I stumbled upon the Madonna
della Misericordia in Carmel on a sunny
December morning in 2003. She was standing on a coffee
table at Brinton's, a
beautiful store now defunct. As I was leaving the store with a couple
of Christmas
ornaments in my hands, I was compelled by a strange force to go
back and take her home.
I didn't know her name, I wasn't even sure she was the Madonna, but I
was drawn to her beauty and the aura of tranquil protection she
radiated. According to the saleswoman she was, perhaps, the Madonna of
the Streets, as the people gathered under the folds of her cloak
suggested. A sticker placed at the bottom of the base revealed her
name: Mother of Mercy.
Later I realized that I had seen and photographed similar images all over the streets of Venice but hadn't noticed her. My next trip to Venice in September 2004 was in search of the Madonna della Misericordia. A pursuit that continues until now. I know of thirty-two representations of the Madonna della Misericordia scattered all over Venice; a few are in churches and museums, tucked away from general view, but most are not; they are in the streets of Venice offering protection to passersby as they have been doing for centuries; all we have to do is lift our eyes. Curiously, the locations on the map seem to delineate the contour of Mary's cloak, with her head at the Scuola Vecchia della Misericordia, where she once reigned over the main portal and where only a scar remains now. The relief was taken to London and placed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it can be admired today. I am very grateful to Annie from Churches in Venice who has a very keen eye for the reliefs of the Madonna and spotted a few that were unknown to me and graciously shared her pictures with me. |
At the same time that I started
my research on the Madonna della Misericordia in Venice, a student from
the Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, C. Lena, started her senior
thesis on
the same subject. Her work, finished in 2004, did not become
known
to me until the beginning of 2009 when most of this page was already
published. It was with great satisfaction that I realized that I have
not missed any of the important representations of the Madonna della
Misericordia, still her thesis made me aware of three images of which I
had no knowledge: the Madonna at Corte Sabion (#30), the Madonna at the
Church of the Eremite (#31) and the Madonna at Corte dei Meloni (#32).
The numbering of the
representations on this page loosely follows the order in which I
discovered them
rather than the most logical system of geographical proximity. That's
why Madonna #7 and Madonna #25, which are a stone's throw away from
each
other, are separated by 18 numbers. But this is Venice after all, and
when it comes to numbering, I'm endeared to the long-held Venetian
tradition of putting logic aside.
If you want to see all the
representations in one day, which I do not recommend unless you are on
a strict schedule or on a strict lose-weight program, I suggest that
you follow this order: 30; 15-17; 31; 18-21; 26; 11 (viewed from San
Stae);
32; 10; 23; 24; 14; 13; 1; 12; 9; 8; 5-7; 25; 2; 3; 28; 29; 4; 27 and
22.
|
Nobody knows for certain the
origins of the iconography of the Madonna
della
Misericordia. The image appeared almost simultaneously in Central
Italy, Cyprus and Armenian Cilicia in the second half of the XIII
century. It is likely that it evolved from the Byzantine Icon of Virgin
Orans or Platytera
(meaning: "More Spacious than the Heavens"), which
depicts the Virgin wrapped in a densely pleated mantle, her arms
outstretched towards Heaven. Christ rests in a circle on her
chest.
The Platytera shown on the left can be admired in Campo San Luca.
Some of the earliest works of the Madonna della Misericordia are "Madonna of the Franciscans" by Duccio (ca. 1280); the Marshal Oshin Gospels (1274) and an icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child in the Byzantine Museum in Nicosia (late XIII century). The mendicant orders of the Franciscans and Carmelites with their many ties in Asia Minor, played an important role in disseminating the image. Duccio's Madonna can be admired in Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale. The Marshal Oshin Gospels are in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York. |
Outside Venice |
Bibliography- Venice and Its Lagoon. G. Lorenzetti; Lint, Trieste, 1999.- The Treasures of Venice. A. Manno, M. Venchierutti, P. Codato; Rizzoli, New York, 2004. - Venice. Thirty Walks to Explore the City. P. Giordani; Cicero, Venezia, 2002. - Correr Museum. G. Romanelli; Electa, Milan, 1995. - Ca' d'Oro. A Augusti, F. Saccardo; Electa, Milan, 2002. - The Accademia Galleries in Venice; Electa, Venice, 2002. - Paintings in Venice. A Gentili, G. Romanelli, P. Rylands, G. Nepi Scirè; Bulfinch Press, Boston, 2002. - Venetian Colour. P. Hills; Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, 1999. - Venezia, Itinerari Spirituali. San Paolo, Milano, 2002. - I "Capitelli" di Venezia. Arte Sacra Minore in Venezia. P. Fabbiàn, F. S. Cumàn; Ed. Helvetica, Venezia, 1987. - Bizantium. Faith and Power (1261-1557). H. C. Evans ed. Metropolitan Museum, New York, 2004. - The Frari's Basilica. P. L. Marini; Kina, Italia. - Calli, Campielli e Canali. G. P. Nadali, R. Vianello; Ed. Helvetica, Mestre, 1999. - Venice. Art and Architecture. G. Romanelli ed. Könemann, Cologne, 1997. - Duccio. G. Ragionieri; Akal, Madrid, 1992. - The Grand Canal. U. Franzoi, M. Smith, D. Wheeler; Vendome Press, New York, 1994. - La Scultura Esterna a Venezia. A. Rizzi; Stamperia di Venezia, Venezia, 1987. - Vera da Pozzo di Venezia. A. Rizzi; Filippi Editore, Venezia, 2007. - Venice. Art and Architecture. M. Kaminski. Könemann, Cologne, 2000. - Le Madonne della Misericordia nella Plastica Medievale Veneziana: Censimiento e Analisi Iconografica. C. Lena; Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, senior thesis, 2003-2004. |
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