Ludovica Albertoni, TOSF | |
---|---|
Born | 1473 Rome |
Died | 31 January 1533 (aged 60) Rome |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church (Diocese of Rome, Secular Franciscan Order) |
Beatified | 28 January 1671, Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Papal States by Pope Clement X |
Major shrine | San Francesco a Ripa, Rome, Italy |
Feast | 31 January |
Patronage | Rome |
Ludovica Albertoni (1473 - 31 January 1533) was an Italian Roman Catholic noblewoman from the Renaissance period and a professed member of the Third Order of Saint Francis. [1] The death of her husband prompted her to dedicate her life to the service of the poor in Rome and she was also known for her ecstatic experiences.
Her fame for holiness became widespread in Rome and devotion to her remained intense after her death which prompted Pope Clement X to approve her beatification in 1671.
Ludovica Albertoni was born in 1473 in Rome to the prominent nobles Stefano Albertoni and Lucretia Tebaldi. Her father died around 1475 and she was entrusted to the care of her paternal aunts who saw to it that she had a Christian education. [2]
Her parents had arranged her betrothal and in obedience she married the nobleman Giacomo della Cetera in 1494. The couple moved to Trastevere where they raised three daughters, but it was a turbulent marriage since her husband possessed a sharp and often unpleasant temperament. [1] However, she remained docile in her faith and steadfast while believing in her husband's love for her despite his coldness. In May 1506 he died after a long illness leaving her widowed with her three children. [2] Difficulties arose when her brother-in-law Domenico did not respect her rights regarding her inheritance. Albertoni fought him in court and won with her late spouse's assets for her and their daughters. [2]
Not long after this loss she joined the Third Order of Saint Francis at the San Francesco a Ripa church in Trastevere. She spent her fortune and her health caring for the poor. [2] [1] Albertoni became renowned for her religious ecstasies (including levitation) and became known as a miracle worker. In 1527 she tended to the poor during the Sack of Rome and for her efforts at alleviating the suffering became known as the "mother of the poor".
In December 1532, news spread that her health was worsening and Albertoni died not long after from a fever on 31 January 1533; her final words were those of Christ's last words on the Cross. [2] Her remains were interred in the Saint Anne chapel at San Francesco a Ripa as was her wish. On 17 January 1674 her remains were relocated to a grand altar in the same church that Gian Lorenzo Bernini had constructed. [3]
On 13 October 1606, the senate in Rome decreed the date of her death to be observed like a memorial and in 1625 the Roman authorities named her as a patroness for Rome while making her date of death akin to a liturgical feast. [2]
Gian Lorenzo Bernini created a sculpture dedicated to her which is contained in San Francesco a Ripa where Albertoni's remains are placed. [2]
On 28 January 1671 her beatification received approval from Pope Clement X, who voiced approval for her longstanding and popular "cultus" (otherwise known as an enduring public veneration). The pope signed the decree at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Her liturgical feast is affixed to the date of her death, as is the norm.
Albertoni is best commemorated through Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculpture entitled Beata Ludovica Albertoni, housed in the Altieri chapel in the San Francesco a Ripa church in Rome. [3] The recumbent statue captures Albertoni in her death throes and depicts her as suffering, but also in the light of her religious ecstasies as she awaits her union with God.
Gian LorenzoBernini was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor of his age, credited with creating the Baroque style of sculpture. As one scholar has commented, "What Shakespeare is to drama, Bernini may be to sculpture: the first pan-European sculptor whose name is instantaneously identifiable with a particular manner and vision, and whose influence was inordinately powerful ..." In addition, he was a painter and a man of the theatre: he wrote, directed and acted in plays, for which he designed stage sets and theatrical machinery. He produced designs as well for a wide variety of decorative art objects including lamps, tables, mirrors, and even coaches.
Pope Clement X, born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death, in July 1676. Elected pope at age 79, he has since been ranked as the oldest pope at the time of his election.
Santa Maria della Vittoria is a Catholic titular church and basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Rome, Italy. The church is known for the masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Cornaro Chapel, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. The church is in the Rione Sallustiano, on number 98 via XX Settembre, where this street intersects with Largo Santa Susanna. It stands to the side of the Fontana dell'Acqua Felice. The church mirrors the Church of Santa Susanna across the Largo. It is about two blocks northwest of the Piazza della Repubblica and Teatro dell'Opera metro station.
The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa is a sculptural altarpiece group in white marble set in an elevated aedicule in the Cornaro Chapel of the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. It was designed and carved by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the leading sculptor of his day, who also designed the setting of the chapel in marble, stucco and paint. The commission was completed in 1652.
Giovanni Battista Gaulli, also known as Baciccio or Baciccia, was an Italian artist working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods. He is best known for his grand illusionistic vault frescos in the Church of the Gesù in Rome, Italy. His work was influenced by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Carlo Fontana (1634/1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture.
San Francesco a Ripa is a church in Rome, Italy. It is dedicated to Francis of Assisi who once stayed at the adjacent convent. The term Ripa refers to the nearby riverbank of the Tiber.
Santa Cecilia in Trastevere is a 5th-century church in Rome, Italy, in the Trastevere rione, devoted to the Roman martyr Saint Cecilia.
Melchiorre Cafà (1636–1667), born Melchiorre Gafà and also known as Caffà, Gafa, Gaffar or Gafar, was a Maltese Baroque sculptor. Cafà began a promising career in Rome but this was cut short by his premature death following a work accident. He was the older brother of the architect Lorenzo Gafà.
Blessed Ludovica Albertoni is a funerary monument by the Italian Baroque artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Trastevere sculpture is located in the specially designed Altieri Chapel in the Church of San Francesco a Ripa in Rome, Italy. Bernini started the project in 1671, but his work on two other major works—The Tomb of Pope Alexander VII and the Altar of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Peter's Basilica—delayed his work on the funerary monument. Bernini completed the sculpture in 1674; it was installed by 31 August 1674.
Santa Maria in Campitelli or Santa Maria in Portico is a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the narrow Piazza di Campitelli in Rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy. The church is served by the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God.
Antonio Gherardi was an Italian painter, architect, and sculptor (stuccoist) of the Baroque style, active mainly in and near Rome and his native city of Rieti.
Mattia de Rossi was an Italian architect of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and surrounding towns.
Cosimo Fancelli was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. He worked on a number of commissions with Pietro da Cortona from 1647 until Cortona's death in 1669. Gian Lorenzo Bernini considered him one of the best sculptors in Rome.
Giuseppe Mazzuoli was an Italian sculptor working in Rome in the Bernini-derived Baroque style. He produced many highly accomplished sculptures of up to monumental scale but was never a leading figure in the Roman art world.
Italian Baroque art is a term that is used here to refer to Italian painting and sculpture in the Baroque manner executed over a period that extended from the late sixteenth to the mid eighteenth centuries. Italian Baroque architecture is not covered.
Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni was an Italian Catholic Cardinal and Cardinal-Nephew to Pope Clement X.
The Statue of Pope Clement X is one of the final sculptural works executed by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It depicts Pope Clement X in the act of benediction, and is housed in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini, Rome.
Plautilla Bricci was a 17th-century Roman architect, painter and sculptor; she was the only female architect of her day. Her most famous work is Villa Benedetti near the Porta San Pancrazio, Rome. She also designed the third chapel on the left aisle in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, dedicated to St. Louis, having also painted the altarpiece in this chapel.
Albertoni is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: