Don Gianluca Busi Parmigianino san Rocco presentazione del libro

I sincerely thank Monsignor Oreste Leonardi, who has already been mentioned, for having invited me, involved me in this event, which moreover gave me the opportunity to read this book you are holding in your hands I have seen that it is packaged with great care and utmost erudition. And indeed today, right here in the Church of the Celestines, it is being presented through various testimonies. I enter the context of this painting by Parmigianino from another doorway, in comparison to how the book is written, according to that style originating antiquely from Vasari and then was followed by many art historians Those who have followed the lesson up to our times, of whom the most famous is undoubtedly Longhi. We must consider this: we always find it difficult when we observe a Renaissance painting. just like this one by Parmigianino, to understand that it was not painted for a museum. We are accustomed to the museum display of artworks. In this case, as you enter this church, you see the large altar ball. We have a direct connection to a painting that was created for a church. but most of them, due to a whole series of factors—Napoleon's suppressions and many other events— We are accustomed to the museum display of artworks. So we can no longer read them within their context. Therefore, we have lost many of the hermeneutical keys. that can facilitate a deep and contextual reading of an artwork such as Parmigianino's Saint Roch. This is a bit of my key to accessing this spiritual meditation. Here, as can be seen from the book you have in your hands, The painting was commissioned for the chapel by a donor, possibly Baldassare or possibly Fabrizio da Milano, in 1527. In gratitude for the end of the plague. Now, this aspect opens for us a first reflection dedicated to the placement of the altar balls. within noble chapels built for the remembrance and spiritual support of ancestors. I urge you, when we go into one of the many chapels of San Petronio We must remember why they were built, for the remembrance and commemoration of the ancestors of that family. Indeed, in ancient times, the deceased were buried after death alongside the church in common graves. According to the mindset of the time, which was this, the close proximity to the place of worship It ensured them certain protection from the forces of evil. which could have hindered their ascent toward paradise. And it is interesting to reflect here that several centuries later, in 1804, applied in fact, this edict in Bologna in 1806, Napoleon, through the promulgation of the Edict of Saint-Cloud, order to relocate the cemeteries to a remote place, either of musket or of stone, A rifle bullet from those times, 30–40 meters away. These, the deceased, are mentioned in the edict of St. Claude. They were supposed to be built in an elevated position, exposed to the north in sunny and well-ventilated locations to ensure its ventilation from any unpleasant odors and be surrounded by walls at least two meters high, As you can see, we still have cemeteries today. And I would like to draw your attention to this interesting shift in perspective, a real turning point, in which the motivations for custody and the location of the deceased shifts from typically spiritual concerns, from the medieval period up to the Baroque era, And instead they become typical medical precautions of the scientific age. Now let's get to the point. The Gentilizia Chapel, and here you see the Bolognini Chapel. in Bologna and in San Petronio, Thus, is born with the intent of doing what? To dedicate an even more sacred space Common Sewer Adjacent to the Church dedicated to one's ancestors within and therefore not only close to the Church, guaranteeing them perpetual suffrages as well obtained through the celebration of masses for their eternal salvation, the so-called legates. Therefore, the family not only built the Gentilizia Chapel, she also assured me that at least once a day there would be a legato that ensured a mass whose sacrifice was offered for the repose of their own deceased. And not only that, we must also imagine which often, or at least occasionally, the very relatives of the deceased if they were gathered around the altar for the celebration entering a kind of virtual dialogue with the altarpiece, in this case the altarpiece the work by Parmigianino that we are discussing. And so we must imagine this scene, The altar in the center, the altarpiece behind it and everything around these dead ones who are celebrating together with the priest for their deceased. And this is why during that period to the painting of Saint Roch, first half of the 1500s There is an evolution of the ancient political. as for example this which can be observed in the Bolognini Chapel Starting from a model of this type, The old politician you see above at the altar where the Mass was celebrated We assume a different formulation which is that of the Sacred Conversation, A new large-scale painting which assumes this new posture. And here we can see the Sacred Conversation. What does it propose in the Bentivoglio altarpiece? A kind of image in which the sky and its inhabitants They come to visit our land up to building an assembly circle who unites the saints in heaven and the relatives holding them tightly in the family chapel In a single embrace. And this interests me greatly. So when we go to San Petronio in the Bolognini Chapel, and we see one of these many noble chapels, Let's try to imagine what there was And what was being handled there. So it's precisely the idea of a sky which exposed itself on land and in the Eucharistic sacrifice It makes a single communion between heaven and earth. You can truly see the power of these paintings if they are brought back into contact with their native context. In this sense, we can read The Scirocco of Parmigianino, as some critics have indeed emphasized what a saint proposes individually only. This is a bit atypical, anticipating, however, customary practices which will only be affirmed during the Counter-Reformation, that is, from the Sacred Conversation, As you can see here, even behind me, It will then be affirmed after the triumph of a single saint. This is quite an unusual anticipation, this one by Parmigianino. Thus anticipate these things which will assert themselves in the Counter-Reformation, in the enveloping atmosphere of the Eucharistic celebration in the Gentilizia Chapel, in which not only the attendees They were scorning a painting in front of them, but they were precisely enveloped by a presence as it descends from above He ascended into heaven. This first example I showed you It's nothing but a core sample. which allows us to understand better what it means to appreciate a work of art within the native context and what spiritual perspectives can it open we relearn how to read works of art surpassing Vasari's outdated interpretations. Now I add an additional aspect which I still find even more interesting, that is, the connection between the altar piece and the celebration of the Eucharist. Look very carefully at this image That way we understand what is happening. With the reform of Vatican II We have only just returned very recently to the repositioning of the altar in the ancient position so-called people and there is no certainty for the reason that at a certain point perhaps presumably after the reform Gregory VII in 1087 have the priests begun to celebrate with their backs instead turned to the people. One of the most plausible hypotheses which I am taking into consideration it was that there was a desire to see the relics that traditionally They were kept inside the altar. and lift them up high with appropriate relics which were located behind the altar. I'll show you one in the cathedral of Arezzo. This is an example from a manual. These devices became briefly so monumental which seems that they no longer allowed the priest to celebrate behind the altar, facing the people as was the custom. That's quite enough, isn't it? You can't go celebrate back there. You'll have to come from the front side, This seems to be the phenomenon. From this position, they were placed behind but ever higher and all this monumental apparatus He came closer and closer to the altar. And so, at this point, what happens? As I tell you here in the cathedral of Arezzo The priest begins to celebrate. From this part. And outside these conjectures however, the interesting aspect for us It is that in this configuration the priest celebrating with his back turned but if it comes to creating a suggestive possibility to read the altarpiece in correspondence with the Eucharistic celebration especially at the climactic moment of the elevations. Try to imagine this image, I couldn't find anything better than this. Do you see the priest at the moment of elevation? Behind it are these retractable altar panels. Then here there is a very strong evocation between the true body of Christ, Christ who becomes true body in the consecrated bread, and the image that is behind which is not reduced may powerfully evoke It is the meaning of the consecrated host. This was the way our ancestors had. to understand the mysteries of faith, Why didn't they read the Bible? And the liturgy was in Latin. Therefore, translated into our concrete case You need only imagine Where would the elevated Eucharist be placed? inside the panel of Saint Roch. It is very easy, considering also the parallax line that unites the eye with the observer which is placed much lower than the altarpiece, Indicate in the dark area that occurs above the left leg below the hand of Saint Roch who powerfully affirms the donor almost lifting it up. If you see here a priest What is he celebrating? And imagine the moment of elevation more or less the Eucharist You can see it in this position here. Now this is very important I will try to explain why It's probably made just that way. in this position. People in the time of the Parmigianino always remembered, They did not have access to the sacred scripture. which for them was a sealed and closed book in a language incomprehensible to them and that was translated for them only thanks to preaching in the vernacular which is however sporadic It is notoriously ineffective. Negative comments about priests' sermons We've come up with so many of them recently but it's something that if you read All spiritual commentaries speak of it and above all, therefore, thanks to the images in what way does the sacred scripture was communicated to the people through the images but not only through this extraordinary evocation among the Eucharist especially at the moment of elevation and the reading of the altarpiece that was behind So then, what can we think about it? to this evocative power of the Eucharist elevated which allows us to read in watermark You see a saint healed from the plague Where is the Eucharist located? Stay here Where is the wound being treated? Who is Christ who saves who you see is Saint Roch, who is saved Your turn, touching saves the donor So here you can see that it is being produced An extraordinary evocation What is this? The Eucharist raised up allows us to read In filigree, a saint he recovered from the plague which pulls with force in turn the donor from the illness Rocco heals in some way for contact the donor what obscures far more profoundly the real presence of the Lamb of God who appears in his true body who tears San Rocco and all of us away lately from the plots of death Look how powerful this image is if we know how to read it And thus I conclude. This is merely one of the possible ones reading excerpts what should be added to it an infinite other imagined over the course of the centuries from generation of faithful those who preceded us In the sign of faith and thanks not only to the image to this context truly mystagogical in which they were inserted where they nurtured their faith the faithful irrobustening the lived experiences giving thanks to God Thank you