Maria Salus Populi Romani, the icon of the popes against pandemics
Salus Populi Romani is a very ancient work and therefore very fragile. The table support is destined to gradually deteriorate.
The work was restored recently under the direction of the director of the Museums Barbara Jatta.
In a recent meeting, Dr. Jatta asked Bottega Tifernate about the feasibility of the possible reproduction of the work in a "workmanlike manner" through the use of the same type of wood, painting it on a pictographic basis with materials and manufacturing processes used for the original.
All this to carry our creation in procession instead of the original.
Bottega Tifernate has already found itself studying the painting as it creates pictographs on panel and fresco for the bookshop of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore , the place where the icon is kept.
Works of art have a unique ability, not only that of telling their own time but of crossing it and over time becoming a reference, a refuge or a hope for Pontiffs and faithful.
All this is the Byzantine icon Maria Salus Populi Romani, perhaps the most beloved Marian image, depicting the Madonna and Child kept and venerated in the Pauline chapel of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome; the oldest Marian sanctuary in the West.
A work that has come to the forefront of the news in recent days after the gesture that Pope Francis made on the Third Sunday of Lent: him, in the desert of Rome to pray against the plague.
Italy, like the whole world, is facing the Coronavirus Emergency, a pandemic, as declared by the WHO, which affects everyone, becoming lethal for the most fragile people.
Even Pope Francis, as well as Pius XII who celebrated his first mass as a priest on the steps of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in front of the Salus Populi Romani, has a special connection with this work. The Holy Father often goes to venerate the icon, not only during Marian celebrations but also before embarking on a journey and every time upon his return, as a sign of thanks. On Sunday the Pope invoked the end of the pandemic by going to Santa Maria Maggiore, imploring the protection of Maria Salus Populi Romani. His intention was aimed at all those who are currently on the front line to face the pandemic and to support society.
The bond between the Byzantine icon and the Roman people is very strong, it has been invoked several times in history to deal with epidemics and plagues, already in 593 Pope Gregory had carried the sacred image in procession to stop the plague, and in 1837 Gregory XVI invoked it to end a cholera epidemic
The icon venerated in Santa Maria Maggiore was present in Tor Vergata in August 2000 for World Youth Day; on that occasion, John Paul II wanted to entrust it to young people.
In this unique moment in history, despite the closure of the Churches due to government measures, the message and comfort of the Pope and priests throughout Italy reaches homes thanks to new technologies; the gesture of Pope Francis who, in a desert Rome during a war against an invisible enemy, went to venerate Maria Salus populi Romani is extraordinary. A gesture that recalls Pius XII who in June 1944, in a liberated Rome, attributed the grace of liberation from Nazi-fascist occupation to Maria Salus Populi Romani; and who subsequently celebrated the icon with a solemn procession through the streets of Rome in 1953.
In every moment of difficulty, faith is the safe haven... and in moments of pain, Maria Salus Populi Romani is there for the pontiffs and for all the faithful: before her, all together, we invoke protection for our loved ones.