The Madonna of the Soccorso
In agreement with other monastic orders, the Augustinians wanted to diminish the power of the demon in the popular conscience erecting a specific worship to the Socorro of the Virgin Mary against Satan and, developing it as an icon at the end of the 15th Century, with a particular intensity in the art of the region of the Apennines of Umbria - Marche, guaranteeing their survival until the Council of Trento. To the fruible language of the pictorial and sculptural images, in which it appeared as main character a singular Virgin with the stick and the monstrous devil, the Augustinians trusted the diffusion of the devotion for the Madonna of the Soccorso with the primary target to educate the ignorant persons in the conscience of the omnipotence of God over the forces of Evil, in the rejection of evocations or invocation practices of the devil and, naturally, to trust the rescuing intervention of the Virgin.
“This subject - that’s to say, the relation between the Virgin, the childhood and the demon - is very rich in anthropological suggestions that the author analyzes considering the present critics and giving therefore an important contribution to the specific studies. It’s also shown clearly in this work the augustinian origin of the subject of the Virgin of the Soccorso and the diffusion of the work of this Order. It’s also of great interest the indication that this iconographical subject and therefore this worship was even represented after the Trento Council as soon as it was intended to stem to the most popular devotions, and the one of the Virgin with a stick in the hand was more than any other one. It’s been suggested by some historians that in the Middle Ages there was little consideration towards childhood, as it’s demonstrated in the legends of the saints that are continuously invoked and take part in favor of the children, so much, that on this subject there is a prolific iconographical casuistry. Besides, between the saints of the monastic Orders it seems to settle down a race in the supernatural flow in favor of childhood. The Augustinian Saint Nichol of Tolentino even takes part continuously, in life and after death, in aid of the children, as much as is subsequent to the Process of canonization and the rest of numerous miracles registered at the time. The intervention of the virgin is more important than any of the Saints, mediator pro excellence and overall mother. For this reason the image and the worship for the Virgin of the Soccorso are classified in a particular type in the ample and multiformal aspect of the protection of the Virgin through space and time. The fact of having clearly defined the meaning and trajectory of this typical augustinian worship is the fundamental merit of this work.” (from the presentation of Professor F. Bisogni).
T. Marozzi, Iconography from Umbria and Marche of the Virgin of the Soccorso, Notebooks of historical and artistic investigation /1/1999, Collection directed by Tiziana Marozzi, Editions Identità Sibillina, Recanati 2001, € 10,00. |
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