescoes that covered an entire

wall of the room. Their refectory was a true feast for the senses and a space where an

internal re-enactment of the painted scenes was a daily occurrence.

244 Elizabeth Robertson, “The Corporeality of Female Sanctity in ‘The Life of Saint Margaret’” in Images of Sainthood in Medieval Europe, Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Timea Szell, eds., Cornell University Press, 1991, pp 268-287. 245 Caciola, Discerning Spirits, p. 42. 246 Ibid.

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The motif of the painted doorway is evocative of the constant battle between interiorized spirituality and external demonic forces. In one of the most populated frescoes of the refectory, a host of demons assault Francesca and tear up her prayer books

[Figure 55]. Mattiotti’s account of the vision is one of the longest in his Trattati, and can be paraphrased this way: Late one evening in October, 1431, Francesca retired from her household duties and carried several prayer books off to read in the tranquility of her private room. No sooner had she locked herself in and set the volumes down, when a demon appeared to her and, with great menace and ferocity, tore her books to shreds.

More demons arrived and a battle ensued in which Francesca was kicked and beaten, shoved outside through the door of her room and tossed onto a pile of ashes, where she

247 was left abandoned, soiled and bruised.

In the refectory panel, the painter depicted the moment when Francesca was pushed through the door of her private cell and onto the pile of ashes on the hillside.

Three menacing demons with horns, tails and leathery bat-wings manhandle Francesca as she falls through the darkened doorway that spans the full height of the panel. The two creatures outside of the cell forcefully jerk her toward them; one of them kicks her with a leg that the artist exaggerated in size as to call attention to the violent act. The third demon pushing from inside the cell stands provocatively behind the beata, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and licking her halo and veil with flames from his mouth.

Two impish demons that are not mentioned in the text, but seem to be added for emphasis, fiendishly tear up her prayer books and stomp on the torn pages. It is noteworthy that more demons are depicted in this panel than in any other, evidence of the power of the Word of God. All five demons are shown with flames shooting from their

247 Carpaneto, pp. 244-246.

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mouths and ears in fiery protest of the Word, while the beata’s mouth is clamped shut.

Francesca is rendered with one foot inside the contemplative solitude of her private cell and the other outside in the realm of the demons. Her skirt billows from the force of being thrown and she gazes out at the viewer with a trance-like stare. The guardian angel who accompanies her at all times is perched simultaneously on Francesca’s halo and the grassy hillside of Rome, again bridging two worlds.

The notion that Francesca always locked herself into her cell, and locked all others out, can be interpreted as both evidence of her religious devotion and as symbolic of her “closing off” or “locking” her body when she came to live at the monastery at Tor de’Specchi as a widow. Most of the initial oblates at Tor de’Specchi were aristocratic or patrician widows, and though the community did petition almost immediately to accept postulants, widows continued to retire to the convent.248 Chaste widowhood and, ideally,

virginity, had long been viewed as the preferred states for women (as opposed to

matrimony) in the Christian tradition.249 Though Francesca remained a devoted wife

until she entered the convent after her husband’s death in 1440, she and Lorenzo had

agreed to a separazione mistica in 1424.250

Upon entering the monastery, the oblates of Francesca Romana pledged “to remain in the community forever, to reform their character and to obey in conformity with the custom of the community.”251 The transition from conjugal fidelity to chaste

oblation was one that Francesca and all of her previously-married devotees made when

248Paola Vecchi, “La congregazione delle Oblate, pp. 457-472. 249Clarissa Atkinson, “’Precious Balsam in a Fragile Glass’: The Ideology of Virginity in the Later Middle Ages,” Journal of Family History, Summer, 1983, pp. 131-142; Rollo-Koster, “From Prostitutes to Brides of Christ,” pp. 120-121; Pelikan, Mary Through the Centuries, pp. 113-122; Dinshaw, Carolyn and David Wallace, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women’s Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, esp. pp. 21-69. 250 Romagnoli, pp. 62-73. 251 Pennings, p. 124; Lugano, L’istituzione, pp. 275-276.

108 they crossed the threshold of the monastery. Though they did not take formal vows of chastity, they were effectually re-consecrating their bodies to a state of virginity and a life of religious observance by statutorily locking themselves in. The choice to join the community and to vow to adopt its statutes implicitly indicates a renunciation of sexual activity. At the same time, by performing charitable works in public institutions and on the streets of Rome, they would have been continuously battling the ever-present threat of sexual violation. The ideology of transformation and possibility associated with the doorway, as repeatedly represented in the Tor de’Specchi frescoes, is tightly interwoven with the limited options available to pious women of the late-medieval period. By depicting Francesca Romana as miraculous healer in the doorway of the Palazzo

Ponziani, or as a mystic on the threshold between communion with the Divine and the

Devil’s snare, the oblates used a recognizable trope in order to express the tensions and dualities inherent in the life that they adopted as pinzochere in fifteenth-century Rome.

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Chapter 3

The Devil in the Refectory: Bodies Imagined by the Oblates of Tor de’Specchi

In the center bottom panel of the expansive terra verde fresco cycle in the

quattrocento refectory at Tor de’Specchi, four disparate life-size figures loom at eye

level: the Devil, a demon in the form of a rotting cadaver, a guardian angel and the

would-be saint, Francesca Ponziani. [Figure 56] The panel bears the following caption

written in fifteenth-century Roman vernacular (Romanesco): “How the beata Francesca

had such horrible and diabolical oppression when the enemy of human nature brought the

body of a dead man to her, and pushed her on top of the corpse, which was full of

worms.”252 When the oblates of Francesca Romana sat down for daily meals, this unappetizing image, which mingles themes of provocation and decay with those of

resistance and redemption, would have perhaps been the first one that they looked at

when confronted with the imposing pictorial narrative opposite their table. In an era

when refectory decoration for both male and female religious communities largely

consisted of Christological images with Eucharistic implications, such as the Last Supper

or the Crucifixion, the oblates at Tor de’Specchi chose to dine amidst ten violent and

sexualized scenes of their founder’s nocturnal battles with the Devil and demons, as

recorded in the series of Trattati written by her confessor, Giovanni Mattiotti. [Figure 57]

According to the community’s Rule (regola), which was modeled on the Rule of Saint

Benedict (but written in the feminine voice), the Roman oblates would dine in silence

252 Como la beata Francesca abe tale orrebile et diabolica oppressione che lo inimico della humana natura li portò uno cuorpo de homo muorto fracido pieno de viermi pigliando et soboltando essa beata sopra lo dicto cuorpo muorto. See also D’Achille, Paolo, “Le didascalie,” pp. 109-183.

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while one member of the community read aloud to others.253 Though this was common

monastic practice, mealtime reading at Tor de’Specchi included the texts of Francesca

Ponziani’s visions and battles with the devil, leading to an interactive and multilayered

sensory experience that was intimately linked to the particular devotional and ritual

practices of the community.254

This chapter will consider the formal characteristics of the often sensual,

sculptural renderings of the bodies of the Devil and his accomplices in the Tor de’Specchi refectory as both a thematic anomaly and a representational challenge.

Though the terra verde frescoes depicted events that occurred fifty years earlier, the naturalistic representations of the profane demonic beings created a sense of urgency and realism for the oblates that was only possible in the late quattrocento. Ideas surrounding temptation and penance, volition and faith, sexuality and punishment that were held by pious women of the period were incorporated into the terra verde images in ways that address mounting concerns by and about religious women and female mystics. They also give us insight into how contemporary developments in artistic ideation and practice could be incorporated into early modern depictions of the Devil, demons and female saints. The central panel showing Francesca pushed onto the body of a corpse [Figure

56] will be at the nexus of this discussion as it powerfully brings to light elements of all of the issues noted above and, in many ways, draws on and synthesizes ideas represented in the surrounding frescoes. Viewed as a collaboration between an artist (or artists) and patron, the refectory cycle embodies the challenge of picturing both Francesca’s personal

253 The original Rule is located in the Archivio di Tor de’Specchi, Mazzo I, n. 52, lettera B. For a review and transcription of the statutes of Tor de’Specchi, see Lunardi, Giovanni, “L’Istituzione di Tor de’Specchi” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 71-92. 254 Katherine Gill, “Open Monasteries,” pp. 15-47.

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visions of the Devil, as well as keeping the larger problem of persistent demonic temptation before the eyes of the community. The commissioning of the frescoes at Tor de’Specchi prompted new ways of imagining traditional hagiographic themes in the lives of saints, especially in relation to encounters with the demonic realm, and therefore reflects the sophisticated patronage network of the community of oblates in late quattrocento Rome.

[Im]permeable Spaces

Giovanni Mattiotti recorded the encounter depicted in the panel of Francesca

being pushed onto the fetid corpse as one of the first accounts in his treatise of the

beata’s nightly demonic battles (Tractato delle Bactaglie). As one of the lengthier

passages in the trattato, the brutal event can be paraphrased as follows:

One night, when Francesca was in her room (soa camera) she suffered horrible diabolic oppression when the Devil (lo demonio) brought a demon to her in the form of a dead man’s body; that is, a rotten, stinking, worm-laden corpse. The Devil threw her on top of the corpse, tossing and turning her several times. After he departed, Francesca was left so soiled and dirty all over her body that she was unable to wash the stench away. The event upset her so much, she was only able to eat small amounts of food from that time on. Because of the encounter, she experienced great anxiety in the presence of men, and they all appeared rotten to her. Those that were “stained by the sin of carnal lust” upset her even more. Even women infected by vice would cause her to perceive the great stench of the demon, especially when she passed by a brothel. Thus, because she hated the “dishonest carnal vice,” demons henceforth showed themselves to her a great many times, in the form of both men and women, and appeared committing the sin of sodomy and other forms of vice in “many and various ways.”255

The setting depicted in the corresponding fresco at first appears to be an indoor

space, not unlike Francesca’s camera as described by Mattiotti. The precise rendering of

255 Carpaneto, pp. 227-228.

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receding walls and sharply defined corners, capped by a contiguous molding from end to

end, lend depth and perspective to the panel. Tall painted pilasters with ornate composite

capitals divide this scene from those that border it; indeed all ten panels in the cycle are

separated in the same way. What appears to be a large bifurcated window takes up a

significant portion of the left wall in this scene, and a similarly articulated doorway

ostensibly leads out of the back of the fictive room. Yet, both window and door have no

visible knob, handle or latch and are closed and tightly sealed, rendering this space

impermeable and impenetrable by human hands or force.

Mattiotti frequently referred to Francesca’s longing for the solitude of her

private cell, located in a remote corner of the palazzo Ponziani, where she could lock the

door and prepare for the devil to arrive.256 His texts of the battaglie also powerfully

highlight the crescendo of physical mortification that, simultaneous with beatific visions,

marked the last years of the beata’s life. Francesca’s stringent regimen of penitential

exercises included vigils, fasts and bodily mortifications, and can be understood as a type

of corporeal and spiritual training in anticipation of the fierce battles with the devil that

she knew awaited her.257 Her virility, bravery and constancy (virilitate, animositate,

constantia) in the face of the demonic, virtues that are typically praised as masculine and

that were repeatedly ascribed to Francesca throughout her life, recall the heroic sanctity

256 Carpaneto, p. 230: [Francesca] assai anxiata della sollitudine como sempre era….nella devota cella posta nellalto della casa del suo marito et per stare bene queta inserro luscio, como sempre faceva, et posta che fo in oratione, lo demonio li venne… 257 Stringent asceticism was a common feature of late-medieval piety, especially for women. For canonical studies of the same, see Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast; Idem, Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion, Zone Books, 1991; and Rudolph Bell, Holy Anorexia, University of Chicago Press, 1985. For a discussion of Francesca Ponziani’s ascetic practices, see Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 234-239.

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of the early monk saints and Christian martyrs.258 Retiring to the desolation of her cell

therefore became a practice akin to those of the hermit saints who took refuge in the

desert, an association that is clearly made in the panel to the right of the corpse fresco, in

which the devil appears to Francesca disguised as sant’Onofrio, an eremitic monk who

wandered the Egyptian desert [Figure 58].259

The corpse fresco makes visible the secluded and solitary place where Francesca

confronted the polymorphous incarnations of the Devil and his followers. As an image, it

articulates both the architectural structure of a physical room and an imagined place that

is only accessible through heroic faith and divinely-inspired will. In order to reinforce

this point pictorially, what should have been depicted as a wood or tile floor typical of a

fifteenth-century palazzo was rendered as grass-covered ground, evidenced by an uneven

surface plane and a shaded, sloped mound in the foreground.260 Though Mattiotti’s

recounting of this particular battle indicated that the encounter took place only inside of

Francesca’s room, with the Devil entering and exiting freely, the fresco painter created an

ambiguous space that allows the viewer to imagine the possibility of demonic encounter

outside the limits of the palazzo or, in the case of the oblates, of the refectory. The

ground extends beyond the corners of the fictive room and outwards to the painted

pilasters, pushing the figures of the devil, Francesca and the corpse to the front of the

258 References to Francesca’s virilitate, animositate and constantia are peppered throughout the battaglia narratives. See, for example, Carpaneto, pp. 226-227; 231, 256. The virtues of humility, nobility and prudence were also ascribed to her in equal measure. 259For the text of Francesca’s vision of sant’Onofrio, see Carpaneto, p. 250. The caption beneath this fresco is barely legible, but a fragment reads: Como lo maligno spirito…./delegiava essa beata dicendo…See also Romagnoli, pp. 234-239. The stories of the from the Golden Legend, for example those of St. Paul the hermit or Saint Anthony, contain many of the particularities and themes that were later recorded in Mattiotti’s battaglia texts. See de Voragine, The Golden Legend, pp. 84-85 and 93-96. 260 Note: there are blades of grass depicted in the panel, but they are so faint at this point that it is virtually impossible to capture them in a photograph. For architectural elements typical of a palazzo in fifteenth- century Rome, see Golzio and Zander, L’Arte in Roma.

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picture plane and outwards toward the viewer. The space could then be interpreted in

multiple ways: certainly as Francesca’s camera, but also as an enclosed courtyard or any number of places beyond the limits of the room or within the scope of imagination. Thus, the corpse fresco effectively offered the oblates a window into the larger world of temptation by expanding the physical and imaginative boundaries of Francesca’s demonic encounters.

In accordance with a set of statutes dictated by the Virgin Mary to Francesca in a vision,261 the oblates of Tor de’Specchi sought to reconcile monastic ideals—by retiring

to a communal space—with everyday lay practice in the form of charitable service

among Rome’s poor. As discussed above, the community combined both a private

conventual existence and a visible presence in the city working, among other places, in

the great papal hospital of Santo Spirito as well as in the small hospice of Santa Maria in

Cappella in Trastevere.262 This dual existence placed the oblates frequently in harm’s

way, as they were exposed to the potential dangers and temptations of the Roman streets

when they ventured beyond the safety of the Tor de’Specchi. Indeed, a few of the

battaglia narratives are set outside of the Ponziani palace, often in specifically named

locations in Rome. For example, Francesca reported that one of her earliest demonic

encounters occurred when she and her sister-in-law, Vanozza, were navigating a remote

path on their way to pray at the Church of San Giovanni in Laterano. En route, on a dark

and rocky street (via Merolana), they encountered an old, bearded man who attempted to have his way with them saying,“Io vorria da voi uno piacere”. Vanozza, terrified of

261 Carpaneto, pp. 143-147; Lunardi, “L’istituzione di Tor de’Specchi,” pp. 76, 87-93. Francesca had this vision on Christmas day (die della santa nativita), 1433, conflating the “birth” of her Rule with the birth of Christ. 262 Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 75-76; La nobil casa, pp. 95-96, 146-148; Esch, “Santa Francesca Romana e il suo ambiente sociale a Roma,”pp. 51-52.

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being assaulted, fell to her knees to pray for deliverance. At the same time, Francesca

discerned that their assailant was not an old man but, in fact, the Devil in disguise. Brave

and emboldened due to her extraordinary virtue, and buttressed by divine will, she

subsequently chastised the demon so severely that he was forced to flee, leaving the two

women to resume their peregrinations unharmed.263

As a depiction of both indoor and outdoor space, the corpse image perpetually

reminded the oblates of Francesca Romana of the vulnerability and instability inherent in

their mission outside of the confines of the monastery and, as a counterbalance, of the

efficacy and necessity of daily prayer and spiritual fortification as a community in order

to remain vigilant in the face of the same. The painted renderings of sparse, colorless

and ambiguous settings within the panels allowed for diverse and fluid interpretations of

the battaglia narratives, and encouraged meditative viewing. If Francesca’s cella was the

place where she encountered – and overcame - sin, fear and temptation at the hands of the

Devil, then the refectory images re-created that site while simultaneously articulating physical and imaginative spaces where the oblates could confront their own demons.

Inviolable Bodies

The theme of sexual peril as a threat to the beata’s—and, by extension, all

women’s—noble virtue (nobile honesta) is set up at the beginning of the trattati and

powerfully evoked in several of the refectory frescoes. In the corpse panel, Francesca’s

head is positioned at the centre of an axis mediating between the demonic and divine,

offering the viewing oblates a focal point for meditation on this struggle. Her glowing

263 Carpanetto, pp. 226-227.

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halo overlaps the robe of her guardian angel; her white cloth veil hangs as a

perpendicular extension of the wispy cloud that supports him. Her body is wedged as the

fulcrum of a fan-like construction, cast between the rigid muscularity of the bat-winged devil and the fetid, decaying corpse. With disproportionately large arms reflexively outstretched, she resists both the pull of gravity and the forceful shoving of her diabolic oppressor.

Fixed in a provocative stance, the figure of the Devil clearly evokes the

“dishonest carnal vice” and sin of sodomy that Francesca’s demonic tempters acted out in this and subsequent visions. With taut legs spread wide, he balances himself on the sharp claws of his talon-like feet. He is naked but for his pelvis, which is covered with a shaggy patch of fur that tantalizingly brushes the back of the beata’s skirt. Both of his very human-looking hands are planted firmly on her shoulders and his arms are extended to form an arc that is duplicated in Francesca’s pose as she attempts to break her fall.

The explicit pairing of violence and sexuality is graphically repeated in two other refectory panels: Francesca beaten with animal tendons [Figure 59] and Francesca shoved through the doorway of her cell. [Figure 55] In the former, the setting is again a composite space in which an arcaded loggia, a wall with a bifurcated door, and a sloping landscape seamlessly blend into a contiguous background. Here, there are three demons who savagely beat Francesca, utilizing animal tendons (nervi di animali) as flagella.264

As her guardian angel looks on, the devils physically assault her. The first clutches the

back of her head as he prepares to strike; another grabs at her veil in an attempt to pull it

off; and the third, standing squarely behind her, reaches around her waist to grasp the

264 Carpaneto, pp. 235. The caption below the fresco reads: Como la beata Francesca stando in oratione nella soa cella li vennero certi demonii et con certi niervi di animali/la battierono tanto crudelmente in muodo che se non fussi lo angelo che continuamente con essa era assai più la molestavano.

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front folds of her skirt. In the doorway image, five demons arrive to menace the beata

[Figure 55]. They burst into her room, fiendishly tear up the prayer book that she is

reading and shove her outside of her cell onto a pile of ashes.265 Looking closely at those

figures closest to Francesca, we see that two of them jerk her forward and through the

door, one by the shoulder and one by the wrist, while the third embraces her from behind

as he and Francesca fall in tandem toward the ground.

A strikingly similar embrace can be seen in contemporary images on marriage

chests (cassoni) and painted panels (spalliere) that often depicted mythological scenes of

amorous pursuit and rape.266 For example, Antonio del Pollaiuolo’s panel painting of

Apollo and Daphne, drawn from Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book 1) depicts the pivotal

moment of contact between the ill-fated couple [Figure 61]. According to the dramatic

pastoral narrative, Apollo, spurred on by Cupid’s intervention, falls in love with the

nymph Daphne who is bound to flee his advances. It is a story of amorous pursuit in

which Daphne only escapes Apollo by appealing to her father, the river god Peneus, who

turns her into a laurel to save her.267 Pollaiuolo effectively captured the critical elements

of the story in a manner evocative of the courtly love tales and painted poesie favoured in

noble circles of the fifteenth century. As her arms are transformed into laurel branches,

Daphne becomes part of the pastoral landscape. Though she appears to be rooted to the

earth, the urgency of the chase and subsequent capture are evidenced by her loose,

265 Carpaneto, p. 244-246. The caption reads: Como li maligni spiriti stracciarono alla beata Francesca certi libri de orationi/et puoi strascinaro essa beata con grande terrore fore della soa cella. 266 See, for example, Cristelle Baskins, Cassone Painting, Humanism, and Gender in Early Modern Italy. Cambridge University Press, 1998. 267Ovid, Metamorphoses, F.J. Miller, trans., William Heinemann, 1925, pp. 35-43. The original function of Pollaiuolo’s Apollo and Daphne is still a matter of debate. See Andrea Bayer, ed., Art and Love in Renaissance Italy, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008, p. 292 for a concise review of relevant scholarship. See also Alison Wright, The Pollaiuolo Brothers: the arts of Florence and Rome. Yale University Press, 2005, pp. 94-113.

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windblown hair and one creamy, exposed leg that wraps around Apollo’s bent knee. In

feverish pursuit, the young lover lunges toward the nymph with his hair and scarf rippling

in a rush of air. As he finally embraces her, Apollo peers up at his beloved Daphne,

while she modestly casts her eyes downward to avoid his gaze. This is a moment of

transition and transformation, but also of force and resistance, suggested by Pollaiuolo

through his dynamic portrayal of falling and forward motion.

Two spalliere panels by Botticelli – the Primavera, a mythological narrative

commissioned for the wedding of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco d’ Medici to Semiramide

d’Appiani (c.1482) and Nastagio in the Pinewoods of Ravenna (first of four panels in The

Story of Nastagio degli Onesti, c. 1483) commissioned on the occasion of the marriage of

Gianozzo Pucci to Lucrezia Bini – contain similar portrayals of pursuit and sexual assault

[Figures 61, 62].268 In the initial scene (reading right to left) of the complex composition of the Primavera, Zephyrus (the West Wind) pursues the nymph, Chloris, who would be transformed into Flora. Derived from Ovid’s Fasti, the three figures simultaneously represent Zephyrus’ intent to ravish Chloris, her subsequent rape by him and her

“reward” of marriage to Zephyrus.269 Amid the festive atmosphere and verdant setting of

the Primavera, the brutality of the rape scene is evoked through the beastlike appearance

of Chloris and her panic-stricken stance as she is about to fall prey to her pursuer. In

268 The Medici wedding took place in May, 1482. Ronald Lightbown was the first scholar to suggest that the Primavera was painted on the occasion of the wedding, a suggestion that has been accepted by several scholars. See Ronald Lightbown, Botticelli: Life and Work, Volume I, University of California Press, 1978, p. 72; Paul Barolsky, “Botticelli’s Primavera and the Tradition of Dante,” Konsthhistorisk Tidskrift 52, no. 1, 1983, pp. 1-6; Mirella Levi D’Ancona, Botticelli’s Primavera: A Botanical Interpretation Including Astrology, Alchemy and the Medici, Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1983, p. 21. For adiscussion of the Primavera’s intended message for a female audience, see Lilian Zirpolo, “Botticelli’s Primavera: A Lesson for the Bride,” in The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History, Norma Broude and Mary Garrard, eds., IconEditions, 1992, pp. 100-109. For a concise description of the Nastagio degli Onesti panels in context, see Bayer, Art and Love, pp. 300-303. 269 Ovid, Fasti. Book V, 193-214; Zirpolo, p. 105.

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contrast to the upright and gaily dressed Flora, the contours of Chloris’ body are plainly

visible through the sheer, barely articulated fabric that clings to her form. Her hair hangs

loose and wild. As she anxiously turns to look back at Zephyrus, he forcefully grasps her

under the arm with an icy blue hand.

Even more alarming is the grim scene on the Nastagio panel. Taken from

Boccaccio’s Decameron,270 a young nobleman, Nastagio degli Onesti, sees a naked girl

running toward him, screaming for help as she trips through the forest. She is pursued by

a sword-wielding knight astride a white horse who commands his hunting dogs to tear at

her exposed flesh. Clearly the focal point of the panel, the nude woman falls helplessly

toward the ground in a pose that is reminiscent of Chloris. She precariously balances on

one bent leg, and kicks the other out behind her in a desperate attempt to flee. Her breasts

and pubis are barely covered by a wispy swath of white fabric, and her hair tumbles

loosely down her back. Her arms are thrust forward to break her fall, yet she gazes

skyward as she screams in vain for help.

Lilian Zirpolo convincingly demonstrated that images of conquest and rape,

which often decorated quattrocento cassoni and spalliere destined for private

bedchambers, served as a lesson for the noble bride in an era of arranged, strategic

marriage alliances. The ideals of chastity, virtue and submission to one’s husband were

important models for the woman who was about to make the transition from her natal to

her marital family. Indeed, the images themselves played an integral role in a woman’s

physical transformation from the status of maiden to wife as the cassoni, which contained

270 Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, G. M. McWilliam, trans., Penguin Books, 1972, pp. 419-425.

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the bride’s trousseau, were displayed in a festive procession from a woman’s childhood

home to that of her future husband in celebration of the impending marriage.271

Both Pollaiuolo and Botticelli employed longstanding iconographic conventions

in their respective depictions of amorous conquest and sexual assault. Looking back,

fourteenth-century manuscript illuminations that portrayed the sexual characteristics of

rape showed male assailants grabbing a woman from behind, indicating a sneak attack.

The rapist was depicted fondling his victim’s hair, grasping her by the wrist, shoulder or

waist (an indication of force) and pressing his face and body close to hers.272

Illuminations in medieval picture bibles represented female victims of rape with flowing

hair and with their heads exposed (i.e. without a headcloth), which was often the viewer’s

only indication of the assault. The loose hair, wild, disheveled appearance and torn

clothing of the female protagonists in the fifteenth-century images were even more pronounced, and served not only as compelling pictorial depictions of rape, but displayed visual evidence considered sufficient for an accusation of sexual assault in the medieval court system.273 Further, a woman’s vocal outcry, like the screams of Nastagio’s fleeing

victim in the forest of Ravenna, was also grounds for a rape conviction according to both

contemporary and biblical law.274

It is clear, then, that iconography found on cassoni and spaliere panels made for

noble domestic spaces like the natal homes of the Roman oblates, was employed in the

271 Zirpolo, esp. pp. 105-108. See also Diane Wolfthal, Images of Rape: the “heroic” tradition and its alternatives, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 12-17. For quattrocento marriage rituals, see Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Women, Family and Ritua in Renaissance Florence, University of Chicago Press, Lydia Cochrane, trans., 1985, pp. 247-60. 272 Two such images are depicted in the Ovide moralisé, ca. 1325-50, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, MS 5069, folios 92 and 162v, and are reproduced in Wolfthal, pp. 42-45 and 130-32. 273 Wolfthal, p. 43 274 Deuteronomy 22.24-27. For a discussion of the legal burdens of proof for rape victims during the late medieval period, see Wolfthal, Images of Rape, pp. 41-45.

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didactic imagery of their new monastic quarters. The fresco panels in the refectory of

Tor de’Specchi undeniably embody contemporary pictorial conventions for the

representation of sexual assault within the framework of Francesca’s demonic

encounters. Demons unabashedly grab her by the wrist, shoulder and waist in a show of

brute force. They attempt to besmirch her honorable status by tugging off her veil. They

clutch her in the most unholy of embraces, and breathe the flames of Hell into her ears

and onto her neck. Appearing in the same stance as Botticelli’s Chloris and Pollaiuolo’s

Daphne, Francesca falls away from the sadistic devil as he attempts to lure her into the

sin of carnal lust that we know she vehemently despised [Figure 56]. Yet, the frescoes at

Tor de’Specchi were commissioned for the communal dining space of a monastic

community and not for the private quarters of a married woman or a newly-wed couple.

Therefore, they must be understood in terms of their relationship to the transformational

and liminal period of each oblate’s transition from the privileged, secular sphere of

Roman aristocratic society to that of chaste within a female religious

community.

Construed as a sort of systematic opposition to her beatific visions, the world of

Francesca’s demonic encounters can be characterized as one of nature run wild and a

place seething with lusts.275 According to the battaglia narratives, when the demons

were at their most irate, they tossed the beata about (as in the corpse encounter) or threw her into walls, leaving her battered and bruised. After one particularly violent bout, the bottoms of Francesca’s feet were left severely burned.276 During another, the Devil held

275Boanas and Roper, “Feminine Piety in Fifteenth-Century Rome,” pp. 185-186. 276 Carpaneto, p. 232.

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Francesca by her braids and dangled her above the street from the balcony of her room.277

As evidence of their wily and seductive nature, the Devil and his accomplices appeared

as untamed wolves, lions, boars and monkeys and in the reptilian (and phallic) forms of

dragons, asps, vipers and snakes—almost all of which are depicted in the refectory cycle.

Mattiotti’s trattati were written in vivid sensory language, invoking powerful notions about filth and pollution. The sense of smell is particularly prominent, embodied in the constant motif of the ‘fetid demons’ and, in the case of the corpse narrative, in the putrid, decaying cadaver. Throughout the texts, then, the fear of pollution is inextricably linked with the masculinity and sexuality of the demons, which are dirty, erotically charged and

contagious.278 According to canonization witnesses, Francesca covered her hands with a

cloth to protect her body from the stain of touching other men and, as recounted in the

narrative of the corpse vision, that she smelled the stench of demons when she passed

men who were sexual sinners. Her documented aversion to sexual relations was made

physically apparent by her vomiting and coughing up blood. 279 In light of these

attestations, we can imagine the tension between the quattrocento oblates of Francesca

Romana who sought nourishment in the refectory at Tor de’Specchi, and the images that

they consumed along with their meals.

Community building was one of the key functions of monastic refectories, where

individual members of the order came together for shared ritual practice.280 In the

277 Carpaneto, p. 226. 278 Boanas and Roper, pp. 190-91. For a powerful study on the demonization of women’s sexuality see Dyan Elliottt, Fallen Bodies: Pollution, Sexuality and Demonology in the Middle Ages, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999, especially Ch. 2. 279 Lugano, I processi, pp. 39-40; Boanas and Roper, pp. 190-91. 280 Sheila Bonde and Clark Maines, “To Hunger for the Word of God,” in Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in Soissons: Approaches to its Architecture, Archaeology and History, S. Bonde and C. Maines, eds., Brepols, 2003, pp. 303-349; Jeffrey Hamburger, Petra Marx and Susan Marti, “The Time of the Orders, 1200-1500: An Introduction,” in Crown and Veil: Female Monasticism from the Fifth to the Fifteenth Centuries. J.

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monastery of Tor de’Specchi, this meant regular reflection on the corporeal trials of their

founder. As noted above, the oblates dined in silence while one member of the

community read the texts of Francesca’s demonic visions, along with other canonical

readings, aloud to the others. Along with tasting and smelling their warm bread and

wine, they were simultaneously called to meditate both aurally and visually on their

founder’s brutal and sustained nocturnal battles with the devil in various forms. The

community’s Rule also mandated that punishment for violation of statutes be meted out

within the refectory space. Penance for both minor and serious infractions nearly always

included food, ranging from the loss of a day’s wine or bread, to public humiliation in the

form of lying prostrate or eating on the floor for several days, and was sometimes

accompanied by flagellation (disciplina).281 The combination of food and punishment

appears to be a common feature of the statutes of both male and female religious

communities of this period, possibly in connection with reform or penitential movements.

Hence, the spectrum of the experience of dining and nourishment in the Tor de’Specchi

refectory ranged from gustatory appreciation and satiation to corporeal and spiritual

deprivation and discipline.

In the corpse fresco, the putrid stench of the rotting corpse as recounted in the text

of the battles was powerfully evoked through the image of the half-eaten ribcage of the

prone demonic body that had been devoured by ravenous worms. Described in Mattiotti’s

Hamburger and S. Marti, eds., Columbia University Press, 2008, pp. 41-75. See also Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco and Thomas, Art and Piety in the Female Religious Communities of Renaissance Italy. For a discussion of refectories as gendered spaces, see Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women, Routledge, 1994. 281 Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 38-41; Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, p. 294; Joëlle Rollo-Koster, “From Prostitutes to Brides of Christ: The Avignonese Repenties in the Late Middle Ages,”Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 32:1, Winter, 2002, p. 121; Richard Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls: Fourteenth-century Saints and Their Religious Milieu, University of Chicago Press, 1984, pp. 140-142. For the multifaceted symbolism of food in relation to medieval women’s piety, see Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast.

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text as appearing in the form of a dead man, the decaying demon of the refectory panel

perpetually antagonizes the beleaguered, toppling Francesca. His right arm appears

emaciated, nearly rotted to the bone, yet the sinister left hand remains unnaturally fleshy

and lifelike as he provocatively reaches for the hem of her skirt. He seems to be lifting his

torso from the floor with muscles that no longer exist as his head flops backward under

the weight of his filthy hair. He is the embodiment of an unholy death, the grim and

inevitable result of a life of sin—in this particular case, the sin of lust. The stench

recalled through the act of internalizing the fresco imagery would have mitigated any

olfactory pleasure that the oblates derived from their daily bread. Gluttony, considered to

be the root of all other vices, was particularly associated with the Devil as he reputedly

entered the bodies of unsuspecting victims through the mouth or the ears.282 If, as the

Vita recounts, Francesca was able to eat but a few morsels of food after being soiled by

the worm-laden cadaver, then the corpse image would have steered her followers toward

prudence and moderation in their own dining practices and corporeal gratification.

The detailed portrayal of the figure of the decaying cadaver is a perversion of

contemporary renderings that were meant to arouse compassion and anguish, such as the

heroic dead youth portrayed in a drawing made after a composition by Antonio del

Pollaiuolo [Figure ] and epitomized later in Mantegna’s Lamentation over the Dead

Christ.283 In both the Tor de’Specchi fresco and the copy of the Pollaiuolo drawing, the

figure of a prone dead body is prominently laid out for the viewer and shown with long,

282 Nancy Caciola, Discerning Spirits, pp. 41-48; Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls, pp. 140-142; Carl Nordenfalk, “The Five Senses in Late Medieval and Renaissance Art,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institute, Volume 48, 1985, pp. 1-22. 283 There are two almost identical drawings based on what is believed to be an original design by Pollaiuolo: one, shown here, is owned by the Wallace Collection in London, and the other by the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich. Both are pen and brown ink and wash. The drawings have been variously titled, “Lamentation Over a Dead Hero” and “Death of Gattamelata.” See Alison Wright, The Pollaiuolo Brothers, pp. 182-183 and 514.

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loose hair, a heavy head tilted back and lips slightly parted. Yet, the youthful

countenance and smooth, elongated muscularity of the naked man in the drawing, who is

clearly mourned over by the wailing figures around him, suggest a fallen hero cut down

in his prime and destined for a proper burial. In contrast, the wizened features and

gnawed flesh of the unnaturally life-like refectory corpse only inspire repulsion and foreboding. Metaphorically, he is akin to the popular vanitas figures such as the skeleton

laid on a tomb slab depicted at the bottom of Masaccio’s fresco of the Trinity in the

church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, which bears the inscription, “I was once what

you are, and what I am, you also shall be.”284 Paired with the image of the Trinity,

Masaccio’s skeleton was both a memento mori (reminder of death) and an affirmation of eternal salvation for the believer in the message of Christ’s Crucifixion. He embodies the promise that Death has no victory over the believer who, having died with Christ in baptism, hopes one day to rise with him and “walk in newness of life” with God.285

While on one level the corpse in the Tor de’Specchi refectory may have been meant to

function in the same way as Masaccio’s skeleton, the image of a semi-decayed cadaver,

with his ribs, spine and viscera already picked clean by the ravenous worms, more overtly

conveyed a warning to the oblates about the results of giving oneself over to the Devil’s

temptation.

284 Paul Joannides. Masaccio and Masolino: A Complete Catalogue, Phaidon, 1993, pp. 356-368; Timothy Verdon, “Masaccio’s Trinity: Theological, Social and Civic Meanings,” in The Cambridge Companion to Masaccio, Diane Cole Ahl, ed., Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 158-176. For a discussion of the depiction of Masaccio’s skeleton in the context of anatomical study and dissection during the early Renaissance, see Katherine Park, “Masaccio’s Skeleton: Art and Anatomy in Early Renaissance Florence,” in Masaccio’s Trinity, Rona Goffen, ed., Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 119-140. See also Severino Dianich and Timothy Verdon, eds. La Trinità di Masaccio: Arte e teologia. Centro editoriale dehoniano, 2004. 285 Romans, 6:3-9; Verdon, “Masaccio’s Trinity,” pp. 170-173.

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The oblates would have recognized the decaying demon as the antithesis of the

steadfast, pure and pious Francesca whose image, which was replicated many times

around the monastery, provided them with a daily model of proper behavior. Their

monastic garb mirrored the dress of their founder as proscribed by the Virgin in the same

vision in which Francesca received her Rule:

The first petticoat of white signifies purity, faith right and true, and the fortification of the heart that keeps the hands innocent and always purified for God; the second skirt should be black, made of coarse cloth without ornament, to remind them to be always prepared for omnipresent death and final judgment; their mantle should be of rough whitened linen, signifying holy obedience… understood through discomfort and penance.286

The oblates’ mode of dress was understood as a symbolic and physical barrier that

provided the community with constant visual (through the painted image of Francesca and also in seeing one another in identical dress) and corporeal (through the prickly, coarse cloth) stimuli. The imagined impenetrability of their clothing was one way of steeling themselves against the onslaught of demonic forces, and recalled the heroic virility, constancy and bravery exhibited by their founder.

Throughout the refectory cycle, Francesca is the very picture of serenity and invulnerability (impassibilitas) when confronted with every possible incarnation of the

Devil.287 Her face is expressionless and untroubled. She does not flinch or move to

defend herself against the torrent of abuse inflicted upon her person, but remains

impervious to it and seemingly incapable of physical sensation. This is particularly

286 Carpaneto, p. 146. 287 Michael Baxandall examined St. Augustine’s Four Corporeal Gifts of the Blessed (claritas, impassibilitas, agilitas, subtilitas—splendour, invulnerability, quickness, keenness) as expounded in contemporary sermons in his discussion of quattrocento pictorial vocabulary. See Michael Baxandall, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-Century Italy, second edition, Oxford University Press, 1988, pp. 110, 173.

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evident in the image of Francesca beaten with dead snakes [Figure 64].288 Positioned in

the center-foreground of the panel, Francesca is rendered in a classic contrapposto stance,

with her bent left leg articulated beneath the weight of her woolen skirt. Her head is

tilted slightly and her gaze is fixed at a point somewhere in the distance. Her hands are

raised in a gesture of humility and astonishment, but do not attempt to stop the blows

from the snake-wielding demons.289 Behind her, three naked, muscular demons—one in

the guise of a bat-winged satyr—leap in a satanic dance as they prepare to strike her with

serpentine whips. Like the animated male nudes in Antonio del Pollaiuolo’s courtly,

humanistic frescoes for the villa La Gallina in Florence, the dancing demons at Tor

de’Specchi recall sculpted relief figures of antique bacchic sarcophagi [Figure 65].

Quattrocento theorists who were concerned with methods of expressing morality

or moral stance through image-making, employed rhetorical concepts to describe proper

formulae in artistic practice.290 In his treatise on painting, Alberti asserted that the

movements (pose, facial expressions, and attitude) of bodies in an istoria should reflect

their internal states, or “movements of their souls.”291 Filarete expressed similar notions,

using the figures of saints as particular examples:

Actions, modes, poses, and everything should correspond to [a figure’s] nature, age and quality. You should be aware of these differences when you have to

288 Carpaneto, pp. 248-249. The caption beneath the panel reads: Como la beata Francesca stando in sancta oratione li vennero certi maligni spiriti con molti sierpi morti / in mano et con essi sierpi fracidi asperissimamente battierono essa beata lassandoli grandissima pucca. 289 I am following Baxandall’s interpretation of the Five Laudible Conditions of the Blessed Virgin for describing Francesca’s gesture. Baxandall, Painting and Experience, pp. 51-56. 290 David Summers, “Contrapposto: Style and Meaning in Renaissance Art,” Art Bulletin, Volume 59, No. 3, September, 1977, pp. 336-361 and Idem, “Maniera and Movement: The Figura Serpentinata” in Readings in Italian Mannerism, Liana De Girolami Cheny, ed., Peter Lang, 1997, pp. 273-313 (originally published in Art Quarterly 35, 1972, pp. 269-301. See also, David Summers, and the Language of Art, Princeton University Press, 1981. For a discussion of morality expressed in terms of physical stance, see Joseph Manca, “Moral Stance in Italian Renaissance Art: Image, Text and Meaning,” Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 22, No. 44, 2001, pp. 51-76. 291 Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting (Della Pittura), Trans. John Spencer, Yale University Press, 1966, pp. 77-78.

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make a figure of a saint or of a person who wears a different habit. Saints as well should conform to their quality. If you have to make St. Anthony, he should not be timid, but bold like the St. George that Donatello did, which is truly an excellent and perfect figure. The figure is of marble on Orto San Michele in Florence. If you have to make a St. Michael who kills the Devil, he should not be timid. If you have to make St. Francis, he should not be bold but timid and devout. Saint Paul should be bold, robust.292

What of Santa Francesca Romana? The juxtaposition of the animated, expressive

violence evidenced in the demonic bodies, with the placidity and serenity embodied in

the figure of Francesca, gives us insight into the ways in which the artist(s) at Tor

de’Specchi worked out this pictorial challenge. The phallic appearance of the snakes

[Figure 64] recalls the moment of original sin, especially when wielded by the muscular,

leaping demons. The image is composed as if depicting two realities: one in which the

active, menacing demons virtually consume the space of Francesca’s cell, and one in

which the saint and her guardian angel almost passively weather the onslaught. As in the

images discussed above, the space portrayed is stripped of all decorative ornamentation

or even furniture; the doorway on the left side of the panel is the viewer’s only indication

of the setting for this scene. The monochromatic palette and plain backdrop effectively

make the figures of the demons appear sculptural and three dimensional. The elbow,

thigh and knee of the demon on the far left extend beyond the limits of the fictive room,

breaking the picture plane and making him appear as if he could fly out of the painting at

any moment. When viewed by candlelight, as these frescoes surely were, the cast of the

deep shadows and bright white highlights on the muscular torsos, biceps and legs of the

nude demons would have heightened the sensual ambiance of the already warm and

fragrant refectory. In contrast, when the community focused on the figure of Francesca,

292 Treatise on Architecture: Being the Treatise by Antonio di Piero Averlino, Known as Filarete, John R. Spencer, trans. Volume 1, Yale University Press, 1965, p. 306.

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they saw the very image of impassibility. In her relaxed contrapposto stance and modest

monastic garb that covers all but her face and hands, she appears to her oblates as

steadfast, inviolable and still. She gazes off at a point somewhere far outside the panel - and even the refectory - placing herself beyond the reach of the demons and their

serpentine whips.

The figure of Francesca in this image bears striking resemblance to the figure of

Christ in Luca Signorelli’s painted panel of the Flagellation (c. 1482-85), which was

commissioned as a processional banner for the flagellant Confraternita dei Raccomandati in Fabriano [Figure 66].293 Lashed to a marble column before a fictive architectural

setting that looks like a Roman triumphal arch, the naked Christ appears in the same

languid contrapposto pose. His hands are tied behind him, but his countenance is fixed

and serene as he passively awaits the flogging. Pontius Pilate—who occupies the same

pictorial space as Francesca’s guardian angel—looks on from his elevated throne, while

one of his thug-like centurions dances mockingly in anticipation of the event. In both of these images, the figures of the divine protagonists are meant to be seen as possessing both extraordinary humility and heroic virtue. In the context of imagery commissioned for penitential communities, viewers would have been called upon to empathize with

Christ/the saint’s suffering and to imitate the same in seeking divine favour. They would have been reminded of images of early Roman martyrs, such as Saint Lawrence, who stoically suffered the gridiron, or St. Agnes, who piously endured being raped, stabbed and burned. Indeed, Francesca’s own voluntary ascetic regimen, which included self-

flagellation, wearing a cilice and dripping hot wax on her naked flesh, would have been

293 Tom Henry and Laurence Kanter, Luca Signorelli: The Complete Paintings, Rizzoli, 2002, pp. 19-21, 102; Gloria Kury, The Early Work of Luca Signorelli, Garland Publishing, 1978, pp. 226-260.

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specifically recalled by her oblates as they meditated upon the images of demonic torture

in their own refectory.294

Yet, in contrast to the naked, exposed bodies of Christ and the martyr saints,

Francesca was depicted in chaste attire as befitted a pious noblewoman, doubly fortified

by her monastic dress. Her body is covered from head to foot, with only her hands and

parts of her face showing. Looking again at the corpse image, [Figure 56] her seemingly

compliant but wholly virtuous body is caught between two corrupt bodies that together

represent both the temptation to commit the mortal sin of lust and the consequences of

doing so. In the struggle to maintain a chaste and pious existence in order to obtain

eternal salvation, Francesca—as an example for her oblates—perpetually faces the

disastrous result of yielding to the Devil’s temptation as she is seen forever in the

precipitous pose of falling onto the body of the worm-laden corpse. As in all ten scenes,

this one is presided over by her ever-present guardian angel, reminding the oblates that

they too must turn to the divine in order to fortify their own vigilance in the struggle

against demonic forces. Though Francesca’s guardian angel is not mentioned in the text

of this particular battle, Mattiotti’s Vita relates that whenever the beata was suffering the

greatest oppression from demons, so much so that her body was about to perish, her angel

would move his head slightly and with such grace and beauty, that his “lovely hair would

give off magnificent splendor and light,” consoling Francesca and compelling the demons

to depart.295

Francesca Ponziani died in 1440 on March 9, which is celebrated as her feast day.

Her death did not occur at the convent of Tor de’Specchi, but in the Ponziani palace,

294 Romagnoli analyzes connections between asceticism and mysticism in both Mattiotti’s Vita and in relation to hagiographic accounts of medieval female saints. Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 115-118. 295 Carpaneto, p. 12.

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where she contracted a fever while visiting her ailing son. The fresco panel of

Francesca’s death in the adjacent oratory testifies that in the end Francesca triumphed

over earthly temptation.296 In 1485—the same year that the demon frescoes were

made—the body of a Roman maiden, believed to be Cicero’s daughter, was discovered

when three ancient sarcophagi were excavated near the via Appia. A Venetian chronicler

recorded the event and made a drawing of the exhumed cadaver. According to his

account, the body of the young girl was completely intact and her face “so agreeable and

charming that not many would believe it to be 1500 years old or more.”297c In fact, he

drew the pristine maiden exactly this way with creamy, smooth skin, perfect limbs,

serene expression and elegantly coiffed hair. Her head rests on a makeshift pillow as

though she were merely taking a nap [Figure 67]. The discovery of the ancient body

caused such a sensation in Rome that it was displayed for several days on the Capitoline

hill, just steps from the monastery of Tor de’Specchi.298 For the oblates, who certainly

had the opportunity to view the maiden, the image of an uncorrupt female cadaver—even

a pre-Christian or pagan one—would have been understood to have been in a state of

piety, chastity and virginity at the time of death, in the same way that Francesca’s

incorrupt corpse was considered evidence of her purity and sanctity at the hearings to

promote her canonization.299

296 The caption reads: Como lo eterno Dio se degnavo de venire per pigliare la felice anima della beata Franceaca / quando se partivo dallo suo sacratissimo corpo. Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 141-143; Lugano, La nobil casa, pp. 108-114; Lugano, Processi, p. 103. 297 The drawing is housed at the Bodleian Library (MS Lat. Misc. d. 85, f. 16v) and is reproduced in Patricia Fortini-Brown, and Antiquity: The Venetian Sense of the Past, Yale University Press, 1996, pp. 161-162. 298 Fortini-Brown, Venice and Antiquity, pp. 161-162. 299 For the discovery of Francesca’s incorrupt body upon exhumation, see Lugano, I processi, pp. 143-144. For incorruptibility as a sign of sainthood, see Vauchez, Sainthood in the Later Middle Ages, pp. 427-433.

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Throughout hagiographic Vitae of saints dating back to early Christianity,

sexuality and eroticism were brought up when praising the heroic preservation of

virginity and chastity in the face of corporeal temptation. Increasingly during the later

medieval period, the sexuality of female saints was often re-routed into a mystical marriage with Christ expressed in erotically charged terms, and associated with a woman’s fervent wish to be released from familial and conjugal duties in order to pursue a religious vocation.300 Carnality was represented as struggle throughout women’s lives,

whereas in contrast, sexual temptation of male saints was characterized as only one

obstacle (although an important one) to be conquered along the spiritual journey of the

protagonist. Rejection of the flesh was the indispensable first step of the path toward

spiritual perfection, and though renunciation of sex did not qualify someone as a saint,

yielding to sexual temptation was a sure way to be disqualified.301 Unlike the brides who

surrendered their virginity in the service of conjugal duty and procreation, which they

were reminded of daily in the form of rape imagery on painted furniture, the widows and

virgins entering into communal life sought to reclaim (or maintain) their virginity in the

service of God.

Women’s sexuality was therefore framed in moral and psychological terms, and it

was assumed that the desire for erotic union could shift from actual physical relations

toward mystical union with the Divine. In the case of Francesca Ponziani, this shift

occurred only after she and her husband had agreed to a chaste marriage.302 Though she

300 Margherita Pelaja and Lucetta Scaraffia, Due in una carne: Chiesa e sessualità nella storia, Guis, Laterza & Figli, 2008, p. 73. 301Donald Weinstein and Rudolph Bell, Saints and Society: The Two Worlds of Western Christendom, 1000-1700. University of Chicago Press, 1982, pp. 153-154; See also Vauchez, Sainthood in the Middle Ages. 302 Romagnoli, pp. 112-116.

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continued to live and share a bed with her husband, it was at this point that Francesca

began to receive ecstatic visions as well as demonic visitation and temptation; and it was

during this same period that she founded the open monastery that would become the

community at Tor de’Specchi.303 The concept of spiritual virginity or “virginity of the mind” as a transformative and salvific option for medieval women has been studied by historians of female religiosity. The dissolution of the conjugal union of marriage and the adoption of the mantle of religious life, fully realized when Francesca and her oblates crossed the threshold to take up residence at Tor de’Specchi, marked an ideological and presumably physical shift (in the case of those previously married) to a state of perpetual

“virginity”.304 By effectively closing off her body to sexual relations and re-establishing a

chaste public and private countenance, Francesca Ponziani opened herself—and

consequently the oblates who adopted her Rule—to the continuous onslaught of the

Devil.

The artist(s) who were commissioned with illustrating Francesca’s nocturnal

temptations in the Tor de’Specchi refectory therefore faced the challenge of depicting

both the “movements of the soul” of a chaste would-be saint and the virilitate,

animositate, and constantia of a woman who could stand up to the Devil. Clearly, they drew on contemporary theoretical and pictorial models, like the dying Francesca in the adjacent oratory or Signorelli’s Christ, to establish the basis for representing Francesca’s

extraordinary piety as a model for her oblates. But the embattled (and victorious)

303 Romagnoli, pp. 62-67. 304 See, Katherine Jansen, “Like a Virgin: The Meaning of the Magdalene for Female Penitents of Later Medieval Italy,” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. 45, 2000, pp. 142-145; Atkinson, “‘Precious Balsam in a Fragile Glass,’” 131-142; Rollo-Koster, “From Prostitutes to Brides of Christ,” pp. 120-121.

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Francesca, imbued with heroic virtues not often seen in a female figure, was best

imagined in the contraposition of the muscular demonic beings that she faced.

The Devil in the Refectory

Painted representations of the Devil and demons during the fifteenth century

ranged from scaly, reptilian beings recalling the serpent or great dragon of the

Apocalypse (12.7-9) to furry, monstrous creatures with bat-wings and pitchforks.305

Cosimo Rosselli, in his fresco of the Last Supper for the Sistine Chapel walls (1481-82),

imagined a tiny, monkey-like devil whispering into Judas’ ear. And in Botticelli’s nearby

rendering of The Three Temptations of Christ, painted only two years before the Tor

de’Specchi cycle, the Devil wears a monk’s habit and appears as a hermit in the first two

scenes, only to be exposed in his nakedness as a hairy claw-footed beast, with sagging

breasts and a bushy tail in the third [Figure 68]. But nowhere was the devil more

immediate for the oblates of Tor de’Specchi than in a vision of Hell frescoed twenty

years earlier in their own oratory [Figure 34]. Satan, who is named in bold white script

beneath him, reigns over a blazing Inferno. All around him, tiny grey and brown demons

torture various types of sinners laid out in a schematic version of Hell.306 Flames leap

out between his powerful thighs and a thick, green basilisk slithers upward behind his

back and wings. Like the devil in the refectory corpse panel, he is rendered with a

305 For surveys covering the range of imagery depicting the devil and demonic beings, see Enrico Castelli, Il demoniaco nell’arte: Il significato filosofico del demoniaco nell’arte, Electa Editrice, 1952; Luther Link, The Devil: The Archfiend in Art from the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century, Harry N. Abrams, 1995 and Lorenzo Lorenzi. Devils in Art: Florence from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, Mark Roberts, trans., Centro Di, 1997. 306 Carpaneto, pp. 265-307. The caption reads: Como la beata Francesca fu menata in visione da l’angilo Raphaele ad vedere l’oribiltà dello inferno / mostravo in que modo sonno punite et cruciate le anime per ciaschedun peccato.

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muscular abdomen and chest that seem more human than beastly. Yet, he has claws at

the ends of his fingers and monstrously large talon-like feet; and his face is hideous and

mask-like, with a long, sharp hooked nose and hooded eyes that glow an eerie green.

What is most innovative and provocative about the refectory cycle, then, is the portrayal of the Devil and his co-tempters as muscular male nudes that are recognizably based on human form. In the image of Francesca beaten with animal tendons, for example, the figures of the demons have horns, wings and tails which would have made them discernable as devilish beings [Figure 59]. Yet, they are sculptural, shaded and

modeled and can be connected to a growing ability and preoccupation on the part of

quattrocento artists with anatomically accurate and energetic representations of the body,

and the practice of life drawing. Convincing depictions of the male nude displayed a

concern for realistic narrative imagery, stimulated by humanist ideas codified by

Alberti.307 Parallels between Alberti’s advice and techniques used in figural studies by

Tuscan draftsmen of the mid-fifteenth century indicate both the influence of early

Renaissance intellectual concepts and the increasing value given to drawing as a medium

for investigating the dynamics of human anatomy.308

A comparison with the demon poised between Francesca and her guardian angel

from the animal tendons panel, and Antonio Pollaiuolo’s contemporary masterful

engraving of The Battle of the Nudes [Figure 69] reveals the ability of the Tor de’Specchi

artist(s) in rendering forceful movements of the body and anatomically difficult positions

307Alberti, Della Pittura, pp. 63-85; Francis Ames-Lewis, Drawing in early Renaissance Italy. Yale University Press, 2000, p 91; Kenneth Clark, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form, Doubleday, 1956, pp. 258- 267. 308 Ames-Lewis, Drawing in Early Renaissance Italy, pp. 91-92. See also Park, “The Skeleton: Art and Anatomy.”

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that clearly are rooted in the same tradition.309 Like Pollaiuolo’s figures who heroically brandish their swords, this refectory demon reaches both back and forward as he prepares to strike Francesca with his bull whip. He is balanced and poised as he lunges, with his muscles taut, ready to spring. He has fully human facial features, and his lips are parted as if he is about to speak. Deliberate details, like the hair on his head, the dark patches under his arms, prominent navel and barely concealed genitals evoke a type of sensuality that perhaps goes beyond the virility of the Pollaiuolo figures in his role as demonic tempter.

Considering the circle of prominent Florentine and Tuscan artists brought to

Rome to paint the mural cycle on the Sistine Chapel walls in the early 1480s, it is certain

that workshop drawings, preparatory studies and copies of paintings would have been diffused in the city at the time of the commission for the Tor de’Specchi refectory frescoes. We can see from a comparison between a Luca Signorelli chalk drawing of a nude man seen from behind and the demon with his back to the viewer on the right side of the same fresco, [Figure 70] that the artist or artists working on the refectory cycle had access to precisely this type of imagery. The tension and dynamism felt in the pose of both the Tor de’Specchi and Signorelli figures is rendered through the clear outline, contour and shadow of the back, buttocks and powerful thigh and calf muscles. The tonal range used by Signorelli in his drawing to create a convincing anatomical structure is ably achieved in the painted refectory images through the use of terra verde. Though terra verde was clearly an apt choice for the illustration of eerie nocturnal battle scenes, it was also a very effective technique for representing sculptural modeling and light,

309 For a discussion of Pollaiuolo’s engraving in relation to quattrocento painting and sculpture, see Evelyn Lincoln, The Invention of the Renaissance Printmaker, Yale University Press, 2000, pp. 30-32. See also Wright, The Pollaiuolo Brothers, pp. 176-181.

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shadow and form based on nude figure studies.310 We almost forget that our refectory

demon has a tail, horns and wings as we are drawn to the familiar stance of the figure and

wonder where we have seen it before.

It is precisely the addition of these demonic attributes to the beautifully articulated

bodies that makes the refectory demons antithetical to the heroic all’antica nudes of

Signorelli’s drawing and Pollaiuolo’s engraving. The gravitas embodied in the powerful

stance of Signorelli’s nude man is corrupted by the clawed talons, curly tail and

protruding bat-wings of his demonic counterpart in the refectory – a combination that

would be fully realized twenty years later in Signorelli’s masterful frescoes in the San

Brizio Chapel in Orvieto.311 The commanding bravery of the Pollaiuolo figures is undermined by the ram’s horns and the elfin ears of the tendon-wielding devil. But, most importantly, the depiction of the demonic beings as the antithesis of the heroic nude highlighted the constancy, heroic sanctity and virtù embodied in the figure of Santa

Francesca Romana. Viewed in this way, her oblates could work to reconcile their own spiritual conflicts and quest for salvation through the imitation of both the projected and inner fortitude of their founder as imagined in the refectory frescoes.

While it is tempting to say that Signorelli or Pollaiuolo—both of whom were

working in Rome in the 1480s312—had a hand in the Tor de’Specchi frescoes, we know

310 Ames-Lewis, pp. 114-115. William Hood considered the function of monochrome and terra verde techniques for meditative purposes within cloister spaces. Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, pp. 129-145. 311 Manca, “Moral Stance in Italian Renaissance Art: Image, Text and Meaning. For the San Brizio frescoes, see Jonathan B. Riess, The Renaissance Antichrist: Luca Signorelli’s Orvieto Frescoes, Princeton University Press, 1995; Sara Nair James, Signorelli and Fra Angelico at Orvieto: Liturgy, Poetry and a Vision of the End of Time, Ashgate, 2003; Creighton Gilbert, How Fra Angelico and Signorelli Saw the End of the World, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003. Signorelli would also work at the Olivetan monastery of Monteoliveto Maggiore at the end of the fifteenth century. See Enzo Carli, Le Storie di San Benedetto a Monteoliveto Maggiore, Silvana Editoriale, 1980; and Enzo Carli, L’Abbazia di Monteoliveto, Electa Editrice, 1961. 312 Signorelli was employed in the Sistine chapel, Pollaiuolo on the commission for the tomb of Sixtus IV.

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that drawings and engravings were shared within and among workshops of this period,

and it appears certain that the Tor de’Specchi artist(s) participated in that exchange.

Though living full-time in the monastery on the Capitoline Hill, the oblates of the beata

Francesca, through their prominent familial and social connections, would have been in

touch with intellectual and artistic networks that were blossoming in papal Rome during

this period.313 As sophisticated and discerning patrons, they would have had access to

imagery and ideas associated with the workshops of artists like Signorelli and Pollaiuolo,

and possibly to the artists themselves.314

First and foremost, the Tor de’Specchi refectory cycle was meant to illustrate the

accounts of Francesca Ponziani’s ongoing battles with demonic forces as recorded in her

Vita and as read aloud to the oblates who dined in front of them. Yet, the imagined bodies

of the refectory demons painted in 1485 showcase a growing awareness and virtuosity in

the representation of convincing movement and form, creating a sense of urgency and

immediacy for the viewing oblates. All recent knowledge and skill in illustrating human

anatomy went into the animated renderings of the nude male bodies of the corpse,

313 Anna Esposito, “St. Francesca and the Female Religious Communities of Fifteenth-Century Rome,” in Women and Religion in Medieval and Renaissance Italy, Daniel Bornstein and Roberto Rusconi, eds., University of Chicago Press, 1996, pp. 197-218. See also Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 129-131; Esch, “Santa Francesca Romana e il suo ambiente sociale a Roma,” pp. 34, 42-46; Lugano, La nobil casa, pp. 7- 8; and Paola Vecchi, “La congregazione delle oblate,” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 457-469. 314 At this point, women’s patronage in quattrocento Rome is still a growing field. Path-breaking studies of women as patrons of religious institutions in Rome centre on the late-sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and provide methodological models for looking at earlier communities. See, for example, Marilyn Dunn, “Piety and Patronage in Seicento Rome: Two Noblewomen and Their Convents,” Art Bulletin, Vol. 76, December, 1994, pp. 644-663; and Carolyn Valone, “Women on the Quirinal Hill: Patronage in Rome 1560-1630,” Art Bulletin, Vol. 76, March, 1994, pp. 129-146.

139 demons and the Devil, while those of Francesca and the sexless, childlike angel were made to be chaste, pious and impassible.

Thus, the tension between force and resistance set up in the refectory panels illuminates much about the dual and often conflicting nature of the specific type of

Roman community founded by Francesca Ponziani at Tor de’Specchi. Taking part equally in two distinct realms—contemplative retirement to a monastic space and active charity on the streets of Rome—created both internal and external conflict for the oblates of Francesca Romana. The tight, enclosed space depicted in the corpse scene of temptation, with its doors sealed to human hands, but clearly accessible to angels and demons, also represents the bodies of Francesca and her oblates—closed and sequestered, but always potentially permeable and violable. The provocative positioning of the Devil, with his hands firmly planted on Francesca’s shoulders and his nearly exposed genitals precariously close to hers, makes plain the sin of lust so despised by the saint. The fan- like, triangular composition of the three distinct and recognizably human figures, the

Devil, Francesca and the rotting corpse, forms a frozen tableau illustrating the dangerous position that our oblates often found themselves in: between the life that they chose to abandon and the potential for either salvation—by turning toward the divine—or damnation in the form of decay and worm-eaten flesh. In their refectory frescoes, then, the oblates of Tor de’Specchi were offered a potent and powerful reminder of the dangers of succumbing to temptation through the beleaguered, but ultimately inviolable, body of their founder, Francesca Ponziani. But they also found new and varied ways of recognizing the image and body of the Devil and that, increasingly, it was possible for him to look like the man next door.

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Chapter 4:

Continuity and Innovation at Tor de’Specchi

“For I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled drink with weeping.”

- Psalms, 101:10

During the decades covered in this study, the papal Chapel of Nicholas V was decorated, the Vatican Library was established, the Hospital of Santo Spirito was renovated and the Sistine Chapel was built and richly frescoed.315 The oratory frescoes at

Tor de’Specchi paralleled these projects chronologically and displayed distinct features of quattrocento Roman social, political and religious life and art typical of other papal initiatives for reviving the city. Several of the scenes depicting Francesca Ponziani’s miraculous works contain formal characteristics that are consitent with pictorial conventions for representing hagiographic narratives of saints’ lives. At the same time, they embody local people and places that had particular significance for the community of oblates and illustrate parochial events that substantiated the ongoing cause for

Francesca’s canonization. The hagiographic imagery in the Tor de’Specchi oratory

315 Quattrocento popes who reigned during the decades relevant for this study were: Martin V (Colonna, Rome, r. 1417-1431); Eugenius IV (Condulmer, Venice, r. 1431-1447); Nicholas V (Parentucelli, Sarzana, r. 1447-1455); Calixtus III (Borja, Játiva [], r. 1455-1458); Pius II (Piccolomini, Siena, r. 1458-1464); Paul II (Barbo, Venice, r. 1464-1471); Sixtus IV (Della Rovere, Savona, r. 1471-1484) and Innocent VIII (Cibo, Genoa, r. 1484-1492). For a complete list of Renaissance popes, see Charles Stinger, The Renaissance in Rome, p. xxix. For the fresco decoration of the Chapel of Nicholas V, see Carl Brandon Strehlke, “Fra Angelico: A Florentine Painter in ‘Roma Felix’” in Fra Angelico, Laurence Kanter and Pia Palladino, eds., Yale University Press, 2005, pp. 202-213. See also Innocenzo Venchi, et al, Fra Angelico and the Chapel of Nicholas V, Recent Restorations of the Vatican Museums, Volume III, Edizioni Musei Vaticani, 1999; and Loren Partridge, The Art of Renaissance Rome, 1400-1600, pp. 112-114. For the founding of the Vatican Library and the renovation of the Hospital of Santo Spirito, see Eunice Howe, Art and Culture at the Sistine Court: Platina’s “Life of Sixtus IV” and the Frescoes of the Hospital of Santo Spirito, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2005. The canonical study of the papacy of Sixtus IV is Egmont Lee’s Sixtus IV and Men of Letters, Eugenio Massa, ed., Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1978. For an in-depth analysis of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel walls, see Carol F. Lewine, The Sistine Chapel Walls and the Roman Liturgy, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993. See also Partridge, Ibid., pp. 115-118.

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suggests that both patron and artist were aware of, and sought to emulate, recently

completed pictorial cycles located in some of the most important papal and ecclesiastical

spaces in the city of Rome.

Pictorial and ideological precedents for the unusual content and style of the

disturbing terra verde fresco cycle of the Tor de’Specchi refectory are more difficult to

establish [Figure 57]. Comparisons with other convent commissions raises questions

about what was at stake in the Roman oblates’ decision to embellish their private dining

quarters with life-sized scenes of Francesca’s battles with the Devil and demons.

Discussion of the particular significance and function of the refectory frescoes depends

on how they were formally constructed and presented within the dining space and in relation to the pictorial and architectural program of Tor de’Specchi toward the end of the fifteenth century. The representation of Francesca’s struggles against demonic temptation completes the pictorial articulation of her mystical life as it was recorded in Mattiotti’s

Trattati.

Mattiotti’s codex begins with his account of Francesca’s biography and miraculous visions (Tractate della vita e delli visioni), followed by a tract outlining her battles with demons (Tractato delle battaglie).316 Canonization witnesses testified to

Francesca’s extraordinary healings and charitable work among the citizens of Rome, as

well as her private encounters with the Devil.317 Both the paradoxical contrast and the

narrative continuity between the colorful oratory paintings and the eerie refectory images

represent the two spiritual poles of Francesca’s life. Following patterns established in the

316 See Carpaneto, Il dialetto Romanesco, for the compilation and order of the vision tracts. The Vatican Codex (ASV, A.A., Arm. I-XVIII, 3350) and successive Vite all contain the same arrangement of the visions and battles with demons. 317 Lugano, I processi, pp. 50-58.

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Lives of early Christian saints, Francesca Ponziani was simultaneously imbued with

thaumaturgic gifts and plagued by persistent demonic provocation. For the oblate

community, the fresco cycles collectively embody the perpetual struggle between good

and evil in the quest for eternal salvation, exemplified in the miraculous life and

extraordinary actions of their founder. Consequently, moving between the oratory and

refectory was akin to re-enacting Francesca’s Vita through the acts of looking at,

meditating on and indeed reading the stories of her spiritual journey.

Historians have placed Francesca’s mystical visions within the context of

established archetypes of hagiographic narrative, comparing her demonic encounters with

those of contemporary female saints and mystics.318 Weinstein and Bell interpreted the

textual accounts of Francesca’s demonic visions as “connected with the frustrated

spiritual impulses of her childhood”, referring to her virulent opposition to marriage,

pronounced aversion to conjugal relations and documented abhorrence of the male touch.

They compare her mystical experience with that of Catherine of Siena citing that

although both women experienced ecstasy through prayer, Catherine (who never married)

defeated her demons by the use of her mystical imagination and a union with the “divine household”. Francesca, on the other hand, continued to be tortured by demonic beings in a variety of forms throughout her life.319 A fifteenth-century woodcut (c.1465) entitled

Saint Catherine of Siena and Four Scenes from Her Life shows a monumental representation of the saint standing triumphantly on top of the equally large figure of a scaly, horned demon. Here, the Devil is definitively vanquished, rendered flattened and defeated on the ground beneath Catherine’s feet [Figure 71]. In contrast, the frescoes of

318 Weinstein and Bell, Saints and Society, pp. 38-45; Andre Vauchez, Sainthood in the later Middle Ages, pp. 369-386. 319 Weinstein and Bell, p. 40.

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Francesca’s demonic visitation show her as perpetually confronted with the Devil and his

cohorts in many forms, in order to give visual expression to the very real and ever-present

forces of temptation in the temporal realm.

The terra verde cycle of Francesca’s battles with demons covers the entire

western wall of the refectory, and is comprised of ten large fresco panels.320 They are

arranged in two horizontal bands of five panels, one on top of the other, and are separated by fictive painted pilasters capped with ornate composite capitals. As in the oratory, each panel is accompanied by an explanatory caption beneath it, written in quattrocento

Roman dialect (Romanesco). In contrast to the oratory paintings which depict the life

and miracles of the saint, all ten of the refectory frescoes represent a close-up view into

Francesca’s mystical visions. Rendered in monochrome, with the important exception of

red accents of flame, and taking place within pared-down settings, they compelled the

viewer to focus intently on the life-size figures of the beata Francesca and the devil in

various guises.

Temptation and Discernment

Entering the refectory from the convent stairway, either directly from the street or

from the adjacent oratory, the oblates immediately confronted the demon frescoes

looming on the wall to their right [Figure 57]. If the cycle is considered in vertical pairs,

the first two scenes that members of the community encountered set down the ideological

320 Based on my own measurements, the dimensions of the panels average approximately 67 in. x 63 in. (170 cm x 162 cm) each. The panels are all 162 cm. in height and range between 167 and 176 cm. in width, which places them all at approximately 5.5 ft. x 5.5 ft. in size, with the exception of the two bottom panels on either side of the door.

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and practical bases for viewing the cycle [Figure 72]. In a composition that is crowded

with figures, the top panel represents a pivotal battle between Francesca and the devil,

and is the initial site for contemplative viewing on the path through the refectory.

According to the textual account of this battle, Francesca was in holy meditation one

night in her room when demons appeared to her in the form of various animals and thrust

a scorpion at her.321 She fearlessly grabbed hold of the scorpion, which transformed

itself into a monstrous seven-headed serpent (se muto in forma de terrebile serpente lo

quale aveva secte capora). At this moment, the apostle Paul appeared and assured

Francesca that if she put her faith in Jesus, she would remain free of fear and protected

from demonic possession.322 The term “possession” is not explicitly stated in the text, but it is clearly implied in the action described in it. In this particular vision, Francesca takes physical hold and therefore control of the demons. They do not, nor do they ever as the frescoes make visible, take physical or spiritual possession of her. Francesca’s power and control, attained through her heroic faith, is plainly stated in the vision narrative and even more forcefully articulated in the corresponding refectory fresco, serving as a effective model to be emulated by the oblates.

The terra verde panel of this vision (henceforth referred to as the beast panel)

depicts simultaneous moments of both transformation and salvation [Figure 73]. We do

not see the scorpion, but rather the already mutated seven-headed beast, writhing

menacingly under Francesca’s grip. Though the beast was described as a serpent in the

321 See Carpaneto, Il dialetto, pp. 257-259 and Romagnoli, Edizione critica, pp. 801-803. Textual accounts of the events of this encounter in both the Latin and Romanesco versions of the battaglie line up. However, the Latin version, as transcribed in Romagnoli’s critical edition is dated “anno Domini MCCCCXXXII,” while the Romaesco version transcribed in Carpaneto, is “anni domini M. cccc trenta tre.” Neither Romagnoli or Carpaneto address this discrepancy in dates. 322 Carpaneto, pp. 257-259.

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written account, the refectory painter rendered the creature as a hideous amalgamation of

forms. All seven slithering heads are indeed serpentine, with gleaming fangs aimed to

strike at the beata and tongues of red flame that appear to crackle and hiss. Yet, they have pointed ears and wolf-like snouts, and the body of the creature resembles a dragon, with enormous bat wings and a long, coiled tail. It has shaggy patches of fur on its back and legs, and stands on two leonine paws. Grafted together like a mosaic, the beast is a monster and therefore cannot be properly categorized. It is a liminal creature between states of being, somewhat like the oblate community who were neither cloistered nuns nor autonomous lay women.323

In representing Francesca’s vision, the painter recalled the terrifying beast of the

Apocalypse, as described in the book of Revelations. According to scripture, there

appeared in heaven a vision of a woman in the throes of childbirth, who was persecuted

by a seven-headed dragon. A terrific battle ensued between the Archangel Michael and the dragon, both of whom were aided by angels. In the end the “great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world…and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

(Rev. 12:1-9) Here, the Devil’s name and physical form are revealed, and his expulsion from heaven is explained. He is exposed as the central demonic character and tempter of the Apocalypse, truly the embodiment of evil on earth. Indeed, Satan and his cohorts are described in various ways throughout the Bible, proclaiming their ability to assume a host of guises in order to fool their victims. The Devil appears as a serpent and a dragon, but also as a wolf, lion, cat (leopard), sea monster and bird, creatures that had been associated

323 On the subject of liminal beings, see Stephen T. Asma, On Monsters: An Unnatural History of our Worst Fears. Oxford University Press, 2009, especially pp. 39-42. See also Lorraine Daston and Katharine Park, Wonders and the Order of Nature, 1150-1750, Zone Books, 1998, pp. 173-214.

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with evil and the monstrous since antiquity.324 Visual interpretations of the demonic in

medieval apocalyptic imagery or Last Judgment scenes – from portal sculpture to

manuscript illumination – have incorporated all of these bestial forms in various

incarnations.325 In the elaborate relief of the Last Judgment on the façade of the Orvieto

cathedral, for example, enormous serpents and furry, bat-winged demons torture sinners

in Hell. In the illuminated Book of Hours of Catherine of Cleves, the dragon that St.

Michael battles is depicted with goat’s horns, talon-like feet, a lion’s tail and reptilian

scales up his back.326 Drawing on these traditions, the refectory beast embodies notions

of the Devil’s wily nature and mutability, as well as his desire to tempt and deceive even

the most devout believer.

In the refectory panel, the apostle Paul appears as Francesca’s savior and is

rendered in half-length, emerging from a bank of wispy clouds. He seems to be floating

heavenward as his halo bumps up against the top of the picture plane. Yet, he forcefully

thrusts the sword of his execution downward into the mouth of one of the serpents,

effectively joining Francesca in her ongoing demonic battles.327 The rendering of this

particular serpent with a gaping, upturned mouth forms a visual parallel to the reptilian

Hell-mouth portrayed in the oratory fresco depicting Francesca’s vision of the Inferno

[Figure 74]. In the oratory, the cavernous jaws of the serpent expand to devour the

naked bodies of sinners, cast into Hell by variously colored demons that signify lust,

324 For associations between apocalyptic imagery and the antique tradition, see Aleks Pluskowski, “Apocalyptic Monsters: Animal Inspirations for the Iconography of North European Devourers,” in The Monstrous Middle Ages, Bettina Bildhauer and Robert Mills, eds., University of Toronto Press, 2003, pp. 155-176. See also Luther Link, The Devil: The Archfiend in Art From the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century; Lorenzo Lorenzi, Devils in Art; Enrico Castelli, Il Demoniaco Nell’Arte. 325Pluskowski, Ibid; Asma, On Monsters, pp. 67-71. 326 Rob Dückers and Ruud Priem, eds., The Hours of Catherine of Cleves: Devotions, Demons and Daily Life in the Fifteenth Century, Abrams, 2009. 327 For the iconographic attributes of the Apostle Paul, see Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols, p. 235.

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anger and envy.328 Always insatiable, the Devil keeps his larder stocked with freshly

damned souls, evidenced by the array of contorted figures (most notably tonsured monks)

that, in the oratory vision, are corralled by his legions of toads and snakes [Figure 75]

Emblematic of gluttony and uncontrolled consumption, the serpentine Hell-mouth was also a metaphor for the fear of being devoured by temptation or sin for eternity.329

Transposed into the refectory where the oblates consumed their daily bread, the image of

St. Paul piercing the mouth of the serpent represents the opportunity to avoid such a fate

among the damned. The picture of Francesca and the apostle simultaneously confronting

and attacking the beast becomes symbolic of individual responsibility and control over

one’s spiritual destiny. Though he is not depicted again, the Apostle Paul’s presence in

the first refectory panel indicates the level of intervention and heavenly support afforded

to Francesca and her followers when properly focused and fortified in the face of

temptation.

The figure of Francesca in the top panel mirrors the act of the oblates’ physical

entry into the refectory space and into the ideological realm of the frescoes [Figure 73].

Her exceptionally tall figure is pictured directly in front of a darkened doorway, with her

guardian angel hovering closely at her back. The billowing fabric of her skirt outlines her

long legs as she takes a purposeful stride forward to confront the demonic beast. She

reaches out to seize the neck of one of the serpents with hands that, too, are shown as

disproportionately large. These are the same hands that, in the oratory images, were

328 For the colors of the Devil, see Lorenzi, Devils in Art, p. 124. Red represents lust, black signifies anger and green, envy. 329 Pluskowski, Apocalyptic Monsters, pp. 161-163; Michael Camille, “Mouths and Meanings: Toward an Anti-Iconography of Medieval Art,” in Iconography at the Crossroads: papers from the colloquium sponsored by the Index of Christian Art, Princeton University, 23-24 March 1990, Brendan Cassidy, ed., Index of Christian Art, Princeton University, 1993, pp. 43-58.

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highlighted to emblematize Francesca’s miraculous powers of healing. Here, they are

emphasized to convey her heroic capacity to effectively face down and ward off the Devil

when properly focused on the divine.

The efficacy of fervent prayer and vigilance during moments of uncertainty and

temptation are reinforced in the panel directly below the beast image [Figure 76].

Though this fresco has been compromised by flaking and damage over time, it is still

possible to understand its subject matter and significance.330 The panel measures about

half the width of the beast image above in order to accommodate the adjacent doorway.

In a condensed composition, Francesca is shown kneeling in prayer with a thick,

venomous snake coiled around her skirt and waist. Her guardian angel hovers

protectively by her side above a group of dog-like animals who jump and lunge at the

beata and the serpent. This image represents a vision in which seven docile and humble

sheep appeared to Francesca, praising her virtue and declaring themselves to be the seven

gifts of the Holy Spirit (noi simo li secte doni, simo venute ad stare con voi….simo li doni

dello spirito sancto)331 The seven gifts of the holy spirit are enumerated in the book of

Isaiah (, 11:2-3) as wisdom, understanding, prudence, fortitude, knowledge, piety

and fear of offending God.

In the presence of seven sheep, the beata heard a voice booming like thunder and, perceiving darkness, immediately discerned that the lambs were demons. Once their true nature was revealed, the sheep mutated into ferocious wolves who threatened to devour

330 Large portions of this fresco have flaked off due to vibrations caused by increased motor vehicle traffic on via Teatro Marcello. Fortunately the other nine frescoes have survived with minimal damage. I thank Federica Moretti, restorer for the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali in Rome, for explaining the damage and the processes of an earlier restoration of the frescoes to me. 331 This vision occurred in July, 1432. Carpaneto, pp. 252-254. For the gifts of the holy spirit, see Forget, Jacques. "Holy Ghost." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.

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Francesca; they assailed her unmercifully until her guardian angel, who was surrounded

by divine light, illuminated the scene and came to her rescue.332 The Devil’s ability to alter his physical appearance is again apparent in the depiction of the diabolical animals as ambiguous creatures – in this case as neither sheep nor wolves. Rather, they are shown with wisps of fuzzy lambs’ wool on their otherwise smooth heads and backs, articulated through swift curling brushstrokes of white paint [Figure 77]. They bare large fangs and unnaturally long red tongues as red-hot flames shoot out of their deceptively soft-looking ears. In both panels, the fiery tongues and infernal flames of the demons stand out as solitary slashes of incandescent color against the cool terra verde palette.

Stylistically, the pseudo-sheep of the Tor de’Specchi refectory resemble the rows of pastoral lambs, representing the apostles and Christ, which border the apse mosaics of the neighboring basilicas of Santa Maria in Trastevere and Santa Cecilia. [Figure 78].

Though lined up in much the same fashion and shown with similarly elongated bodies

and necks, the refectory creatures ultimately form a demonic wolf pack that is the

antithesis of the depiction of Jesus (the Lamb of God) and his followers.

Most importantly, these diabolical creatures stand in for the incarnate evil that

Christ warned against in his sermon on the mount when he said, “Beware of false

prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening

wolves” (Matthew 7:15). In order to evoke this passage, the refectory wolves in sheep’s

clothing, who threatened to devour Francesca, are situated within a sparse landscape with a single mountain visible behind the guardian angel [Figure 79]. The landscape and

332 Et subito se mutorono in lopi ferocissimi con grandissima iracundia et rabia per volere devorare essa pretiosa, et quello ponto de tanta crudelita, lo glorioso sopradicto angilo….Allora la nobile anima [Francesca] vide sopra lo glorioso una inusitata divina luce, con altra verita che la luce ficta che essi miseri mustraro quando vennero. Carpaneto, pp. 252-53.

150 solitary mountain were indeed meant to recall the Sermon on the Mount, and further alluded to the Devil’s temptation of Christ in the desert. The oblate viewer would remember that, as a final temptation, the Devil took Jesus to a high mountain and offered to give him all of the kingdoms of the world in exchange for his loyalty. In response to this enticing proposal Jesus replied, “Begone, Satan. For it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve.” Then the Devil left him. (Matthew 4:8-

11)

In order to relate Francesca in pictorial fashion with Christ’s ultimate temptation on the mountain, the painter uses a number of strategies. He depicted her confronted with the demon wolves, and also includes the old Serpent himself slithering ominously up her skirt. The head of the serpent, with a lupine snout and pricked, pointed ears, is identical to the seven heads of the beast of the Apocalypse (Satan) shown in the painting above. The iconographic link reinforces the notion that the two panels are meant to be understood in relation to one another, and solidly identifies the serpent in the lower panel as the Devil incarnate. Neither the serpent nor the mountain is mentioned in the textual account of Francesca’s encounter with the demonic sheep, highlighting the close attention to scripture as well as to the vision narratives in the scheme the fresco program. Hence, it is likely that only the oblates as patrons, viewers and readers most familiar with

Francesca’s Vita would have possessed the range of knowledge necessary to understand the complex layers of meaning expressed in the refectory images.

Francesca’s heavenward gaze and attitude of ecstatic supplication in the bottom panel also creates a crucial visual link with the image on top. Here, her face is shown in three-quarter view, with both eyes fixedly staring beyond her guardian angel and the

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bounds of the panel, toward the figure of the apostle Paul in the uppermost corner above

[Figure 76]. Her enormous hands are clasped in prayer and raised to the level of her

face. The angle of her arms is such that they are directly in line with the sword of the

apostle, creating a visible channel for the combined spiritual force of the two figures in

the struggle against the Devil. It is within this connection that the full meaning of the

sheep posing as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit can be understood. According to

Mattiotti’s text, Francesca was secluded in her room reciting her evening prayers when

the demons in the form of sheep accosted her.333 As a devout believer, she would have

prayed for the continued gifts of wisdom, fortitude, etc. that were promised by the

prophet Isaiah to those who longed for the kingdom of Christ.334 Yet, as a person of

extraordinary faith and piety, she was also endowed with charismatic gifts as outlined by

the Apostle Paul in his epistles:

And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit. To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom: and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spririt: To another, faith in the same spirit: to another, the grace of healing in one Spirit: To another the working of miracles: to another, prophecy: to another, the discerning of spirits: to another, diverse kinds of tongues: to another, interpretation of speeches. But all these things, one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will. For as the body is one and hath many members: and all the members of the body, whereas they are many yet one body: so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:7-12)335

333 Carpaneto, p. 252. 334 Isaiah 11:2-3 on the spiritual kingdom of Christ, to which all nations shall repair reads: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. 335 Emphasis taken from Douay-Rheims bible. For the doctrinal distinctions between spiritual gifts of the first class as described in Isaiah and those of the second class (charismatic) as outlined by Saint Paul, see Forget, Jacques. "Holy Ghost." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.

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It is clear from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that it is possible for every man,

through faith in Christ, to be imbued with one of these gifts. However, as is evident in

Mattiotti’s Trattati and the Tor de’Specchi frescoes Francesca was, by God’s grace,

imbued with all of them. The apostle Paul frequently appeared to Francesca while she

was in ecstasy, and is depicted in several of the oratory frescoes of her miraculous visions

alongside a host of heavenly protectors. In the refectory cycle, he appears alone as the

herald of her extraordinary gift of discernment when faced with the Devil in his various

guises and in his role as spiritual defender in her struggle against temptation. In fact,

Mattiotti established Francesca’s extraordinary ability to perceive the Devil in his initial

tract of the battaglia series. He recalled that the first time that the beata had a diabolic

vision, she was visited by a demon in the form of a hermit with a long beard. At the same

time, she was engaged in conversation with her husband, Lorenzo and her sister-in-law,

Vanozza. While Vanozza observed that Francesca was in great distress, neither she nor

Lorenzo could see or hear the demon. In fact, Lorenzo did not even perceive his wife’s anguish.336

When the oblates sat at table in their refectory and meditated on the first two

panels, then, it was their founder’s power of discernment that was meant to be recalled

and prayed for by the oblate viewers. They understood that Francesca was not fooled by

the docile lambs that claimed to be gifts from God, and remembered that in their presence

she heard thunder and perceived darkness. Consequently, they too were put on guard for

the warning signs of Satan’s duplicity. In the frescoes, they saw Francesca in the devil’s

stranglehold but also that she was able to take control of and ultimately conquer her

demons through fervent prayer and divine assistance. By contemplating the two initial

336Carpaneto, p. 225.

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images of their founder and her battles with demons, the oblates were meant to seek a

heightened spiritual state in order to recognize and resist ever-present temptation.

Silent Contemplation and Corporeal Mortification

Silence and a penitential attitude were required during mealtimes in the Tor

de’Specchi refectory. According to community statutes, “when bread is broken,

everyone should be silent and those who know how to say the penitential psalms will say

them; those who don’t know them will say other prayers; otherwise, they will lose wine

and their main meal for one day.”337 The observance of silence during mealtimes was the

common practice for both male and female religious communities. The Rule of Saint

Benedict, to which Francesca and the oblates of Tor de’Specchi were particularly

devoted, explicitly mandates that all will be silent at table, and that no whispering or

noise is to be heard, only the voice of the reader. 338 Silence extended to every aspect of

ritual dining in the refectory, including requests for passing food or drink at the table.

The Tor de’Specchi ordinations stipulate, “Anyone who needs any small thing at the table

should motion that it be given to them, otherwise they don’t eat cooked food the

following day.”339

337 Ordinationi Statuiti per la Beata Francesca, no. 55: Item, quando se fao lo pane, tutte tengano silentio, e chi sao dire li salmi penitentiali li dica; chi non li sapessi, dica altre oratione, altramente lassi una die lo vino et una die la pietanza. The statute quoted above can be found in Lunardi, p. 90. For proposed differences between ordinations and constitutions for women’s religious communities, see Anabel Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 38-40. 338 Kardong, Benedict’s Rule, pp. 311-321. For an analysis of the ritual significance of silence in the refectory space, see Bonde and Maines, “To Hunger for the Word of God,” esp. pp. 321-324. 339 Statute no 61: Item, a chi mancha covelle a mensa, faccia segno che li sia data, altramente non mangia cucina lo die sequente. Lundardi, p. 91. See Appendix A.

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In some cases, meditative spaces were decorated with images that were meant to

enjoin silence among community members as, for example, in the refectory of the

convent of San Domenico in Pisa or the cloister of San Marco in Florence [Figure 80].340

In both of these images, a founding member of the community’s order (Sts. Dominic and

Peter Martyr, respectively) is depicted in half length, with his index finger pressed

against his lips to compel silence. Though this gesture is not to be found in the imagery

of the Tor de’Specchi refectory, the directive for meditative quiet is made both overtly

and through visual cues in the frescoes.

The word “SILENTIO” is incised in all capital letters on the architrave of a

doorway that separates the first and second panels of the bottom row of frescoes [Figure

81]. On the cornice above it, the date “ANNO SALVTIS MCCCCLXXXV” is also

inscribed, which coincides with the date of the frescoes.341 Documentary and visual evidence point to the conclusion that the doorway was already in place before the frescoes were painted, and that inscriptions were made to commemorate their function and completion. The Tor de’Specchi archives contain a document dated December 20,

1463 that outlines stipulations for a Roman builder, Mastro Salvato de Andrea de Torcho, to construct a refectory (fare uno refectorio ne le casse del la [con]gregat[i]o[n]e de le do[m]pne de la beata Fran[ces]ca) and attic (de fare el solaro de lu d[i]c[t]o refecto in quella forma [et] modo) at the convent.342 In the contract, Mastro Salvato promises to

340 For San Domenico in Pisa, see Roberts, Dominican Women and Renaissance Art, pp. 182-192. For San Marco, see Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, pp. 147-165. 341 The frescoes are dated in a painted caption located above the top center panel. 342 The document of December, 1463 was transcribed and published as an Appendix in Paolo D’Achille, “Le Didascalie degli Affreschi di Santa Francesca Romana (con un documento inedito del 1463)” in Il Volgare nelle Chiese di Roma: Messaggi graffiti, dipinti e incise dal IX al XVI secolo. Francesco Savatini, et al, eds., Bonacci, 1987. pp. 177-178.

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make all of the doors and windows in the refectory as part of the agreed-upon price.343

Based on his archeological analysis of the quattrocento complex at Tor de’Specchi, the

architectural historian Carlo Cecchelli also concluded that the refectory was structurally

complete by the last decades of the fifteenth century.344 In line with Cecchelli’s

hypothesis, and based on my observation of irregularities in the floor of the room that is

now adjacent to the refectory, I would also suggest that there was an external landing and

stairway outside of the refectory door that led down to a cortile below as well as up to the

attic.345 This would have given the oblates private access to and from their garden,

courtyard and dormitory space as the area below the refectory was surrounded by a wall

during this period.

The balanced compositions of the two smaller frescoes on either side of the door

also indicate that the opening was already made when the cycle was painted [Figures 58,

76]. Because of their size, these panels appear to be more crowded than the other eight

panels, but they do not show signs of having been reconfigured or repainted. Instead, the

tips of Francesca’s fingers, skirt and foot are cropped in the panel on the left, and a small

portion of the rear end and tail of the largest sheep is lost in the image on the right,

suggesting that an inch or two of fresco on each side of the door may have been covered

if the door frame was reinforced to include the cornice with the date. Looking at the door

today, there appears to be two frames suggesting that the inner border bearing the

343 D’Achille, p. 178: Et promectono le dicte dompne dare al dicto maestro Salvato tucto con cime per porte per fenestre per canali et ferro per fenestre d ferrarse et mastro Salvato de mectereli sensa altro prezo. 344 Carlo Cecchelli, “Il monastero delle oblate e le sue origini,” Studi e documenti sulla Roma sacra. Volume II, 1951, pp. 13-28. See esp. pp. 27-28. Based on his footnotes, it appears that Cecchelli was not aware of the 1463 document. 345 Cecchelli appears to indicate the same on p. 28.

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“Silentio” inscription could have been the initial frame, and the outer, more elaborate

post and cornice added to it later.

The monastic directive for contemplative silence in the refectory is also intimated in the temptation scene to the left of the door [Figure 58]. Here, Francesca is shown standing opposite a bulky figure in the guise of a bearded, elderly hermit. Though he wears monastic robes and carries a walking stick and rosary beads, his demonic nature is

made apparent by goat horns, claw feet and red flames shooting from his ears. The panel was designed to recall a battaglia passage in which the devil appeared to Francesca posing as the hermit saint Onofrio.346 Many of the details and themes from the stories of

the desert fathers in the Golden Legend, for example those of St. Paul the hermit or Saint

Anthony abbot, were later recorded in Mattiotti’s battaglia texts.347 In the vision,

sant’Onofrio asked the beata to accompany him to the desert and promised to show her a

beautiful place, presumably his hermitage. Francesca immediately recognized that he

was the Devil because of a wretched light emanating from him and vehemently refused

his offer. Frustrated and irate, the Devil began to beat Francesca with his walking stick

and to humiliate her by stuffing dirt into her mouth.

In this panel, unlike the others, Francesca and the Devil are not depicted in the

midst of a battle or in an overtly menacing scene. They are instead shown side by side in

identical contrapposto stances and in a similar pose, one mirroring the other. But for his

horns and claws, St. Onofrio is portrayed much as the elderly desert fathers who appeared

in contemporary images known as the Thebaid. The title “Thebaid” derives from the

subject of the paintings, which show hermit monks in the Egyptian desert, the most

346 Carpaneto, p. 250. The caption beneath this fresco is barely legible, but a fragment reads: Como lo maligno spirito…./delegiava essa beata dicendo…See also Romagnoli, pp. 234-239. 347 de Voragine. The Golden Legend, pp. 84-85 and 93-96.

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famous of which was near Thebes.348 Popular in Tuscan painting from the mid- fourteenth through the fifteenth century, Thebaid representations show groups of hermits in a variety of activities, placed within mountainous landscapes with churches, hermitages and other architectural details scattered throughout. On the whole, whether painted on panel or in fresco, Thebaid images were depicted in a monochrome palette.349

Two details from a contemporary Thebaid fresco in the crypt of the Hospital of Santa

Maria della Scala in Siena show hermit monks engrossed in deep conversation and

studying sacred texts outside a solitary hut [Figure 82]. As in the image of S. Onofrio in

the refectory, they are rendered in earth tone , with the heavy drapery of their

robes and voluminous beards modeled through the interplay of light and shade. Their

bulky frames and the intensity of their expressions give them an aura of gravitas that

befits their status as founders of the eremitic tradition.

Emphasis on the contemplative aspect of the eremitical vocation was one of the

central themes of the Thebaid, and was most often depicted in the middle register of the

paintings.350 Drawing on this iconography, the Tor de’Specchi image of Francesca and sant’Onofrio highlights contemplation and solitary reflection as a model for both rigorous monastic observance and as a spiritual defense against sin. It also recalls Francesca’s first vision of the devil disguised as a hermit, in which her extraordinary powers of discernment were established.351 This panel stands out in the cycle as a moment of

stillness amid chaos. In each of the refectory frescoes, the viewer has privileged access

348 Ellen Callman, “Thebaid Studies,” Antichità Viva, Volume xiv, 1975, pp. 3-22. See also Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, p. 128; Christian Heck, “The Vision of St. Anthony on a Thebaid Panel at Christ Church, Oxford,” Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Volume 59, 1996, pp. 286-294. See also Domenico Cavalca, Le Vite de’Santi Papi, Vols. I, II, Istituto Editoriale Italiano, 1915. 349Hood, Fra Angelico, p. 128. Hood defines monochrome in this sense as a palette strongly organized around earth pigments, most often terra verde, in contemporary Thebaid scenes (p. 312, n. 24). 350 Callman, “Thebaid Studies,” p. 5 351 Carpaneto, p. 225.

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to what Francesca experienced in her visions. We see what she saw. Here, however, we

do not see the St. Onofrio stuffing ashes into Francesca’s mouth. Rather, the painter

depicted the moment of Francesca’s perception of the devil rather than active engagement

with him to direct the viewer to draw on her own powers of discernment.

In the upper left corner of the panel, a simple hermitage with a small belfry

surmounted by a cross sits on a hilltop beneath a tall, feather-like tree [Figure 83]. The

hermit saint points his index finger at the threshold of the quiet retreat, indicating to

Francesca that she should follow him there and cross into his world. Clearly meant to

represent the “beautiful place” that was actually the Devil’s snare in her vision, it is

equally evocative of the monastic, and particularly Benedictine, call to the eremitic life.

Consequently, the pseudo-saint is portrayed in the habit of the Reformed Benedictines,

also referencing the Olivetan monks of Santa Maria Nova who were the spiritual

protectors of the oblate community.352 Thebaid scenes would have had particular significance for reform Benedictine communities seeking to reconnect with their roots.

The Olivetan monks at Monteoliveto, the mother house for Santa Maria Nova, commissioned a monochrome Thebaid fresco and pictorial series of standing hermit saints (both c. 1440, now largely effaced) to adorn the walls of their fifteenth-century chapter house.353 The women of Tor de’Specchi surely garnered prestige through their

corporate attachment to the Olivetan order, and would have been likely to have

duplicated imagery and decorative schemes associated with them. In her study of the

352Valerio Cattana, “Santa Francesca Romana e i monaci di Monte Oliveto” in Una santa tutta romana, pp. 403-443. See also Gabriella Zarri, “From Prophecy to Discipline, 1450-1650” in Women and Faith, especially pp. 87-91; Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 44-52. For identification of the Reformed Benedictine habit, see Hall, Dictionary of Subject and Symbols, p. 262. 353 E. Carli, L’Abbazia di Monteoliveto, p. 47. Carli attributes the hermit series to Giovanni di Paolo (c. 1440) and the Thebaid to an assistant of Giovanni di Paolo. See also, Callman, “Thebaid Studies,” p. 15 and p. 22, n. 57.

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Benedictine nuns at S. Apollonia in Florence, Andrée Hayum proposed the idea of a

patronage network within the order, suggesting a pattern of sharing artists, iconography

and common decorative schemes among houses under the same monastic Rule. 354 It is

possible that oblates of Tor de’Specchi shared artists and imagery with the Olivetans or

other Benedictine houses in their circle, though there is as yet no documentary evidence

to support this hypothesis. However, the question of an often contentious relationship

between the female oblates and their spiritual overseers, especially with regard to pastoral

care and discipline as they established themselves as formal community during the

quattrocento, remains an open one.355 The figure of Sant’Onofrio disguised as the Devil, though clearly an association with contemporary emphasis on the return to eremitic and

contemplative life, could also represent the community’s internal struggles with the

Benedictine monks at Santa Maria Nova.

At the center of the Tor de’Specchi fresco, a string of rosary beads hangs from

sant’Onofrio’s walking stick and is set off by a stretch of wall depicted behind it [Figure

84]. The beads, which were not mentioned in the text of Francesca’s vision, represent the

mnemonic device by which a sequence of prayers to the Virgin are counted. The prayers

are meant to be said in a repeated, rhythmic pattern, not unlike the canonical hours

observed by monastic communities. The Rosary’s association with Marian devotion

makes the appearance of the beads particularly relevant for the female community at Tor

de’Specchi.356 Further, rosary devotion was immensely popular by the end of the

fifteenth century, especially after Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-1484) established hefty

354Hayum, “A Renaissance Audience Considered,” p. 245. Also, Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 44-52. . 355 See Paola Vecchi, “La Congregazione delle Oblate, pp. 457-469; Cattana, “Santa Francesca Romana e i monaci di Monte Oliveto,” pp. 403-443. 356 See Adrian S. Hoch, “Pictures of Penitence from a Trecento Neapolitan Nunnery,” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 61 Bd., H 2, 1998, pp. 206-226.

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indulgences for reciting a Rosary.357 In the fresco panel, sant’Onofrio clutches the staff

that he ultimately used to beat the beata, while Francesca brushes her finger lightly over

one rosary bead, as if already in the act of reciting the prayers. She is portrayed with a

faraway gaze fixed on a point outside of the panel, in the attitude of deep contemplation

that would fortify her against the impending violence of her demonic tempter. Her

opposite hand gestures toward the doorway of the refectory and points at the SILENTIO

inscription, inviting the viewer to join her in private meditation, complete with its

ensuing torments.

For the oblate viewers, the idea of contemplative solitude was particularly

relevant in the context of Francesca’s demonic encounters. Nearly all of Mattiotti’s

battaglia accounts began by situating the beata at prayer in her private quarters when the

Devil came to call. Generally, the narrative commenced with some version of, “….one

night, the humble servant of Christ was in her room in holy meditation” (Stanno la

humile ancilla de Christo nella soa camera de nocte in sancto exercitio spirituale de

mente…).358 In fact, in his record of her vision of Christmas, 1433, Mattiotti recalled that

Francesca prepared her room for her spiritual exercises by laying out branches in order to

create the illusion of being in the forest.359 By arranging her physical space to emulate a

secluded and remote environment, she simultaneously prepared her mind for solitary

spiritual wanderings in the forms of intensive prayer and meditation. Though viewing the

refectory frescoes as a group during mealtimes, or perhaps during community meetings,

357 Hay, The Church in Italy in the Fifteenth Century, p. 69; Ringbom, Icon to Narrative, pp. 27-28. 358 See, for example, Carpaneto, p. 232. 359 Carpaneto, p. 143: …annanno nella devota cella, essa beata et ponenedove certi rami perlo acceso desiderio de stare nello bosco…

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meditating on the image of Francesca and the hermit sant’Onofrio was one step each

oblate took toward individual examination of conscience.

The convent refectory became the ritual space where the monastic community,

through gesture, movement, silence and prayer, gave thanks to God for all that sustained them: food, faith, charity and grace. 360 It was also often the place where statutory

discipline or ritual acts of penance could be performed, in emulation of Christ’s suffering

(Imitatio Christi). Anabel Thomas cites several examples of statutory punishment and of

ritual penance performed within the refectory space in her study of Italian female

religious communities.361 Food and dining acquired an ambivalent status: necessary for daily sustenance but also a potential source of sensory pleasure that could endanger the pursuit of spiritual perfection. The theological foundation for the association of food with sin lay with Adam and Eve eating the apple, therefore succumbing to the Devil’s temptation (Genesis 3:1-16). The act of eating was therefore tied to original sin and

Adam and Eve’s decision to turn away from God, and therefore had to be undertaken

with prudence and rigorous discipline.362 The disciplina, or flagellation, which was

called for throughout the Tor de’Specchi ordinations, was inflicted at this time with flails

made of string and nails.363 Whether dining or performing proscribed ritual penance or

daily punishment meted out by the madre presidente, meditation on Christ’s passion was

invoked as the pathway toward corporeal and spiritual purification in the oblates’ quest

for divine salvation.

360 Patricia Curran, Grace Before Meals: Food Ritual and Body Discipline in Covent Culture, University of Illinois Press, 1989, pp. ix, 53-56; Bonde and Maines, “To Hunger for the Word of God”, pp. 302-325; Anabel Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 38-41; Roberta Gilchrist, Contemplation and Action: The Other Monasticism, Leicester University Press, 1995, pp. 129-132. 361 See Thomas, Art and Piety. 362 See Curran, Grace Before Meals, pp. 49-73 for a summary of the theological and historical foundations of Christian food beliefs. See also, Bynum, Holy Feast, Holy Fast. 363 Thomas, p. 39.

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Throughout the battaglia texts, Francesca cries out for Christ’s succor and

support (con grande constantia [Francesca] ben confidata in Dio sempre dicendo et chiamando Yhesu como soleva).364 At Tor de’Specchi, Christ’s presence was manifested

in a mid-fifteenth-century fresco panel of the Man of Sorrows located on the wall above

the stairway in the passageway from the oratory to the refectory [Figure 85]. It was

visible when the oblates walked from their oratory to the refectory, and was facing them

when they exited the refectory to walk down the stairs. Further, community members

had an unobstructed view to this image when they looked toward the stairway from the

front of the refectory where the demon cycle was painted.

Representations of the Man of Sorrows derived from the legendary Mass of St.

Gregory. According to tradition, Pope Gregory the Great (r. 590-604) had a vision of

Christ the Redeemer while celebrating mass at the Roman Church of Santa Croce in

Gerusalemme. The image of the bleeding Christ that appeared to him was believed to

have been recorded in a painting in Santa Croce, inspiring many subsequently versions of

this theme.365 The emphasis in all of these images was on physical suffering, and on the

corporeal sacrifices of Christ as Man. The image of the Man of Sorrows had gained

widespread popularity by the fifteenth century, stemming from the popular medieval cult

of Eucharist devotion (adoration of the host) and its celebration in the Feast of Corpus

Christi.366 Recollection of Christ’s suffering was, of course, heightened during Holy

364 See Carpaneto, p. 258. 365 For a survey of the image of the Man of Sorrows in Italy during this period, see Colin Eisler, “The Golden Christ of Cortona and the Man of Sorrows in Italy, Part Two”, Art Bulletin, Vol. 51, No. 3, September, 1969, pp. 233-246. See also Caroline Walker Bynum, “Seeing and Seeing Beyond: The Mass of St. Gregory in the Fifteenth Century,” in The Mind’s Eye: Art and Theological Argument in the Middle Ages, Jeffrey Hamburger and Anne-Marie Bouché, eds., Princeton University Press, 2006, pp. 208-240; and Ringbom, Icon to Narrative, pp. 66-69. 366 See Eisler, “The Golden Christ” for a summary and extensive bibliography on Eucharistic piety and the Feast of Corpus Christi in Italy, especially in relation to the iconography of the Man of Sorrows.

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Week observances, culminating with the commemoration of the Crucifixion on Good

Friday.

Following tradition, the Tor de’Specchi Man of Sorrows shows Christ in half-

length, standing upright in his tomb (Ecce homo). [Figure 86] The image is surrounded

by a painted architectural frame, giving the viewer an exclusive window onto the sight of

the Redeemer’s tortured flesh. Christ’s naked torso appears in stark relief against a deep

red background, which is made even more ominous by the dark depths of the

sarcophagus below. Blood trickles down his forehead and oozes from the gash in his side

and onto his winding sheet. His head tilts to one side and his eyes are closed, as he offers

himself to atone for the sins of the world. Here, though pictured in silent agony, he

extends his arms out to the viewer so that his pierced palms and blood-streaked wrists are

plainly visible. One of his fingers is shown deliberately breaking the plane of the frame,

inviting the viewer to unite with him in his suffering [Figure 87]. The Tor de’Specchi

ordinations outlined Francesca’s observance of Good Friday, as a model for the

community to emulate. According to statute no. 72, “Every year during the fourth hour

of the evening of Good Friday, the beata Francesca would say the Miserere seven times

while lying on the floor in the form of a cross, and at midnight would scourge herself to

the point of bleeding in the time it would take to say the Miserere five times.”367 It is

certainly plausible to imagine the oblates carrying out Francesca’s penitential ritual with

this image of the Man of Sorrows in mind, or indeed in view if positioned at the front of

the refectory. In this case, penance would have become not only an act of Imitatio

367 Ordinationi, num. 72: Item, usava la beata Francesca omne anno la nocte dello venardì santo nella quarta hora dicere sette fiata lo Miserere, staendo in terra in croce, e nella mesa nocte faceva la desceplina a sangue per spatio de dicere lo Miserere cinque fiate. The Miserere is the fifth Penitential Psalm.

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Christi, but also of Imitatio Francesca – a recollection and re-enactment of the repeated, pious rituals of their founder. Indeed, the same could be argued in the context of regular discipline within the Tor de’Specchi refectory.

Quattrocento religious communities, both male and female, largely adopted

Reform standards of daily behavior, which included strict adherence to community statutes.368 The ordinations for the oblates of Santa Francesca Romana, which appear to

be similar to those guiding communities of pinzochere in Tuscany, set down stringent

rules for daily behavior and strict penitential guidelines for the violation of community

statutes. Anabel Thomas observed a pattern of discipline, including flagellation and

enforced fasting, in the statutes of the Tuscan communities included in her study.

Though there is no comparative study that I am aware of, the combination of food and

punishment appears to be a common feature of the statutes of both male and female

religious communities of this period, possibly in connection with reform or penitential

movements.369

Punishment for violations of the ordinations at Tor de’Specchi ranged from

admitting one’s guilt in front of the community, to the loss of food, wine, or a tablecloth

for a period of time, to eating meals seated on the floor, to public scourging or disciplina

by the madre presidente. Their statutes deemed that oblates who were familiar with the

Penitential psalms should say them, ostensibly to themselves in silence, when bread is broken. These seven psalms, which to this day serve as an integral source for prayer and

368 Hay, The Church in Italy in the Fifteenth Century, pp. 72-82; Zarri, “From Prophesy to Discipline”, pp. 87-95. 369 See Thomas, Art and Piety, pp. 38-41; Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, p. 294; Rollo-Koster, “From Prostitutes to Brides of Christ, p. 121; Richard Kieckhefer, Unquiet Souls, pp. 140-142; Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast.

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reflection during the penitential season of Lent, are meant to be said as spiritual

preparation for the confession of one’s sins.370 They are the supplications of the

wretched sinner, written to forcefully juxtapose the agony, disgrace and misery of the

sinful state and the peace, dignity and light attached to the state of divine grace. The

profoundly corporeal language of the penitential psalms would have been heightened by

viewing the painful sensuality, bodily mortification (disciplina) and vulnerability to

torture and rot portrayed in the frescoes in the Tor de’Specchi refectory.

The most conspicuously violent images in the cycle are also those that are most

evocative of the statutes calling for corporal punishment. Two panels at the end of the

cycle (furthest from the refectory door) depict nude male demons mercilessly beating the

beata Francesca Romana [Figures 59, 64] In the first of these images, which is located

on the top row in the fourth position, Francesca is accosted by three demons who appear

in human form and beat her with animal tendons (nervi di animali) [Figure 59]. The

setting for this scene is outdoors. On the left side of the panel, one demon steps through

the archways of a courtyard that appear to recall a series of arches located in the garden

beneath the refectory [Figure 88].371 Francesca and the two other demons appear in front

of a wall and closed doorway which stands diagonally opposite to the archway. Beyond

the wall, we see a sloping hillside and mountains in the distance. The beata’s assailants

are portrayed as naked muscular male figures with bat wings and curly tails who powerfully grab hold of the beata and beat her with cruel force. The animal tendons are rendered as whip-like and therefore closely associated with the instruments of both

370 In the Douay Rheims edition, the Penitential Psalms are nos. 6, 31, 37, 52 (Miserere), 101, 129 and 142. In the King James version, they are nos. 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. 371 Lugano, La nobil casa.

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Christ’s passion and Francesca’s ritual flagellation. In fact, the beastly nervi di animali

are frequently described as the demons’ weapon of choice in the battaglia narratives.372

In the second such image, which is the final panel in the bottom row of the cycle,

three demons are again depicted in the act of flogging Francesca. Here, they burst into

her private room, berate her unmercifully and beat her with dead snakes.373 The phallic

appearance of the snakes recalls the moment of original sin, especially when wielded by

the athletic, leaping demons, one of whom is shown as a satyr. In both of these panels,

Francesca is depicted as unharmed, unmoved and even serene. Though the two images

portray chaotic scenes with demons jumping about, spitting infernal flames and swinging

their demonic whips, the depiction of Francesca in each shows an attitude of spiritual

calm that ultimately indicates the state of grace that the oblates sought each time they sat

down to dine.

Contemporary vernacular texts presented literary debates between metaphorical

incarnations of Body and Soul. In one popular version, Soul describes herself as a noble

creature blackened by Flesh [Body], which must be overcome by hunger, thirst and

beatings.374 This discourse lays down the theory for the prescribed practice of ritual

mortification through enforced fasting, humiliation and scourging of the noblewomen

turned oblates, in the refectory of Tor de’Specchi. Jacobus de Teramo, bishop of Spoleto,

penned the Consolatio peccatorum or Processus Luciferi contra Jesum Christum describing a mock courtroom battle in which Jesus (represented by ) and Lucifer

(represented by a demon named Belial) argue for rights of ownership over bodies and

372 Carpaneto, pp. 234-235, 263. 373 The vision of Francesca beaten with dead snakes is dated January, 1432 and is recorded in Carpaneto, pp. 248-249. 374 Bymun, Fragmentation and Redemption, p. 202.

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souls damned to Hell.375 Colored woodblock prints illustrating late fifteenth-century

versions of the text depict the demon Belial as an incarnate being, solidly grounded and

personally interacting with earthly contemporaries at the trial. The text and woodcut

images provocatively illuminate Renaissance debates on both the existence of demonic

beings and their role in contemporary religion and society interwoven between official

Church dogma and popular piety and practice.376

In one particular print, Belial argues for the souls of Adam and Eve who, he

believes, should be consigned to eternity in Hell. This image is representative of the

typological connection made between Eve as enchantress, tempted by the serpent and

late-medieval witches and sorcerers under the control of demonic forces.377 As spiritual

daughters of both Eve and Francesca Romana, the oblates of Tor de’Specchi faced a

potential crisis of collective and individual identity hinging on the reputation of their

founder. The battle for the salvation of Francesca’s soul and, by extension, those of the

oblates, is waged in the refectory fresco scenes of her ongoing trials in the face of

temptation and a potential fall from grace.

A more domestic version of the struggle for the soul of an Innocent was circulated

through the popular images of the Madonna del Soccorso, which showed mothers

consigning their toddlers to the Virgin in order for her to punish, through beatings, the

375 Consolatio peccatorum, seu Processus Belial. German. Augsburg: Johann Schonsperger, 1487; Jacobus, de Theramo. Consolatio peccatorum, seu Processus Belial. Augsburg, Johann Schussler, 1472. The 1487 edition (German) contains colored woodcuts illustrating scenes from the mock trial. 376 See R. Po-chia Hsia, “Religious Cultures (Spirituality, Reform, High and Low),” in A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance, Guido Ruggiero, ed., Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 2002, pp. 333-348. 377 Mormondo, The Preacher’s Demons, p. 58; See also H. Diane Russell and Bernadine Barnes, Eva/Ave: Woman in Renaissance and Baroque Prints, The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1990.

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Devil that had taken up residence in their little bodies [Figure 89].378 These scenes, most

often depicted on painted altarpieces, portray the Virgin wielding a stick or paddle in her

effort to expel the invading demons. In her role as mediator between mothers and satanic

forces in the Madonna del Soccorso images, Mary presents an interesting parallel to

Francesca in the refectory frescoes as defender of her own body and soul, and those of

her spiritual daughters.

The purpose of corporeal penance and asceticism was to purify the passionate part

of the soul and to rid the intellect of sense reactions which were obstacles to

contemplation and salvation.379 In the Tor de’Specchi refectory, the oblates’ meditated on successive images of Francesca in a state of divine contemplation, and even ecstasy, in

the face of the relentless and often excruciating torments of her demonic tempters. With

every viewing of the cycle, they were meant to be moved further away from earthly attachment to sensual pleasure and toward a spiritual detachment that was grounded in an

unshakable and impregnable faith.

The Tor de’Specchi Refectory as a Ritual Space

Monastic customaries sometimes set down guidelines for walking into and

through the refectory, stipulating where and when to gesture, bow, sit or stand. In the

absence of written documentation, analyses of archaeological evidence and decorative

378 Tiziana Marozzi, Iconografia Umbro-Marchigiana della Madonna del Soccorso, Ass.ne di Cultura Operative Identita Sibillina, 1999. See also El Hanay, Efrat, Images of the Madonna del Soccorso in Italian Renaissance Art (forthcoming dissertation, Indiana, Bruce Cole). 379 Curran, Grace Before Meals, p. 56.

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programs have been successfully employed to map out ritual gesture, circulation patterns

and seating arrangements at specific sites.380 The ordinations for the oblates of Santa

Francesca do mandate specific behavior (silence, reading aloud) and the contemplative,

penitential attitude to be adopted in the refectory space, but do not stipulate the oblates’

physical movement or placement in it. However, considering the pictorial program in the

Tor de’Specchi refectory as well as what we know about the physical space during the

fifteenth century, it is possible to imagine the ritual path that the community might have

taken en route to their dining table.

The image of the doorway in the first terra verde panel is located directly adjacent

to the actual doorway leading from the Tor de’Specchi oratory and stairway, and mimics

its architectural construction [Figures 57, 73]. Here, Francesca is depicted purposefully

striding forward, with her guardian angel at her back and ready to meet her demonic

tempter head on. It is therefore plausible that the adjacent doorway was the preferred, if

not primary, entry into the refectory space. When the oblates approached the refectory

from this direction, they would have already passed by the image of the Man of Sorrows

in the stairway, and would have been reminded to adopt a penitential frame of mind from

the outset. Advancing through the space from the door, the women of the community

would have filed past the doorway with the word SILENTIO so clearly inscribed above it

and the wall displaying the expansive demon cycle. They would then turn a corner and

stop to wash their hands in an ornate marble lavabo set into a recessed niche in the south

wall – an act that was ritually akin to purifying the mind, as well as the body, in

preparation for silent contemplation and reflection [Figure 90].

380 See, for example, Bonde and Maines, “To Hunger for the Word of God”, pp. 303-348; Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women, Routledge, 1994 (entire).

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In order for the frescoes to be in view while the oblates were dining, the table(s)

would have been placed along the east (and if need be, also the north) wall of the

refectory with all chairs situated on the side that faced the images. The community is seated in exactly this way in the oratory fresco of Francesca blessing and miraculously multiplying bread [Figure 43]. Here, the table is covered with a white cloth that extends to the floor, and is set with matching white plates and pitchers of water and wine. Two oblates serve small portions of meat and rolls from the baskets that, after divine intervention, are now brimming with enough bread to sustain the entire community. It is significant that not one of the women interacts with or looks at another at the table; all are shown in attitudes of individual contemplation or reflection. Several oblates clasp their hands in prayer, two hold their hands over their hearts, and one ticks off points on her fingers, as if counting the penitential psalms as she silently works through them. This is a

representation of the ideal posture and behavior for the refectory, as outlined in the

statutes, which the oblates endeavored to achieve.

It is possible that the oblates at Tor de’Specchi were following a contemporary

patronage model among monastic communities when they designed the terra verde cycle

for their refectory. By the mid-fifteenth century, several reform communities in Florence

and Tuscany had commissioned monumental fresco cycles for their monastic cloisters,

most of which were painted in monochrome.381 Vasari reported that Masaccio painted a

terra verde rendering of the dedication ceremonies at Santa Maria del Carmine over the

door that leads from the convent interior to the cloister.382 Paolo Uccello and several

assistants decorated the Chiostro Grande (now called the Chiostro Verde) of Santa Maria

381 Hood, Fra Angelico at San Marco, p. 129. 382 Giorgio Vasari, Le vite de’ più eccellenti architetti, pittori, e scultori italiani (1560 and 1568), III, P. Barocchi and R. Bettarini, eds., Florence, Sansoni, 1971, pp. 129-130; Hood, pp. 126-129.

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Novella in a green monochromatic palette, with touches of red, black and white. Uccello

painted a similar series (now largely effaced) for the Olivetan community of San Miniato

al Monte in Florence, which was affiliated with the Roman monks at Santa Maria

Nova.383 The limited tonal range of monochrome painting would have been conducive to meditation in a space, like a cloister or refectory, which was designated for ritual contemplation and perambulation. The chiaroscuro modeling of figures and illusionistic sculptural effects produced in monochrome images often made them more legible, and less distracting, than those in the brightly colored painted cycles.384 At Tor de’Specchi,

the terra verde refectory cycle contrasted markedly with the vibrant frescoes of the

oratory, setting up a clear distinction between the visual ambiance and devotional ritual

associated with each space.

Terra Verde and the Night

Terra verde was a particularly effective medium for depicting nocturnal scenes and visions of demonic temptation. In the Christian tradition, the opposition between good and evil is often expressed in terms of light and darkness. Followers of Jesus were called sons of light and his enemies were cast as sons of darkness. The apostle Paul made this explicit when he foretold the second coming of Christ in his first letter to the

Thessalonians:

For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. For when they shall say: Peace and security; then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness,

383 Hood, pp. 132-141. 384 Hood, p. 133; Lincoln, The Invention of the Italian Renaissance Printmaker, pp. 69-75.

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that that day should overtake you as a thief. For all you are the children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do: but let us watch, and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breast plate of faith and charity, and for a helmet, the hope of salvation. (1 Thessalonians, 5:2-8)

The Rule of Saint Benedict called for monks to employ their learning

unceasingly, so that they worked both day and night. Their cycle of prayer began at

matins, which fell between 2 and 3 a.m. depending on the season, a time when the

general population was normally asleep. Matins was the longest of the offices, and

required that monks recite a long litany of prayers.385 Benedict’s Rule is in line with

Paul’s call for constant vigilance from the faithful. Those who wish to attain salvation

must always be on guard against darkness and the night, by confronting the demons of

the night at the times and in the places where they are most likely to strike. In the

ordinations of Tor de’Specchi, rules for the night were centered as much on corporeal

safety and security, as they were on spiritual continence. Doors were locked, beds were

checked, and those who missed the extended cycle of prayers said at matins were

punished by eating meals on floor.386

In a world that relied solely on candlelight or fire for illumination, the night

became associated with crime, evil and the demonic.387 Visitation by the devil was

understood to have occurred at night, when unsavory and incomprehensible characters

could roam the streets, undetected. Visionary experiences which were neither fully

385 C.H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages, third edition, Pearson Education, Ltd., 2001, p. 30. 386 See ordinations 32, 38, 39, 40, 48, 62 in Appendix A. 387 Deborah Youngs and Simon Harris, “Demonizing the Night in Medieval Europe: A Temporal Monstrosity?” in The Monstrous Middle Ages, Bettina Bildhauer and Robert Mills, eds., University of Toronto Press, 2003, pp. 134-154.

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conscious nor unconscious were often associated with the darkening hours, on the

threshold between day and night. The night was a transforming agent, the time when

temptation was most prevalent and when extra vigilance was required. 388 It is easy to imagine how the sadistic, menacing demons of the refectory frescoes would have come alive for the oblates when they viewed them amidst the flickering shadows cast by candlelight. The eerie green hues, deep shadows and gleaming white highlights of the refectory paintings would have been intensified in the warm glow of candles, making the oblates’ experience of Francesca’s nocturnal visions even more naturalistic and terrifying.

The Venetian physician and engineer, Giovanni Fontana (c. 1395- c. 1455), imagined a similar terror when he inserted his drawing of a magic lantern, the earliest one known, into his fifteenth-century treatise on military instruments [Figure 91].389

Fontana’s drawing shows a man holding a tube-shaped lantern topped by a cone pierced

with holes. Inside the lantern, a single candle is meant to project the painted image of a

batwinged devil brandishing a spear. We see the image projected in exponentially

enlarged scale, shown on what we presume to be the wall above the man. By the light of

the magic lantern, the tiny painting has become a vision of a monstrous, furry she-devil

with her tongue hanging out, bare breasts and pubic hair exposed, and gnarled, claw feet

388 Youngs and Harris, “Demonizing the Night,” pp. 137-140; Jean-Claude Schmitt, Ghosts in the Middle Ages: The Living and the Dead in Medieval Society, Teresa L. Fagan, trans., University of Chicago Press, 1998. 389 Eugenio Battisti and Giuseppa Saccaro Battisti, Le machine cifrate di Giovanni Fontana, con la riproduzione del Cod. Icon. 242 della Bayerische Staatsbibliothek di di Baveria e la decrittazione di esso e del Cod. Lat. Nov. Acq. 635 della Bibliothèque Nationale di Parigi, Arcadia Edizioni, 1984, pp. 99-100, 140; Marshall Clagett, “The Life and Works of Giovanni Fontana,” in Annali del’istituto e museo di storia della scienza di Firenze, Anno I, 1976, pp. 5-28; Anthony Grafton, “The Devil as Automaton: Giovanni Fontana and the Meanings of a Fifteenth-Century Machine,’ in Genesis Redux, Jessica Riskin, ed., University of Chicago Press, 2007, pp. 46-62; Koen Vermier, “The magic of the magic lantern (1660- 1700): on analogical demonstration and the visualization of the invisible,” The Britsh Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 38, No. 2, June, 2005, pp. 127-159; Laurent Mannoni, The Great Art of Light and Shadow: Archaeology of the Cinema, University of Exeter Press, 2000, pp. 28-32.

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that would be impossible to walk with. Below the devil’s grotesque talons, Fontana

wrote a Latin inscription that reads, “Apparentia nocturna, ad terrorem videntium”

(nocturnal apparition, to inspire terror in those who see it).390 His treatise also included

two designs for assembling automated, mechanical devils, one of which beat its breast,

spit fire and shot flames from its ears – much like the demons of the Tor de’Specchi

refectory.391

Fontana’s drawings indicate an attempt to bring the devil to life – to make visible

and tangible that which was invisible under cover of the night. Though a functional

magic lantern would not be made until the seventeenth century, Fontana’s ideas for

projecting an image of the devil signify his belief in the ability to replicate the visions of

otherworldly beings that terrified his contemporaries.392 The shadowy projections of the

seventeenth-century lanterns resembled dreams, visions or apparitions, and represented

the first time that a fantastic image could be materialized without becoming as solid as a

picture or sculpture.393 The terra verde frescoes of the Tor de’Specchi refectory represent the oblates’ attempt to make Francesca’s visions material in a quattrocento medium that, for them, could most effectively represent the devil’s nocturnal temptations. They drew on recent monastic commissions that called for monochrome representation of important communal events, and made their refectory into a virtual theatre of life-sized demons

who assailed the body of their founder, which was ultimately inviolable.

The oblates’ perpetual journey back to God and toward eternal salvation was

achieved through daily penance and contemplation. In order to live more fully in Christ,

390 Battisti and Battisti, Le Machine Cifrate, p. 99; Grafton, “The Devil as Automaton, p. 54; Mannoni, The Great Art of Light and Shadow, pp. 30-32. 391 Battisti and Battisti, pp. 94, 96, 134, 137; Grafton, pp. 46-62. 392 Grafton, p. 54. 393 Vermeir, “The magic of the magic lantern,” p. 132.

175 they had to confront his enemies, and vanquish them, with the same virility, constancy and bravery as their founder. In their convent refectory, this meant systematically eliminating the threat of falling into sin or vice, by consuming the terrifying frescoes of

Francesca’s demonic battles every time they sat down to dine. While each oblate silently filed past the image of the monstrous beast of the apocalypse, she thought of God’s final judgment at the end of days. When she meditated on the picture of the rotting demon in the form of a vermin-laden, fetid corpse, she contemplated her own corporeality and mortality in a sinful world. And when she confronted the gruesome depictions of

Francesca Romana brutally assaulted by muscular demons brandishing serpentine whips, she willingly mortified her own flesh in the hopes of joining the beata in Paradise.

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Appendix A

Statutes of ordination for the Beata Francesca

1. In the name of eternal God. These are the statutes of ordination of the Beata Francesca to her daughters in Christ, present and future, who will be in the congregation.

2. First, it is decreed and ordained that they will studiously love God above all creatures and will be united together of one heart in charity, and together in their will, which corresponds to the will of obedience.

3. Item – when [the oblates] meet one another, they will greet one another with reverence; whoever fails to do so, will admit her guilt in front of the others.

4. Item – that no one will keep anything without permission of the superior, otherwise she must give up that which she has and will fast on bread and water for one day, on the floor, having tied that which she has around her neck.

5. Item – that nothing is lent or given without permission of the superior, otherwise for every time she will eat for two days without a tablecloth and without wine.

6. Item – that no one presumes to eat or drink without the permission of she who is superior in the house, otherwise the following day she will eat on the floor without cooked food.

7. Item – that no one eats or drinks outside of the house without permission from the superior, otherwise she will be punished by always eating without a tablecloth and after the congregation.

8. Item – that no one will speak of the things of the house, nor speak in secret with people outside, without permission of the president; otherwise for each thing and for each time, she will fast for two days on bread and water on the floor.

9. Item – that no one will state some need or secret with another [oblate], but will only speak of them with the obedientia; and for every time someone does this, she will eat on the floor for two days and will receive two scourgings from the superior for the space of one Miserere.

10. Item – that no one presumes to quarrel with another, otherwise if she doesn’t quietly tell the obedientia [of the quarrel], she will fast for one day with bread and water, on the floor.

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11. Item – that no one presumes to touch another for any reason other than to take care of her when she is sick; anyone who goes against this will receive four scourgings in the presence of the congregation.

12. Item - If some kind of quarrel occurs between them [oblates], they will admit their guilt that evening to the obedientia; anyone who does not do this, will receive one scourging.

13. Item – if someone upsets or is troubled by another, they must immediately fall to their knees, admitting their guilt and saying the Ave Maria with their mouth on the floor, otherwise they will eat the following day on the floor without wine or cooked food.

14. Item – that no one speaks of vain and mundane things or of things past, but only words of God and of usefulness; anyone who does not do this will not drink wine that evening and will spend the following day in silence.

15. Item – if someone fails in obedience, the other(s) will record(s) it with humility, otherwise they will bow/lower their head one time.

16. Item – If one prohibits another from admitting her faults to the obedientia, she who is prohibited must say so right away; otherwise she will be given two scourgings for each in the presence of the others.

17. Item – that there is no opinion or judgment of the other, but every thing is taken in good faith.

18. Item – that when the superior reads or speaks, no one will presume to interrupt her speech, otherwise, the following day they will miss the main meal.

19. Item – that after compline silence is observed until the following morning when mass is said; whoever breaks this without necessity will fast on bread and water on the floor for that day.

20. Item – that at table it is always silent and every Friday there will be silence for the entire day and no one presumes to laugh at table or look at the others too much; whoever does not do this will eat on the floor one time.

21. Item – when going for indulgences all must be silent; otherwise they will admit their guilt to the obedientia in front of the others.

22. Item – that when the obedientia speaks with another person in secret, no one should be curious or listen to what she says, otherwise she will admit her guilt to the obedientia and will fast for two days on bread and water only.

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23. Item – that no one is to open the dormitory in the morning if they are not commanded to do so; whoever disobeys will receive one scourging from the superior for the space of one Miserere in the presence of the others.

24. Item – that no one will give a message to a person without permission from the obedientia; whoever does so will eat bread and water on the floor two times [for each offense].

25. Item - that no one presumes to speak with someone outside of the house without permission of the superior; whoever does not obey will not drink wine the following day.

26. Item – whoever watches the door will convey messages well; otherwise, she will admit her guilt to the superior and receive a scourging.

27. Item – when someone is sent outside of the house, no one will presume to ask her where she is going or from where she is returning, nor what she did nor what she said or any other thing; whoever does this will lose wine for one day and cooked food the other.

28. Item no one repeats in the house that which she has seen or heard outside, except with the obedientia, unless it is weighing on her conscience; otherwise, she will eat for one day without a tablecloth or the main course.

29. Item – when a secular woman comes to the house, whoever is not required should not be present; otherwise she should admit her guilt.

30. Item – all of those who committed infractions during the week should admit their guilt on Friday nights in front of the congregation; and if anything is not admitted, others who know of it should state it charitably; those who do not do this will lose one day of wine and one of cooked food.

31. Item – if someone damages something, she should admit her guilt in front of the others, and if someone breaks a piece of pottery, she will wear it around her neck while eating, and will eat on the floor; otherwise she will fast for one day on bread and water, sitting on the floor.

32. Item – whoever does not say matins at the designated hour without permission of the obedientia, must admit her guilt openly and eat on the floor.

33. Item – all of the alms that come from any persons must be given to the superior; whoever does otherwise will eat for two days on the floor without a main course.

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34. Item – no one presumes to go out the door of the house without the blessing of the president; anyone who does otherwise, will be last in every thing for two weeks, and every evening during that time will be given a scourging for the space of one Magnificat.

35. Item – if something sudden occurs outside of the house, that was not previously known or thought of, one should try to decide what to do according to the will of the president; otherwise, she should admit her guilt in front of everyone, and for one week will eat without a tablecloth or meat.

36. Item – no one presumes to touch the hand of a man even though they might be close; who ever does otherwise, loses wine for one day for every time it happened.

37. Item - if the dormitory is left open at night, all involved will admit their guilt and the following day they will eat on the floor.

38. Item – that at midnight everyone must be in the house; anyone who does otherwise without permission of the president, will sleep that night on the floor and will not eat at the table the following day.

39. Item – at the designated hour, all of the doors of the house will be locked and no one will presume to open any of them without the express permission of the president; anyone who does otherwise will kneel with their arms like a cross in the doorway of the refectory while the others are eating the following morning.

40. Item – no one will presume to open any of the doors or go outside of the house before the day is clear, that is, before the sun rises, save for in great necessity and with the permission of the president; anyone who does otherwise will fast for one day on bread and water on the floor, and will receive a scourging for the space of one Miserere.

41. Item – when the president is outside of the house, she who remains in her place will be obeyed and revered as if she were the president; those who do not do this will make the aforesaid penance.

42. Item – no one should put more inordinate affection into one exercise than in another; that which is commanded should be done without quarreling or rebellion; anyone who does otherwise will receive a scourging in front of the entire congregation for the space of two De Profundis.

43. Item – anyone who is sent outside of the house should be prudent and circumspect according to the time and the place and not cause scandal; if a scandal occurs, she has to bring it to the attention of the president and receive the penitence that she gives out.

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44. Item – when [oblates] are outside of the house, there should always be at least two or three of them together; if someone does otherwise, she should admit her guilt to the president in the presence of the others and will be given a scourging for the space of five Patre nostri with the Ave Maria.

45. Item – No one should go outside of the house alone, unless she is old or able to go out to wash clothes or do other services; otherwise, whoever sends her or whoever is sent will eat for three days without wine and will be scourged three times in the presence of the others.

46. Item – no one should wash their head nor their feet nor their clothes without permission of the superior; whoever doesn’t do this will eat on the floor one day without cooked food.

47. Item – the president, or someone ordered by her, will check the beds once a week, and if anyone has something without permission, the object will be taken away, and she will fast for two days on bread and water, on the floor with the said object.

48. Item – that everyone sleeps in bed alone and that no one sleeps in one place alone; anyone who does otherwise eats separated from the others for eight days, without a tablecloth, and every evening she will be given a scourging for the space of one Salve Regina.

49. Item – if anyone is given permission to eat outside of the house, she should not presume to eat or drink where any men might be; anyone who does otherwise will be separated for fifteen days from the table of the congregation and will eat on the floor, and on Fridays she will fast on bread and water.

50. Item – no one presumes to exit or enter the house through any other than the usual door without permission; anyone who does otherwise will make the penitence stated above.

51. Item – whoever is healthy doesn’t drink wine during the day; otherwise she will eat on the floor the following day without wine.

52. Item – all will come to the table when called; anyone who does otherwise will eat on the floor, unless they don’t have permission from the president.

53. Item - If anyone says “mine” about any thing, they will say the Miserere while prostrated in the form of a cross.

54. Item – no one should dress themselves in or wear anything new without the permission and blessing of the president; anyone who does otherwise will take off the said item and will be given a scourging by the superior for the space of one Miserere.

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55. Item – when bread is broken everyone should be silent, and those who know to say the penitential psalms will say them; those who don’t know them will say other prayers; otherwise they will lose wine and a main course for one day.

56. Item – when someone is entrusted with an official duty, she must first wash the clothes of the others as if they were hers; whoever does otherwise goes fifteen days without clean clothes.

57. Item – whoever asks something of the superior and is refused should be content without disturbing her further; anyone who does otherwise will receive a scourging for the space of one De profundis.

58. Item – no one should presume to sing neither softly nor loudly when she is in a place where she can be heard, even if singing songs of spiritual things; otherwise she will eat one time on the floor and without wine.

59. Item – when you find yourself speaking of idle or mundane things, you should quickly change to speaking of things that are useful and edifying; anyone who does not do this will eat one day without a tablecloth.

60. Item – anyone who goes to wash clothes has to wear a long dress down to the water; and whoever gives the scourging, should hold a cloth over the chest as high as the neck; and no one is to wear the black dress without sleeves; anyone who does otherwise fasts for day of bread and water, and eats on the floor.

61. Item – anyone who needs a small thing at the table should signal that it be given to her; otherwise she doesn’t eat cooked food the following day.

62. Item – the canonical hours are to be said in the following way: at matins the Patre nostro with the Ave Maria should be said fifty times; at prime that which was already said, but thirty-three times; at terce, sext, and none and at compline, they should be said for each hour fifteen times and at vespers said twenty-five times. Whoever does not say them without legitimate reason has to say them twice, and admit her guilt to the president in front of the others.

63. Item – they should be making four fasts every year: the first is for Lent; the second is for Advent; the third is for the feast of the Holy Spirit and the fourth for the [feast of] Holy Mary. All the rest of the year should be carried out this way: Fridays and Saturdays will be observed by fasting; Mondays and Wednesdays, no one will eat meat, with the exception of those showing signs of sickness; Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays meat will be eaten only during the day at lunchtime; Evenings when there is no fasting, one will eat soberly; and at all times use small amount of well-watered wine; and from summer to winter do not sleep more than seven hours between night and day. Whoever does not observe the above-mentioned things, will state her guilt in front of the

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congregation and will be punished harshly according to the importance in the conscience of the superior.

64. Item – the clothing should be worn this way: underneath, a white skirt will be worn; on top of that, a black skirt and a belt of black rope; the cloth for coverings will be of linen; that is, bed sheets and edged cloth and other cloth for the head, and the woolen clothes as well as the others should be rough and not ostentatious.

65. Item – no one can send, nor receive, nor read, nor make read, any letters or other writings without permission of the president, and which was not first shown to her superior. Whoever does otherwise will not be absolved from mortal sin, and will be damned for this sin that shall not be absolved, if it is not first shown to the said president, except on the death bed. For this excess, one will be incarcerated for the space of one month, and will fast every Friday with only bread and water, and be scourged for the space of two Miserere; and on Mondays and Wednesdays, she will not drink wine, nor eat a main course.

66. Item – In folding the skirt, it should not have pleats. Said skirt should not be longer than eighteen palmi from the foot, and from the head it should cover part of the neck so that it will be necessary to have a button on one side. The head cloth should not have pleats. If there are pleats, they should be eliminated before wearing the cloth. Item – there should be nothing on top of the veil. Item – the head should be covered in such a way that nothing is visible beyond the forehead. No one should go out unless he has shoes on. Anyone who does other than the things said above will fast for two days on bread and wine on the floor, for each time.

67. Item – All of the doors of the house will be locked by night and by day, and no man who is over the age of five is ever allowed to enter, except for the confessor when necessary, and the doctor in case of sickness, and plasterers and carpenters to modify the house; and when they are in the house, it will always be with doors open, and if possible, in the company of others. Whoever does not observe these things will be last in all things, and on Fridays and Wednesdays will be given a scourging for the space of three Patre nostri with the Ave Maria.

68. Item – No one presumes to appear at the door, nor in the window, nor in any place where she might see a person or anything else outside of the house; whoever does otherwise will eat one day on the floor, without wine.

69. Item – No one presumes neither to defend nor excuse anyone who has been reprimanded by the superior; anyone who does otherwise will eat on the floor for one week and will be given a scourging for the space of one Miserere every evening.

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70. Item – No one presumes, either by request of the confessor or of another person, to keep something secret from the president; otherwise, she will not get absolution until she has told the president, and for penitence she will be incarcerated for two months, fasting every Friday on bread and water, and Mondays and Wednesdays she will have no wine, and she will be given a scourging for the space of two De Profundis.

71. The said beata Francesca in the end ordered and declared that all of the above things should be limited and dispensed with discretion, more or less, according to how it weighs on the conscience of the superior, that is, of the president, to whom all will be always reverent and obedient, and observant of the commandments of God and of the Church.

72. Item – beata Francesca, every year on the night of Good Friday, in the fourth hour, would say the Miserere seven times while prostrated on the floor in the form of a cross, and at midnight she would scourge herself until she bled in the time that it took to say the Miserere five times.

73. Item – On Holy Saturday every year, when returning from Mass, the community should make a procession in the house, beginning as they entered through the door and ending in the oratory, saying the litany and the hymn Te Deum seven times; anyone who doesn’t know these prayers should say the Miserere instead; and anyone who doesn’t know the Miserere, should say the Patre nostro with the Ave Maria fifteen times. Then in reverence for the Passion of our Savior, should say the Patre nostro with the Ave Maria six thousand six hundred sixty- six times.

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Figure 1: Fra Angelico, Saint Lawrence Distributing Alms, c. 1448, Chapel of Nicholas V, Vatican Museum, Rome.

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Figure 2: Patrizia Marchetti, Axonometric reconstruction of fifteenth-century complex of Tor de’Specchi, La casa delle Oblate di Santa Francesca Romana a Tor de’Specchi, BetaGamma Editrice. (1. stall; 2. stairway; 3. oratory 4. refectory; 5. original tower (Tor de’Specchi) with kitchen and cell).

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Figure 3: Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the elder, Santa Francesca Romana Holding the Christ Child, c. 1445, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (1975.1.101).

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Figure 4: Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the elder, Santa Francesca Romana Embraced by the Virgin, c, 1445, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1975.1.100).

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Figure 5: Attributed to Antonio da Viterbo the elder, The Communion and Consecration of the Blessed Francesca Romana, c. 1445,

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Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (37.742).

Figure 6: Pietro Lorenzetti, Altarpiece of the Beata Umiltà, c. 1315, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

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Figure 7: Francesca and the infant Jesus, detail of Figure 3.

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Figure 8: Meditations on the Life of Christ, The Nativity: The Virgin embracing the child (detail), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris MS. ITAL. 115.

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Figure 9: Meditations on the Life of Christ, The child comforting the Virgin after the circumcision (detail), Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris MS. ITAL. 115.

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Figure 10: Piero della Francesca, Madonna della Misericordia, 1460-62, Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro.

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Figure 11: The Virgin embracing Francesca Romana, detail of Figure 4.

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Figure 12: Mary Magdalene and Saint Benedict envelop oblates, detail of Figure 4.

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Figure 13: Angel, cats and dogs, detail of Figure 4. Photograph by author.

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Figure 14: Guardian angel spinning on loom, detail of Figure 4. Photograph by author.

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Figure 15: Giovanni di Paolo, The Miraculous Communion of Catherine of Siena, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (32.100.95).

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Figure 16: Communion wafer stamped with Name of Jesus, detail of Figure 5.

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Figure 17: The Virgin’s tri-layered crown, details of Figure 3.

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Figure 18: Coronation of the Virgin, thirteenth-century apse mosaic, Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome.

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Figure 19: Saint Peter wearing the papal tiara, detail of Figure 5.

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Figure 20: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Four walls of Tor de’Specchi oratory, c. 1468. Clockwise from top left: east wall; south wall; north wall with altarpiece; west wall. Photographs by author.

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Figure 21: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca and her followers make their formal oblation at Santa Maria Nova, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 22: Giotto, Innocent approves the Rule of the Franciscan Order, c. 1300, Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi.

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Figure 23: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Altar wall (north wall), c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 24: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, The Virgin nursing the infant Christ, c. 1468, detail, altarpiece, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 25: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana displays Psalm 72, c. 1468, detail, altarpiece, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 26: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana heals the man with a severed arm, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 27: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana heals the foot of a man chopping wood, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 28: Bandages with dried blood, detail of Figure 27. Photograph by author.

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Figure 29: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana cures man who had lost the use of one leg, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 30: Bandages and apothecary jar, detail of Figure 29. Photograph by author.

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Figure 31: Fra Angelico, The Healing of Palladia by Saints Cosmas and Damian, c. 1440, predella panel from the San Marco Altarpiece, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1952.5.3).

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Figure 32: Figure of Saint Benedict, detail, altarpiece, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 33: Madonna and Child with Saint Benedict and Francesca Romana, fifteenth-century fresco, Tor de’Specchi entryway. Photograph by author.

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Figure 34: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana’s Vision of Hell, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 35: Grate at the base of fresco of Hell, detail of Figure 34. Photograph by author.

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Figure 36: Woodcut from the title page of the plays of Terence, Lyons, 1493.

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Figure 37: Left – Fra Angelico, Saint Lawrence Distributing Alms, detail of Figure 1; Right – Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Tor de’Specchi altarpiece, detail of Figure 23. Photograph by author.

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Figure 38: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, The Communion and Consecration of Francesca Romana, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 39: Francesca’s guardian angel, detail of Figure 38. Photograph by author.

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Figure 40: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana distributes grain to the poor, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 41: Fra Angelico, Saint Stephen Distributes Alms to the Poor, c. 1448, Chapel of Nicholas V, Vatican Museum, Rome.

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Figure 42: Piety as a Lady Distributing Alms, The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, c. 1440, Morgan Library, New York, MS M.945.

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Figure 43: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana miraculously multiplies bread, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 44: View of south wall, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 45: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca Romana holds the infant Christ, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 46: Memory image from Vienna Cod. 5393, fol 33r, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.

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Figure 47: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, The Death of Francesca Romana, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 48: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca’s Obsequies in Santa Maria Nova, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 49: Francesca recites her final prayers, detail of Figure 47. Photograph by author.

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Figure 50: Christ takes hold of Francesca’s risen soul, detail of Figure 47. Photograph by author.

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Figure 51: Lame, blind and crippled, detail of Figure 48. Photograph by author.

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Figure 52: Left: Francesca Romana in the Chapel of Nicholas V, detail of Figure 1; Right: Figure of oblate at the funeral of Francesca Romana, detail of Figure 48. Photograph by author.

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Figure 53: Attributed to Antoniazzo Romano, Francesca revives suffocated infant, c. 1468, Tor de’Specchi oratory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 54: Man expelling demons, detail of Figure 48. Photograph by author.

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Figure 55: Artist unknown, Demons tear up Francesca Romana’s prayer books, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 56: Unknown artist, Francesca pushed onto a rotting corpse, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 57: Terra verde fresco cycle, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 58: Artist unknown, The devil appears in the guise of sant’Onofrio, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 59: Unknown artist, Francesca beaten with animal tendons, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 60: Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Apollo and Daphne, c. 1460. National Gallery, London.

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Figure 61: Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

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Figure 62: Sandro Botticelli, Nastagio in the Pinewoods of Ravenna, c. 1483, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

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Figure 63: After Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Lamentation over a dead hero, c. 1450-1500, Copyright The Wallace Collection, London.

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Figure 64: Unknown artist, Francesca beaten with dead snakes, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 65: Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Nude dancers, c. 1465, Villa La Gallina, Florence.

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Figure 66: Luca Signorelli, Flagellation, c. 1482-85, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

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Figure 67: Body of a Roman Maiden, from the sylloge of Bartholomeus Fontius. Oxford, The Bodleian Library, MS Lat. Misc. d. 85, f. 161v. Copyright The Bodleian Library.

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Figure 68: Sandro Botticelli, The Three Temptations of Christ, detail, 1481-82, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.

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Figure 69: Antonio del Pollaiuolo, The Battle of the Nudes, detail, c. 1470-75(?), Cleveland Museum of Art.

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Figure 70: Luca Signorelli, Nude man seen from behind. Bayonne, Musée Bonnat, 148. Copyright Musée Bonnat.

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Figure 71: Florentine, Saint Catherine of Siena and Four Scenes from her Life, c. 1465, British Museum, Print Room, Hind A.I.66. Copyright British Museum.

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Figure 72: Unknown artist: First two scenes of terra verde cycle, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 73: Unknown artist, Francesca confronts the beast of the apocalypse, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 74: Left: Saint Paul thrusts his sword into the beast of the apocalypse, detail of Figure 73; Right: Hell-mouth, detail of Figure 34. Photographs by author.

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Figure 75: Sinners with toads and snakes, detail of Figure 34. Photograph by author.

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Figure 76: Artist Unknown, Francesca assaulted by demons disguised as sheep, c. 1485, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 77: Demonic sheep, detail of Figure 76. Photograph by author.

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Figure 78: Top: Apse mosaic, Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, detail of sheep; Bottom: Apse mosaic, Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, detail of sheep.

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Figure 79: Mountain in background, detail of Figure 76. Photograph by author.

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Figure 80: Top: Fra Angelico, Saint Peter Martyr Enjoining Silence, Florence, San Marco, cloister; Bottom: Benozzo Gozzoli and workshop, Saint Dominic Urging Silence, c. 1490, Convent of San Domenico, Pisa, refectory.

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Figure 81: Doorway with SILENTIO inscription, Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 82: Two details from a Thebaid fresco, crypt, Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, Siena.

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Figure 83: Sant’Onofrio points to his hermitage, detail of Figure 58. Photograph by author.

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Figure 84: Rosary beads, detail of Figure 58. Photograph by author.

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Figure 85: Unknown artist, Man of Sorrows in passageway from oratory to refectory, c. 1475, Tor de’Specchi. Photograph by author.

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Figure 86: Unknown artist, Man of Sorrows (Ecce Homo), c. 1475, Tor de’Specchi. Photograph by author.

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Figure 87: Hand of Man of Sorrows, detail of Figure 86. Photograph by author.

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Figure 88: Column from original cortile at Tor de’Specchi. Photograph by author.

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Figure 89: Master of the Johnson Nativity, Madonna del Soccorso, c. 1475-85, Church of Santo Spirito, Florence.

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Figure 90: Marble lavabo in south wall of Tor de’Specchi refectory. Photograph by author.

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Figure 91: Giovanni Fontana, Magic lantern projecting the image of a she-devil, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich, Cod. Icon. 242. Copyright Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.

275

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