Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Roman Plague of 680 AD
Alternate Title:
Penitential Procession of Sixtus IV
Image View:
Detail, lower right corner, the dead plague victims
Creator:
attributed to Antoniazzo Romano (Italian painter, active ca. 1461-1508)
Location:
repository: San Pietro in Vincoli (Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Location Note:
4/a Piazza San Pietro in Vincoli
GPS:
41.893872 12.493069
Date:
ca. 1476 (creation)
Cultural Context:
Italian
Style Period:
Fifteenth century; Renaissance
Work Type 1:
fresco (painting)
Classification:
Paintings
Material:
pigment on plaster (fresco)
Technique:
fresco painting (technique)
Measurements:
300 cm (height) x 155 cm (width)
Subjects:
literary or legendary; rulers and leaders; Plague; Sebastian, Saint; Sixtus IV, Pope, 1414-1484; Pope Gregory the Great
Description:
Gregory the Great is seen at the top of the painting within an idealized architectural setting in council with cardinals, and again at the lower left, leading a procession through the streets to intercede against the Roman plague of 680 CE, which is seen as a green monster attacking a house at the right. An angel appears with the monster (as described in the Golden Legend). The Golden Legend also describes the intervention of St. Sebastian in halting the plague. The event depicted is a symbolic precedent for a similar penitential procession authorized by Sixtus IV in 1476, although he did personally not lead it. The face of Gregory the Great, portrayed at the bottom, is actually the face of Sixtus IV. (Source: Spinks, Jennifer; Eichberger, Dagmar; Religion, the Supernatural and Visual Culture in Early Modern Europe, Lam edition (July 31, 2015), Leiden: Brill, 2015 (978-9004297265))
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
7A2-I-R-SPV-PS-A09
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Roman Plague of 680 AD